Counting in Eighths

[Kristin]

I was going through really old posts on this page
during a spout of boredom this afternoon and I came across someone asking about
how to count in 8ths... when the time signature is 3/8, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, etc.
People responded to this person with something like, "the 8th note gets one
beat, so the quarter note gets 2 beats, etc. and the 3, 6, 9, 12 means how many
beats are in the measure." That answer is basically what I was taught in my
(pitiful) music class in elementary school. HOWEVER, since I started playing the
flute, I have been taught otherwise. My private teacher told me that you count
time in eighths where the dotted half gets one beat. So, that would mean it''s
not THAT much different from time in 4ths... at least not as much as if you
counted it with the eighth note getting one beat. So, my question is, which is
right? Or are both right? I''m a little confused here and would like to be
cleared up [;)] Thanks!

[johnbegud]

The first one is what I learned in my music class
in grade school too. The second one is also correct. It's like asking how many
1/8ths are there in 3/8ths? 3. I'm not sure about that dotted half getting one
beat. a dotted half is equivalent to 6/8ths. vic