.
102. Quintuple (five-beat) and septuple (seven-beat) measures are occasionally met with, but these are rare and will always be sporadic. The five-beat measure is taken as a combination of three and two, or of two and three (sometimes a mixture of both in the same composition), while the seven-beat measure is taken in groups of four and three, or of three and four.
103. The sign
is usually understood to mean four-quarter measure, and the sign
, two-half measure, but usage varies somewhat, and the second sign is sometimes used to indicate four-half measure. It may safely be said however that the sign
always indicates that a half-note has a beat.