Rhythm in Music

Rhythm is the flow of music through time. Rhythm is basic to life, we see it in virtually every aspect of life; the season, dry and rainy seasons, school year calendar, as we run, walk and march etc.

Rhythm is the life blood of music. It may also be defined as the particular arrangement of note lengths in a piece of music.

Aspect of Rhythm

Furthermore, rhythm has several interrelated aspects such as

– Beat                      –  meter                     –  measure           –    tempo

BEAT

Almost all the music we use today has a steady beat or pulse. The beat is constant and regular, the impact of it can be felt when you tap or clap to a piece of music. Beat can be represented by a line of half notes, quarter notes or eight notes

METER

The organization of beats into regular groups is called meter.

Duple meter/time has 2 beats in a bar in which we count 1 2, 1 2, 1 2, as when children or soldiers are marching, left right, left right etc.

Triple meter/time has 3 beat in a bar, in which we count 1 2 3, 1 2 3, etc.

Quadruple meter/time has 4 beats in a bar. Here we count 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, etc.

MEASURE

Every music is divide into portion called bar or measure, measure or bar is an equal potion of the music through a short vertical line called the bar line.

TEMPO

Simply put, tempo is the speed of the beat or the basic pace of the music.

Fast tempos are normally associated with energy and excitement, while slow tempos are with solemnity and calmness.