Rhythm: Beats, Notes & Subdivision
Rhythm is the heartbeat of music — the pattern of sounds and silences that gives music its sense of motion, energy, and time. Let's start with the building blocks.
What Is Rhythm?
Rhythm is how music moves through time. While melody tells us which notes to play, rhythm tells us when to play them and how long to hold them. Together with melody and harmony, rhythm forms the three core pillars of music.
At the foundation of rhythm is the beat — a steady pulse that runs through a piece of music, much like a heartbeat. The tempo is the speed of that beat, measured in beats per minute (BPM). A slow ballad might be 60 BPM; a fast dance track might be 140 BPM.
Key terms: A beat is a single pulse. A measure (or bar) is a group of beats. The tempo is the speed of the beats. The meter is the recurring pattern of strong and weak beats.
Note Values
Every note in music has a specific duration — how long it sounds. These durations are called note values. In 4/4 time (the most common time signature), note values are counted relative to the quarter note, which gets one beat.
Each note value is exactly half the duration of the one above it. A whole note lasts as long as two half notes, or four quarter notes, and so on.
Note Subdivision
Notes subdivide in a clear hierarchy. One whole note divides into 2 halves, 4 quarters, 8 eighths, and 16 sixteenths. This tree shows how one bar of 4/4 can be filled with equal note values: