Meter

The meter of a hymn is the organization of the hymn's rhythm.

Guidelines

• When entering meters from a hymnal, it is of course imperative to enter it as it appears on the page. If there is no meter indicated, do not enter one. Do not add periods between numbers unless they are on the page. That is, if the meter is given as 8686, do not enter 8.6.8.6. Just use 8686. Likewise, if it is given as 8 6 8 6, enter it just like that, with the spaces.
• If a meter is given as CM or LM, enter it as CM or LM. Do not substitute the letters with numbers.
• If a hymn is nonmetrical (such as a chant), do not enter a meter.
• If the meter is given as "Irregular" or some other term, enter it as such.
• Other meters will be given with numbers and a letter or word. Common examples are listed here. As always, enter the meter just as it is given in the hymnal:
  • D for doubled, e.g. 8.6.8.6 D.
  • "with repeat" for songs that repeat a line of the meter (e.g. "Joy to the World" is "8.6.8.6 with repeat")
  • "with alleluia" for songs that add alleluias in or after that rhymed text (e.g. "All Creatures of Our God and King" is "8.8.8.8 with alleluia")
  • "with refrain" for songs that have metered stanzas followed by a refrain (e.g. "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is "8.8.8.8 with refrain").
• Although the instances for a hymn will all be entered as given in the hymnal, the authority record for a meter will be formatted with a dot between each number (8.6.8.6 or 8.6.8.6 D). All variants of this meter will be linked to the authority record for searching purposes.