What term describes a meter with two beats per measure?

• A. Duple meter
• B. Triple meter
• C. Quadruple meter
• D. Compound meter

Answer: (A)

This question is about naming meters by how many strong beats occur in each measure. When there are two beats per measure, the meter is called a duple meter. You can feel the rhythm as a two-beat pulse, often with a clear strong beat on the first count and a weaker one on the second, as in marches or simple dance rhythms notated in signatures like 2/4 or 2/2. If there were three beats per measure, that would be triple meter, and four would be quadruple meter. Compound meter, on the other hand, describes rhythms where each beat is subdivided into three equal parts, such as 6/8, which can feel like two main beats per measure with three subdivisions per beat. So the two-beat-per-measure idea aligns with duple meter, making it the best fit.