// what is rhythm?
Rhythm is the pattern of sounds over time. It's what makes you tap your foot, nod your head, or want to dance. Without rhythm, music is just a collection of notes with no pulse.
Every piece of music has a beat — a steady, repeating pulse. Think of a clock ticking. That tick is the beat. Everything in music happens in relation to that beat.
Key idea: The speed of the beat is called tempo. Tempo is measured in BPM — beats per minute. A slow ballad might be 60 BPM. A fast dance track might be 140 BPM.
// bars and time signatures
Beats are grouped into bars (also called measures). The most common grouping is 4 beats per bar — counted as 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.
This grouping is written as a time signature. The most common is 4/4 — four beats per bar, each beat is a quarter note. You'll see this in almost every pop, rock, and hip-hop song.
4/4 — four beats per bar · most common · pop, rock, hip-hop
3/4 — three beats per bar · waltz feel · "1-2-3, 1-2-3"
6/8 — six beats per bar · compound feel · flowing, triplet groove
// note lengths
Not every note lasts the same amount of time. Note lengths tell you how long to hold each sound.
Whole note — lasts 4 beats. Half note — lasts 2 beats. Quarter note — lasts 1 beat. Eighth note — half a beat. Sixteenth note — quarter of a beat.
Remember: Silence has rhythm too. A rest is a moment of silence with a specific length. The space between notes is just as important as the notes themselves.
Clap a steady beat — 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. Keep it even. Now clap only on beats 1 and 3. Now only on 2 and 4. Notice how the feel changes completely even though the tempo stays the same. That's rhythm at work.