ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Metre (music)

A metre in music is like a special way that groups of beats are organized together. Imagine you have a bunch of toys and you want to put them into groups. Let's say you have 8 toys, and you decide to put them into 2 groups of 4. That's kind of like how a metre works in music. The beats are grouped together in a certain way.

Now let's talk about how these groups of beats sound. Pretend you are clapping your hands to the beat of a song. The metre tells you how many times you should clap in a row before taking a break. Some songs might have you clapping 4 times before taking a break, while other songs might have you clapping 3 times before taking a break.

Different types of music can have different metres. Some music might have a regular and predictable metre, like a steady march. Other music might have a more free-flowing metre where the beats are less predictable and can change from moment to moment.

Overall, a metre in music is like the way beats are organized into groups, and it helps give a rhythm and structure to the music we hear.
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