Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time or ternary rhythm) is a musical metre characterized by a "primary" division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 (compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , , and being the most common examples. The upper figure being divisible by three does not of itself indicate triple metre; for example, a time signature of usually indicates compound duple metre, and similarly usually indicates compound quadruple metre.