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Compound time signatures

Odd 20th century time signatures (such as “5/8”) can often be played as compound 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 compound time signatures and adapting the automatic beaming behavior.

\relative c' {
  \compoundMeter #'((2 8) (3 8))
  c8 d e fis gis
  c8 fis, gis e d
  c8 d e4 gis8
}