Is 3/8 compound time or simple time? Options

[Roseau]

I thought that 3/8 was simple time because you would divide each quaver beat into semi-quavers (ie into 2, whereas 6/8 is compound because each dotted crotchet beat can be divided into 3 quavers). However, I am teaching English to some French music students and they all spontaneously said that it was compound time because the three quavers added up to a dotted crotchet.

I am inclined to think that they are right as they are very good players (as in at least 1st diploma) and as this is France they have done a lot of theory as well but part of me is not convinced since you would then theoretically only have 1 beat in a bar. Or am I missing something obvious? *confused* (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

[Roseau]

However, that list clearly is missing "single" as its first member...and I do regard 3/8 as the point at which this classification breaks down. It's so frequently used in a one-in-a-bar context that insisting that it is triple time becomes dogmatic rather than descriptive.

So would you describe 3/8 as "single" time? (And is this an "official description"?)

Yes Simple Triple, 3/8 is the same as 3/4 or 3/2

Then why do we beam the quavers in threes?...

This is pretty much how the discussion with my students went yesterday (I said what fsharpminor said and the students said what owainsutton said) and I had no answer to Owainsutton's question.

Edit: posted this at the same time as Fsharpminor and Lindaff

[owainsutton]

So would you describe 3/8 as "single" time? (And is this an "official description"?)

The 'official' description, with respect to theory exams, is that it's simple triple. But the same exam-oriented classification avoids any suggestion of 'single' time...which makes a description of 1/4 rather problematic!

[linda.ff]

So would you describe 3/8 as "single" time? (And is this an "official description"?)

The 'official' description, with respect to theory exams, is that it's simple triple. But the same exam-oriented classification avoids any suggestion of 'single' time...which makes a description of 1/4 rather problematic!

But do you really get music in a time-signature of 1/4? Other than the odd bar in the middle of a rhythmically quirky piece, I mean? Or written by a modern composer who just want to make a point? Can you point us at a piece of music that is written throughut with a time-sig of 1/4?