Music Glossary - Rhythm & Tempo

source: All Music Guide www.allmusic.com

Beat | Rhythm | Four-beat | Two-Beat | Up beat | Down beat | Turn the Rhythm Around Offbeat | Dotted Rhythms | Behind the Beat | Syncopation | Ride Rhythm | Double-Time Broken Time | Duple Time | Common Time | Stop-Time | Cut Time | Alla Breve | Meter Tempo | A Tempo | Triple Meter | Up-Tempo | Stomp | Jig Piano | Grave | Bikutsi

Andante | Largo | Adagio | Allegro | Allegretto | Presto | Scherzo

Any pulsing unit of musical time is considered a beat. In metered music, the first pulse or beat of each bar is the "downbeat" and it is the accent which is normally most strongly emphasized. In some music -- notably jazz and rock -- the main emphasis often falls on one of the "afterbeats" or "backbeats" of the bar. Of course these descriptions betray Eurocentric attitudes. Beat also refers to the overall musical performance in jazz music.

The arrangement of beats and accents in a musical bar refers to rhythm. Along with melody and harmony, one of the principal elements of any piece of music is the rhythm. The rhythm of any musical work depends largely on a combination of the time signature, which indicates the number of beats or pulses per measure, and the tempo, which indicates how quickly or slowly each sequence of beats should be played. Rhythm is also contingent upon the accent given patterns of the beats in each measure and the subdivisions of these beats. Rhythm is also the distinctive grouping of sounds and silence in time based on the duration of tone, strong and weak stresses and other factors like harmony and melodic contour. Rhythm is normally regulated by meter or some other form of regular pulse like a heart-beat. Natural rhythms of the body help to determine what are considered fast, slow and medium rhythms including one's pace of walking and breathing. Rhythmic "tempos," accordingly, are relative, at least in part, to the rhythms of the human body.

"Four-beat" is used by jazz musicians, particularly those who are adept at swing, to play all beats of a four-beat bass rhythm with equal emphasis. The two most distinct examples of four-beat rhythms are 4/4 and 12/8. In the first the four beats each include one quarter note. In the second, each beat includes three eighth notes.

This phrase is used to describe music in which the first and third beats of each four-beat measure are accentuated, usually by the rhythm section. Two-beat is a characteristic of marches, early jazz music, and most Euro-centric music.

The beat which immediately precedes the "downbeat" or first beat of each measure. Derivatively "up-beat" comes from the motion of the conductor's hand/baton before s/he comes to the first beat of the measure or the "down-beat."

Downbeat has been given a misleading definition many times over. It is the first beat of a mensural composition particularly those works that have a consistent time signature. If the orchestra, combo, or band comes in on the first beat of a measure then they are guided by their conductor, leader, or director, in some fashion, with a gesture that is down. Conductors of orchestras have various positions for all stages of a specific time signature. The first beat of a measure is always in a pronounced downward manner although some fail to properly emphasize this beat. Some have defined, in part, the down beat as the entrance point of any musical performer, group, combo, band or orchestra. This is simply not the case. All one needs to do is scan the varieties of musical scores or listen to their own collection to realize that initial entrances are not always made on the downbeat. In a time register of 4/4, for example, initial entrances can be made on beat one, two, three,or four as well as on half beats.

This is a technique for changing the rhythm of a piece of music while playing the said piece of music. A shift in the beat occurs over several bars to establish the new meter.

Any beat within a score of mensurated music (music with bars) that is not the first beat -- also known as the downbeat -- is an offbeat. Offbeat is also used to emphasize the weak beats of the measure.

This phrase is used to describe certain rhythmic patterns resulting from alternations between long notes and shorter notes; dotted rhythms are named because the long notes in these patterns are often dotted. The distinctive quality, however, is not the dotted notes but the unevenness in playing or singing that can result. In some cases performers were told to ignore the dots altogether while in other cases performers were advised that they should also shorten the note preceding the dotted note in an appropriately proportionate manner to even out the rhythms,

This musical performance technique, usually a characteristic of an individual performer's style, occurs when a singer or instrumentalist deliberately sounds the notes slightly after the beat set by the rhythm section or as set by the rest of the ensemble. This technique is most often found in reference to jazz stylings but can be used in blues and rock as well. Behind the beat methods are never properly employed in any classical idiom.

Although syncopation can be given a Euro-centric slant because many cultural rhythms naturally emphasize other beats, polyrhythms are not consistent with cultural diversity; different rhythms are consistent with cultural diversity. Syncopation does not simply refer to accents on different beats (Euro-centric rhythms accentuate beats one and three in 4/4 time and Afro-centric rhythms accentuate beats two and four in 4/4 time) but refers to the interruption of what is considered the dominant pulse or beat of a piece of music. Accordingly, syncopation can be applied to any constant rhythm regardless of culture. The performance of syncopation can include temporary shifts in meter, accenting weak beats over strong beats, accentuating a different beat in each measure, making a weak beat into a strong beat, contextual note values, articulation of notes and even melodic and harmonic contours or contrasts.

A basic jazz pattern of rhythmic beats in each bar or measure of music is a "ride rhythm". This particular rhythm is so-named because it is often tapped out on either a ride cymbal or a high hat.

A jazz and improvisatory technique that packs twice as many notes in a measure as were there in the preceding measures. The tempo appears to gain a great deal of momentum (and in some cases it actually does) but the chord progressions and chomping provided by the rhythm guitarist, bass and piano remain the same. Most of the time the leading musician, guitar, sax, brass et cetera, takes the lead to play their licks and chops while moving away from the melody in such a way that they can return "a tempo" once again. The lead in fact does play more notes between measures but the rhythm stays the same in double-time. There are a few noted exceptions.

All pieces of music in the Western tradition state the time signature and key signature at the beginning of the score. Many works are written in 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, 3/8, and 6/8 time frames; other time signatures are used but these are the most common. In the process of composing a piece of music, the writer may chose to change the time signature. Sometimes it will be just for a measure or two and on other occasions the change will require a major divergence in the composition. These small measured changes are referred to as "broken time" where a transition may occur or syllabic composing will call for a slight interruption from the original time signature. 4/4, when interrupted, often changes to 2/4. Broken time can also refer to stuttered time signatures such a 5/4 or 7/8 which, for the novice performer and listener, can be quite unsettling.

Any music that is written with two beats to the measure is considered duple meter. 2/2 and 2/4 are the most common forms of duple meter but an argument can be made for 6/8 time as well since the strong accents are on beats one and four of the measure. In 2/2 time signatures the measure contains two half notes each of which receives a strong beat. Comparably in 2/4 time there are two quarter notes in each measure and the quarter note receives the emphasis. Both time signatures have a meter containing two beats per measure. Many of the early pieces in jazz were scored/played in duple meters.

This is the ordinary name and reference for the time-signature 4/4; that is, four beats per measure and one quarter note to the beat. It is called common time because it is used abundantly in Western musical rhythms. The time signature can be indicated as 4/4 or by "C" written in the beginning of the first measure in a score following the key-signature. The C denotes "C"ommon time.

Performance technique used in New Orleans-style jazz in which the rhythm section stops keeping time and instead alternates sets of sounded beats with periods of silence. Alternations, however, occur regularly. An accent will be given to the first beat of a two measure phrase where the rhythm section will play a chord and beat at this point. Silence follows but solos can continue. Stop-time is not only used in jazz music it is also used in tap dancing and blues.

Cut-time is indicated by 2/2 or C (with a vertical line through the middle of it) and played twice as fast as common time. The half-note note gets the accent and there are only two half-notes in the measure. This time signature is identical to "alla breve."

During the Middle Ages and Renaissance a system of proportions was developed for metric notation. The indicators, what are now referred to as time signatures, were developed to indicate the rhythmic proportion the notes had in relation to one another for a particular piece of music. All breve indicated a proportion of 2:1 where note shapes diminished in value. Today alla breve is used to indicate cut-time or a measure of two quarter notes per measure each receiving one beat. The meter is much quicker than its corresponding or proportional common time. Variations of music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance often used diminished and augmented rhythms indicated by proportional score markings.

Meter, time signature, and rhythm are often confused as being synonymous. The time signature of a piece of music, 4/4, 2/4, 6/8, 9/8 informs the performer of the number of beats in a measure and the notes which receive an accent within the space of a measure. Rhythms are the steady succession of pulses within the measure, a pattern of time. The meter of a specific bar of music measures the completion of one such pattern. Accordingly, meter is often defined by one measure of music in combination with the time signature and note values. In hearing music the listener will understand most Western music to be either duple or triple meters. The time signatures above, for example, are all duple or triple meters. 2/4, 4/4, and even 6/8 are types of duple meter. 2/4 measures have two beats, one and two, while 4/4 measures, arguably also have two beats, in this case two strong beats, one and three. 6/8 is a triple or duple meter depending on the flow of the music. It can indeed have two beats of three eighth notes, three beats of two eighth notes (not ordinarily) or six beats of eighth notes though this too is unusual. 3/4 is the best candidate for understanding triple meter ( as is 9/8) for the 3/4 measure receives three beats to the measure and the patterns are often structured so that the first beat of the measure receives the emphasis or all three beats receive the emphasis. Meter in music was developed from metered verses in poetry where regular rhythms (feet: accents and ebbs) became models for mensuration.

The speed at which a piece of music is played is referred to as its tempo. Tempo variances occur even when they are clearly indicated on a score -- which was not a common practice until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Indicated tempos are subject to interpretation. Composers were aware of this and made allowances for interpretive artists (as do publishers). When metronome marks are employed (e.g. the quarter note receives seventy-two beats per minute) they are usually given in terms of possible ranges (e.g. the quarter note receives between sixty and eighty-four beats per minute). Terms used for tempo are also indicative of a speed but that speed is subject to interpretation. Exactly how slow is grave and how fast is andante? Ranges, rather than absolutes, are used in determining tempo. Unfortunately, taste for specific and exacting tempos occasionally becomes problematic as discerned in performance reviews.

Score marking indicating a return to the normal tempo after a temporary change of speed. Generally speaking, the section of music that is sung or played at a different pace is often sung or played more quickly than the original tempo so when performers return to the initial speed, "a tempo," they in effect slow down. This is not always the case and is often dependent upon the style of music.

This metric adjective describes music written with three beats to each measure, as in a waltz.

Up-beat indicates music that is played with a fast, lively beat.

Type of lively, rhythmic jazz music marked by a heavy beat. The term was probably derived from the early, foot-stomping forms of blues and ragtime dance music. "Stomp" was a common word to titles of music during the 1920s and 1930s. Besides having a "heavy" beat the rhythms of stomps are sharply defined, energetic and music associated with the stomp builds to a definitive climax.

The strict rhythmic patterns of ragtime piano playing are often referred to as "jig piano."

Grave has two distinct meanings. As a tempo marking it is very slow and arguably intended to be the slowest tempo marking. In terms of mood, the meaning of grave is seriously sad or mournful. During its first use grave was an ambiguous adjective perhaps trying to infer "lowest" as in the lowest voice of a choir or orchestra. Corelli was one of the first to use the term to indicate slow movements in almost all of his music. The tempo of the exceptional few, where Corelli omitted grave, were indicated by other terms. Unfortunately, as is the case with many tempo and/or mood markings, no consistent use can be derived from the historical use of the term until about 1850.

Bikutsi is a rhythmic style which originated with the Beti people of present day Cameroon. Literally it means to "thump the earth" which gives a strong indication that the Beti are what anthropologists would call "dirt affirming people"; that is, they recognize many aspects of human nature including those that are sexually driven. In origins the bikutsi rhythms were war and blood affirming. The music would call the people together by resounding through the forest. Such calls were made for requisite vengeance against other groups. These heavily energetic rhythms were meant to enjoin one's blood to boil -- in the figurative sense -- for the cause of war. Rhythmic dances of the bikutsi were preserved by the women as a response to Christian missionaries who attempted to "save" the people from their own "sinful" expressions. Story telling occurred followed by dances in which the shaking of the shoulders, back and buttocks were followed by a series of clapping. The dances are still performed and the fighting concepts have been removed. Sexual underpinnings and fantasies as told in the stories of the women clearly remain in the bikutsi rhythms.

Andante is an Italian score marking indicating a tempo that is maintained at a walking pace. The term came to prominence during the nineteenth century but was not generally used as a tempo indicator until this time. Previously it was an instructive word specifically for bass lines in what musically are now referred to as "walking bass" lines. The "pace" was to be steady, consistent and accurate. Andante signified playing each note in the bass with clarity and distinction. The notes were supposed to be played with exact precision in relation to one another particularly in continuo bass lines. By the eighteenth century the term began to be used as a tempo marking classified between largo and allegro and is now listed between adagio and allegro.

Among the early divisions of tempo markings, largo was the slowest. It is now often placed between grave, extremely slow and ponderous, and andante, walking. "Adagio" is considered by some composers and theoreticians to be slower than "largo" and therefore largo is categorized between adagio and andante. Occasionally a movement in a composition will be entitled "Largo" for the slow, steady, and stately manner in which the movement should be performed.

Logically and literally an ambiguous word this tempo marking on a score of music can have a variety of interpretations, historically and contextually. The meaning of adagio has changed throughout the centuries and for the most part has come to mean a slow, relaxed, graceful style of playing or singing. In a three and four movement symphony, with occasional exceptions, the movement marked adagio is usually the slowest of the three or four. Few can decide if adagio is slower than grave or largo. Some place it as a speed between these tempos while others maintain that it is the slowest possible of orchestral movements besides "adagio adagio" or "adagiosissimo." At one time it was argued that adagio indicated a pace between largo, the slowest, and andante, a walking pace. The tempo indication is most effective when it is put in the hands of the performer to do with as s/he pleases or "as one wishes." Arguably the term can simply mean graceful and at ease.

One of the most familiar tempo markings in all of Western music. As all tempo markings are etymologically Italian this needs little comment. Allegro simply means lively, fast, merry, cheerful. It is considered to be moderately fast by all commentaries and standard tempo lists by comparison. Arguments have continued about the exact nature of allegro, that is, if it meant quick or moderately fast. Historically, however, as with most musical terms, the meaning has shifted. In its earliest use allegro designated a specific trill, and later, that singers should pace themselves according to the textual setting. By the late seventeenth century the term began to take on its present character and was used to indicate a very fast movement. Often, allegro and presto are used synonymously or interchangeably. Interestingly, tempo markings had certain regional nuances as well. Allegro was played much faster in Berlin than elsewhere according to the writings of C.P.E. Bach.

Allegretto is the diminished form of the tempo marking allegro. Generally allegretto indicates a meter or pace that should be played a 'little less fast'. Pieces scored allegretto are also generally lighter in attitude than pieces scored allegro. Historically there is some evidence to indicate that allegretto, in certain contexts, was interpreted to mean a 'little faster'. However, when categorized in lists of tempos allegretto is found between 'allegro' and 'andantino'. It was afforded a pace and place that was a 'little less fast' than allegro and a 'little faster than a walking pace'. The hallmark piece of music for his particular rhythmic marking is Beethoven's slow movement of the Seventh Symphony. Leopold Mozart described allegretto as if it should be played with frivolity and a jocular spirit.

The fastest tempo marking is "prestissimo" as fast as possible. Presto indicates a tempo marking that is very fast. Prior to the eighteenth century, this tempo was the equivalent of allegro but since that time has indicated a pace even faster than allegro.

Scherzos are supposed to be musical jokes, and, for the most part, they are. In the Baroque period the scherzo referred specifically to any vocal work that was of a light character. This lightness of character remains a quality of the scherzo with few exceptions. After 1650 the term scherzo was only applied to instrumental music. This music was characterized by quick tempos, 2/4 or 3/4 meters and they were used as the next to the last movement in a number of different musical forms. During the Romantic and post-Romantic eras scherzos were regular components of the symphony and they also became independent forms for the piano in the hands of Chopin, Brahms and Mendelssohn specifically.