Elements of Rhythm and Meter in Music

These flashcards cover key concepts related to rhythm, meter, and their elements in music.

Rhythm

The aspect of time in music.

Tie

A curved line that connects two notes of the same pitch.

Dot

A symbol that adds half the duration of the note, rest, or dot that precedes it.

Beat

The basic pulse of a musical passage.

Tempo

The rate, or speed, at which beats occur.

Measure

A full group of beats in a given meter.

Bar line

A vertical line through the staff that indicates the end of a measure.

Metric accent

Patterns of stress or accent that occur in a meter.

Duple meter

A regular meter with groupings of 2 beats.

Triple meter

A regular meter with groupings of 3 beats.

Quadruple meter

A regular meter with groupings of 4 beats.

Hypermeter

A regular grouping of measures.

Simple beat

A beat divided into two equal parts.

Compound beat

A beat divided into three equal parts.

Time signature

Shows how many beats are in a measure and which note represents the beat.

Syncopation

Rhythms that highlight/stress the weak beats or divisions.

Tuplet

The division of an undotted value into some number of equal parts other than 2, 4, 8.

Polyrhythm

Contrasting rhythms being played at the same time.

Hemiola

A rhythmic pattern of 3:2 or 2:3 ratio.

Rhythmic layering

Music comprised of layered groups of notes and rhythms.