Isn't that a four note phrase becoming a five note phrase becoming a six note phrase etc?

I've personally never heard of the term, nor have I heard it used ... until now.
Can you elaborate as to what you are looking at in more detail? Any graphic illustrations or notation you can share?

Dear Smog,
You have just brought to mind again how very little I know about something I love (music).  Thanks for bringing that to my attention again

Seriously though, it's interesting - not interesting enough for me to dive into - but interesting non-the-less.   Have a great time at the Holdsworth show    !!!

As far as the Wiki article on Time Signatures - check out the main reference work listed -

^ Holmes, G. Augustus (January 1949). The Academic Manual of the Rudiments of Music. London: A. Weeks & Co. Ltd., 17.


Guys - 1949!!!!

The whole thing about Simple versus Complex meters boils down to Simple equaling meters that you tap your feet the same number of times per bar as indicated by the "top number" of the signature. 4/4 means there are four beats per bar.  But (oooo, cue the scary music) Complex meters are those that "top number" doesn't match the number of times you tap your foot - 6/8 = 2 beats, 9/8 - 3 beats. 12/8 = 4 beats

But this is all so horribly out of date - as it is very common to play a piece in 9/8 that is so slow in tempo that one indeed taps their foot 9 times per bar. Just a there are classical pieces in 4/4, commonly played so slow as to be counted in 8.

But always leave it to academicians to find a way to over explain everything.

On to "Additive Meters" - again think 1949 music theory scholars trying to explain syncopated folk rhythms. For example, a piece of music that is written (in 4/4), but totally over a foundation rhythm of dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter.  Obviously a very common syncopated rhythm by today's standards - but one totally foreign to Western classical music.  So foreign to classical ears (at that time) that it was felt that such a strong syncopated couldn't be explained (as we would now) as simply "4/4 with a syncopated rhythm" no it MUST a special time signature to emphasize the strength of its prominent rhythm. Thus the complex or compound or additive meter of 3+3+2 / 4.

The point is this was the state of this stuff in 1949 - now?... not so much. You can still see this in the classical world, but in most of today's world the only time you'll see a compound meter like this is when dealing with longer odd meters. 13/8 can be a lot easier to deal with, if the writer notates it in 2+2+3+2+2+2 / 8 ... or more commonly as   13/8 (223,222).  (using, of course, whatever subdivision makes sense with the music).

So yes, it's important to understand how time signatures work as they are fundamental to understanding how rhythm works. And it is a good idea to understand the variations as to how they can be written, if you're hoping to function with players that read. But all these classifications, titles, and special academic names for things really have little use outside of college theory classes.

David