Triple metre (or
triple meter, also known as
triple time) is a musical
metre characterized by a
primary division of 3
beats to the
bar, usually indicated by 3 (
simple) or 9 (
compound) in the upper figure of the
time signature, with , , and being the most common examples. The upper figure being divisible by three does not of itself indicate triple metre; for example, a time signature of usually indicates compound duple metre, and similarly usually indicates compound quadruple.