More Time Signatures
After looking at the table of time signatures, you may have wondered why 3/4 time is different from 6/8.  It is true that one is simply the reduced version of the other, but in music they are not quite equal.  6/8 is a Compound Time Signature.  The main difference between straight time and compound time is where you put the emphasis, or Accent.  Please click here for some examples.

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Remember the last time you heard a waltz?  All waltzes are written in 3/4 time, and all of them have the same feeling: DIP, two, three, TURN, two three, etc... You can always feel all three distinct beats with an emphasis on the first one.  6/8 time, on the other hand, is used more in small classical pieces (like sonatinas) and modern rock 'n' roll.  It has more of a rolling and less of a pounding dance feel to it.

This all may seem a little abstract at first, but experience will teach you the difference.

Here is another example of a compound time.  Can you tell what it means?

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Figure 1-1

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The time signature "C" indicates Common Time, which is the same as 4/4.  The other signature is Cut Time.  This is the same as 2/2 (there are two beats per measure and a half note gets one beat).  These are both very common written either as numbers or as symbols.  Cut time is the compound equivalent of common time.

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