Duple metre (or
duple meter in
US spelling, also known as
duple time) is a musical
metre characterized by a primary division of 2 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 2 and multiples (
simple) or 6 and multiples (
compound) in the upper figure of the
time signature, with (
cut time, also notated as ), , and fast being the most common examples. Shown below are a simple and a compound duple drum pattern. : \new Staff > : \new Staff > Though the upper figure
must be divisible by 2 in duple metre, the contrary is not necessarily true. For instance, in the first movement of
Maurice Ravel's
Piano Trio, the time signature is subdivided as (3 beats) rather than a subdivision (2 beats, duple metre). The movement is in
odd time, not duple metre, even though the upper figure is divisible by 2. Duple time is especially common in
marches (especially in
American march music), where the duple meter provides a clear upbeat/downbeat feel that is suitable for
marching. Duple time is also common in many styles including the
polka, well known for its obvious "
oom-pah" duple feel. Compare to the
waltz, a form in
triple metre, where the feel is an "oom-pah-pah" triple feel. ==Quadruple metre==