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Compound time signatures

Odd 20th century time signatures (such as “5/8”) can often be played as complex time signatures (e.g. “3/8 + 2/8”), which combine two or more inequal metrics.

LilyPond can make such music quite easy to read and play, by explicitly printing the time signatures and adapting the automatic beaming behavior.

\relative c' {
  \compoundMeter #'((2 8) (3 8))
  \set Timing.beamExceptions = #'()
  \set Timing.beatStructure = 2,3
  c8 d e fis gis
  c8 fis, gis e d
  c8 d e4 gis8
}