The basic meter for the 3 pattern is 3/4. It can also be used in 3/2 (if not too slow), 3/8 and 9/8. It can also be used as part of a mixed meter pattern where beats are uneven e.g. 7/8, 8/8

Here your downbeat rebounds straight back up (and perhaps inwards slightly in anticipation of falling outwards), no candy-cane. The ictus of beat 2 is out and to the right. The ictus of beat 3 returns to a point on or near that of beat 2. Assuming you are beating with your right hand, a simple description is: down, out, up.

Using a 3 pattern, conduct the following canon “Dona nobis pacem”.