The Music Dictionary
Rhythm, Meter and Tempo Terms
Every rhythm and tempo term in The Music Dictionary, with its meaning in music.
- Accelerando
- A gradual increase in tempo, often building momentum toward a climax.
- Adagio
- A slow tempo indication whose exact speed depends on period, style, and context.
- Alla breve
- Cut-time notation, commonly indicating two half-note beats per measure.
- Anacrusis
- An upbeat or pickup that begins before the first complete measure.
- Andante
- A moderately moving tempo, traditionally suggesting a walking pace.
- Backbeat
- Accents on beats two and four in much popular music, anchoring a groove.
- Beat
- The steady pulse you tap your foot to.
- Beat subdivision
- The division of a beat into smaller equal or unequal durations.
- Compound meter
- Meter in which each principal beat normally divides into three parts.
- Cross-rhythm
- The simultaneous interplay of contrasting rhythmic groupings across one pulse.
- Dotted rhythm
- A pattern shaped by notes extended by a dot, which adds half their written value.
- Double time
- A perceived or performed doubling of rhythmic activity relative to a reference pulse.
- Downbeat
- The first beat of a measure, often carrying structural emphasis.
- Duple meter
- Meter organized around two principal beats per measure.
- Fermata
- A sign inviting a note or rest to be prolonged beyond its notated duration.
- Free rhythm
- Musical timing not governed by a regularly recurring metrical pulse.
- Groove
- The characteristic rhythmic feel produced by timing, accent, articulation, and interaction.
- Half time
- A rhythmic feel in which major accents move at half their previous rate.
- Hemiola
- A regrouping that makes two groups of three sound like three groups of two, or conversely.
- Hocket
- A technique distributing successive notes of a line among alternating performers.
- Irregular meter
- A meter built from unequal beat groupings, such as 7/8 arranged 2+2+3.
- Largo
- A broad tempo marking, among the slowest, usually suggesting spacious phrasing.
- Meter
- The organization of recurring beats into patterns of stronger and weaker positions.
- Metric modulation
- A tempo change established through a rhythmic value shared by old and new pulses.
- Metronome mark
- A numerical tempo instruction specifying beats per minute for a chosen note value.
- Offbeat
- A position between primary beats that can gain expressive emphasis.
- Ostinato
- A persistently repeated musical pattern, often rhythmic or melodic.
- Pickup measure
- An incomplete opening measure containing notes before the first full downbeat.
- Polymeter
- Simultaneous meters whose bar lengths or accent cycles do not align regularly.
- Polyrhythm
- Different rhythmic divisions sounded at once, such as three against two.
- Presto
- A tempo marking faster than allegro, typically suggesting urgency and brilliance.
- Pulse
- The steady, even beat you feel under the music, like the tick of a clock.
- Quantization
- The adjustment of recorded note events toward a chosen rhythmic grid.
- Rallentando
- A gradual slowing of tempo, often with a sense of easing or relaxation.
- Ritardando
- A progressive reduction in speed. Its expressive effect depends on the phrase.
- Ritenuto
- An immediate holding back of the tempo, more sudden than a ritardando.
- Rubato
- Expressive flexibility in timing that reshapes a phrase without making its pulse arbitrary.
- Shuffle
- A groove with unequal subdivisions, often approximating a long-short pattern.
- Simple meter
- Meter in which the principal beat normally divides into two equal parts.
- Swing
- A rhythmic approach involving unequal subdivisions and stylistic placement of accents.
- Syncopation
- An accent or continuation that challenges the expected metrical emphasis.
- Tactus
- The regular beat level a listener or performer senses as the music’s basic pulse.
- Tempo
- The speed at which musical beats recur.
- Tempo giusto
- An instruction to maintain a suitable, regular tempo without excessive flexibility.
- Time signature
- Notation specifying a measure’s metrical organization and note-value reference.
- Tresillo
- A three-attack rhythmic pattern often represented as 3+3+2 subdivisions.
- Triplet
- A group of three notes performed in the time ordinarily allotted to two of the same value.
- Tuplet
- A grouping that fits a specified number of notes into a different usual time span.
- Upbeat
- A weak metrical position leading toward a stronger beat.
- Vamp
- A short repeated accompaniment figure supporting performance or improvisation.
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