Binary beats are grouped in threes to form ternary beats. The value of a ternary beat is thus the value of a dotted note. The upper numeral is a multiple of three.
Example
means 6 eighth notes per measure.
This time signature is a compound time signature if the eighth notes are grouped in threes to make one beat. The beat is the dotted quarter note ( + + = ).
The beat is ternary since it is divided into three notes.
