Rhythm explained: beat, tempo and time signature

What the beat is, how tempo sets the speed, and how to read the two numbers at the start of a piece.

By Piedbells Music

Rhythm is what makes music move. Three ideas explain most of it: the beat, the tempo and the time signature.

The beat

The beat is the steady pulse you tap your foot to. It keeps going underneath the music, like a heartbeat. When musicians count “1, 2, 3, 4”, they are counting beats.

Try it: put on a song you like and tap along. That steady tap is the beat.

Tempo

Tempo is the speed of the beat. Composers often write it in Italian at the start of a piece:

Adagio: slow.
Andante: at a walking pace.
Allegro: fast and lively.

Tempo can also be written as a number of beats per minute. A metronome clicks at that speed so you can practise steadily.

Note lengths

Different notes last for different numbers of beats. In British English they have these names:

Semibreve: 4 beats.
Minim: 2 beats.
Crotchet: 1 beat.
Quaver: half a beat (two quavers fit in one beat).

Time signatures

The time signature is the pair of numbers at the start of a piece.

The top number tells you how many beats are in each bar.
The bottom number tells you which note gets one beat. A 4 means a crotchet.

Common time signatures:

4/4: four crotchet beats in a bar. Used in a great deal of popular and classical music.
3/4: three crotchet beats in a bar. The feel of a waltz.
2/4: two crotchet beats in a bar. The feel of a march.
6/8: six quavers in a bar, usually felt as two groups of three. It has a lilting, swinging feel.

Clap it

Set a slow, steady beat by tapping your foot.
Clap four crotchets: one clap on each tap.
Clap two minims: one clap every two taps, holding the sound.
Clap eight quavers: two claps for every tap.

Keep the foot steady while the claps change. That is rhythm.

Learning with a tutor

Rhythm, keys, scales and chords are part of every Piedbells theory programme, and your instrument tutor brings them into the pieces you play.