Rhythm & Duration
The element of music that organizes long and short sounds in time.
What is rhythm?
Groups of beats organized into regular repeating patterns.
What is meter?
The overall speed of the beat in a piece of music.
What is tempo?
Vibrations in the air that we perceive with our ears.
What is sound?
The distance between two pitches, such as a third or fifth.
What is an interval?
The musical term for how long a note or silence lasts.
What is duration?
The musical symbol that shows how many beats are in a measure and which note value gets the beat.
What is a time signature?
The Italian term meaning “gradually speed up.”
What is accelerando?
Organized sound that expresses ideas or emotions.
What is music?
The total span of pitches an instrument or voice can produce, from low to high.
What is range?
The steady pulse that underlies most music.
What is a beat?
A rhythm that accents the weak part of the beat instead of the strong part.
What is syncopation?
The Italian term meaning “gradually slow down.”
What is ritardando?
The perceived highness or lowness of a sound.
What is pitch?
The scientific unit used to measure sound frequency.
What is Hertz (Hz)?
The first beat of a measure, usually emphasized.
What is the downbeat?
A note that is played louder or with more emphasis than the surrounding notes.
What is an accent?
A tempo change that feels like the music is racing faster and faster.
What is an accelerando?
A sound with a single, steady frequency, like a flute note.
What is a definite pitch?
A tuning standard of 440 Hz is used for this pitch in Western music.
What is A above middle C?
The weak beat or note that comes just before the downbeat.
What is the upbeat?
A small device that clicks at a steady rate to help keep tempo.
What is a metronome?
The measurement of tempo is often given in this unit, such as 60 or 120.
What is beats per minute (BPM)?
A sound without a clear frequency, like a drum hit.
What is an indefinite pitch?
When one pitch vibrates at exactly twice the frequency of another, the interval is this.
What is an octave?