metre, in music, rhythmic pattern constituted by the grouping of basic temporal units, called beats, into regular measures, or bars; in Western notation, each measure is set off from those adjoining it by bar lines. A time (or metre) signature, found at the beginning of a piece of music, indicates the number of beats in a measure and the value of the basic beat. For example, 3/4 metre has three quarter-note beats per measure. The time signature implies that an accent regularly occurs on the first beat of each measure. Simple metres are duple (e.g., 2/2, 2/4), triple (3/4, 3/8), or quadruple (4/4, 4/8). Compound metres are also duple (6/8, 6/16), triple (9/8), or quadruple (12/8) but have time signatures that indicate the number of beats to be a multiple of three. Thus, in 6/8, for example, both beats of the basic duple division are divisible into three subunits, yielding a total of six. Some metres that occur less frequently are neither duple nor triple (5/4, 7/4) but may be considered a combination of duple and triple—such as 2/4+3/4 or 3/4+2/4+2/4.
The concept of regular rhythmic groups is traceable to the ancient beginnings of dance and poetry, which music primarily served to undergird. Specifications of metre first appeared in written music as early as about 1200, when short rhythmic formulas called rhythmic modes (see rhythmic mode) came into use, implying repetition of simple triple patterns. From 1300 to 1600 both duple and triple metres were recognized in music theory, but, in practice, rhythm was often complex and involved combinations of metres. From the 17th to the 20th century, regular metres as used today became the standard. In the course of the 18th century, metre changes from movement to movement gained aesthetic significance equal to that of key and tempo distinctions in multimovement works. Such 20th-century composers as Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók accorded their extensive metrical manipulations a structural prominence previously reserved for melody and harmony.