Sextuplemeter

Sextuplemeter refers to a metrical concept in which each measure contains six beats or six equal subdivisions. In practice it is most often felt as two main beats per measure, with each beat subdivided into three notes, producing a compound duple feel. The name derives from the Latin prefix for six, reflecting the six pulses per bar.

The most common notational form of sextuplemeter is the time signature 6/8, where the beat is a dotted quarter note and each measure contains two such beats split into three eighth notes apiece. Other notations can give a sextuple-pulse perception as well, such as 6/4, where six quarter-note pulses may be grouped into two main beats each containing three quarters. Composers may also indicate sextuple meter through beam groupings or bracketed sub-beats to make the six-pulse structure explicit, even when a different signature is used.

In musical practice, sextuplemeter is associated with a lilting, buoyant character and is common in folk traditions and in certain classical passages that require a light, dancing motion. It is frequently employed to create a sense of propulsion that remains evenly balanced across the bar, and it can interact with other rhythmic devices like hemiolas or cross-rhythm to produce nuanced phrasing and tension.

A note distinguishes sextuplemeter from sextuplets, which are six notes played in the time normally occupied by four or another larger value within a single beat. Sextuplemeter concerns the regular grouping of beats per bar, whereas sextuplets concern a tuplet subdivision within a beat.