Year 10 GCSE Music - Rhythm and Metre

Grave

Heavy or serious, 40 - 60 BPM

Largo

Slow and broad, 50 - 66 BPM

Lento

Slow, 60 - 66 BPM

Andante

Walking pace, 66 - 72 BPM

Moderato

Moderate speed, 72 - 84 BPM

Allegretto

Quite lively and light-hearted, 76 - 96 BPM

Allegro

Lively or cheerful, 96 - 120 BPM

Vivace

Full of life, 110 - 140 BPM

Presto

Fast, 140 - 180 BPM

Prestissimo

Very fast, 180 - 210 BPM

'C' symbol as a time signature

'Common time' aka 4 / 4 time sig.

Draw a crotchet rest please

Simple time

Time sig. where beat is divisible by two

Compound time

Time sig. where beat is divisible by three

Pulse

Series of uniformally-spaced beats setting the tempo of a piece

Regular rhythm

Pattern repeated for the entire length of a composition

Irregular rhythm

Involves dividing the beat differently than what is allowed by the time signature - # beats changes

Free rhythm

Without metre - lacks a regular pattern of strong and weak beats

Augmentation

Note lengths doubled

Diminution

Note lengths halved

Hemiola

Where there are two even notes in the space of 3

Cross rhythm

Two rhythms working against each other, often with different metre

Triplet

Group of three notes played in the time of 2

Syncopation

Where notes stretch across the beat

Rubato

'Robbed time', slowing down and then speeding up again in a piece of music, for expression

Polyrhythm

Multiple layered rhythms

Bi rhythm

Two independent rhythms played simultaneously

Where a bi rhythm may be found

African music

Drum fill

Short musical passage by drums deviating from the main rhythm to connect different sections of a song

Anacrusis

Where tune begins before first beat of a full bar

Scotch snap

Semi-quaver followed by a dotted quaver

Where hemiolas are often found

Dance musing during Renaissance and Baroque periods, giving the regular 3 / 4 pulse a rhythmic 'kick'

Renaissance

Music composed between about 1450 - 1600

Baroque

Music composed between about 1600 - 1750

Result of dotted rhythms

Clipped, quite formal effect becoming angry at a brisk tempo, illustrated by Handel's Messiah, Part 17 vs. 24

A Crusader by Maxwell Davies

Orchestral piece whose time signature changes every bar, although the music always keeps a steady crotchet pulse - no shorter rhythms used

Imperfect cadence

I-V, II-V, IV-V

Interrupted cadence

V-VI

Perfect cadence

V-I sounds finished

Plagal cadence

IV-I

Tempo

Underlying beat of music

Metre

Organisation of rhythms into certain regular patterns

Rhythm

Organisation of particular sounds by their length

Two things music would be without tempo, metre and rhythm

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