Rhythm

Rhythm is probably the most basic form of music. Even new born babies can recognize rhythm.

The Free Dictionary explains rhythm as: The patterned, recurring alternations of contrasting elements of sound or speech. Crossroads in Music (p. 12) defines it as: “the temporal organization of sounds in music.” Rhythm is made up of “regularly spaced rhythmic pulses called beats” and “the speed of the beats is called tempo” (p. 12, 13). These beats are often grouped together “into regularly recurring patterns” known as meter. Each grouping is called a measure (p 13, 14) and every measure usually has beats that are stronger accented than the other beats.

Note that this is similar to poetry (and therefore lyrics). A poem may also have a rhythm which is structured or regular, which is also known as the poem’s meter. The groupings in poetry are not called measures, but feet (singular: foot). Every foot usually has word syllables that are more stressed than other syllables.

Not all songs have a clear distinguishable rhythm – in which case we refer to them as having flexible or unmetered rhythm. Poems that do not have a clear meter are known as free verse or cadenced verse. Some pieces of music may have multiple layers of rhythm sounding at the same time – this is referred to as polyrhythm. Sometimes polyrhythm may be in contradiction and is known as syncopation or off-beats. This happens when rhythms are not perfectly aligned with the strong pulses in the underlying meter. (Crossroads in Music, p. 16, 17.)