rhythm
the actual arrangement of durations in a particular melody
beats
provide the basic unit of measurement for time in music
meter
defined as any recurring pattern of strong and weak beats
measure/bar
any occurrence of meter with a principal strong beat and ≥1 weak beat(s)
duple meter
beats are grouped in 2s or 4s (ex. Yankee Doodle)
triple meter
beats are grouped in 3s (ex. star spangled banner)
simple meter
main beats are divided in 2
compound meter
main beats are divided in 3s
nonmetrical music
music w/o an underlying pattern
tempo
speed of music
metronome
a device which plays regular beats
syncopation
when accents are purposely displaced
language of tempo terms
Italian
adagio
slow tempo
andante
moderately slow tempo
moderato
moderate tempo
allegretto
moderately fast tempo
allegro
fast tempo
presto
very fast tempo
largo, lento, grave
slow or very slow tempo
larghetto
moderately slow tempo (faster than largo)
andantino
moderate tempo, faster than andante
vivace, vivo
lively tempo
molto allegro
tempo faster than allegro
prestissimo
very fast tempo