For other uses, see Beat. A beat is the basic time unit of a piece of music; for example, each tick sounded by a metronome would correspond to a beat. More technically, "the beat is the pulse of the mensural level"[1], also known as the beat level[2], the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic unit--"the denominator of the meter signature," admitting compound meters. Depending on the context, beat may denote either
- the onset of the corresponding time unit, a point in time, the very moment when the metronome ticks, or
- the complete time interval between two consecutive taps, so to say, or
- in popular music, the whole sequence of individual beats (in the sense of meter, rhythm, groove, or riddim). In hip hop music, the term 'beat' has come to be defined as the entire instrumental, non-vocal portion of the song.
Much music is characterised by a sequence of stressed and unstressed beats (often called "strong" and "weak") organised into a meter and partially indicated by a time signature, the speed of which is determined by a tempo. In the context of a time signature, the term "beat" most often refers to the bottom number - so in 3/4, most people would consider the beat to be the 4; that is, a quarter-note, or crotchet. However, in 6/8 the dotted quarter note gets the beat rather than the eighth, for example. Musicians typically find that mentally counting a regular series of beats enables them to keep synchronised even if the music is not characterised by regular rhythm.
Metric levels faster than the beat level are division levels, and slower levels are multiple levels.
A hyperbeat is one unit of hypermeter, generally a measure, as is to a hypermeasure what a beat is to a measure.[3]
The following types of beats may create more or less syncopation.
Downbeat
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The impulse that occurs at the beginning of a bar in measured music.[4] In music performance and music theory, the "downbeat" is the first beat of a measure in music. It is named after the downward stroke of the director or conductor's baton at the start of each measure. This differentiates it from the back beat on the even beats.
Upbeat
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An Upbeat is an unaccented beat or beats that occur before the first beat of a following measure. In other words, this is an impulse in a measured rhythm that immediately precedes, and hence anticipates, the downbeat, which is the strongest of such impulses. It is also not only this, but also can be the last beat in a normal 4/4 bar where that bar precedes a new bar of music.[5]
Beginning of Bach's BWV736, with anacrusis in red.
It is also an anticipatory note or succession of notes occurring before the first barline of a piece, sometimes referred to as an -upbeat figure-, section or phrase. An alternative expression for "upbeat figure" is "anacrusis" (from Greek. ana: "up towards" and krousis: "to strike"; Fr. anacrouse). This term was borrowed from poetry where it refers to one or more unstressed extrametrical syllables at the beginning of a line.[5]
Off-beat
The Off-beat is a musical term commonly applied to rhythms that emphasize the weak beats of a bar. According to Grove Music, the „Offbeat“ is [often] where the downbeat is replaced by a rest or is tied over from the preceding bar".[6] The downbeat can never be the off-beat because it is the strongest beat in 4/4 time.[7]
In music that progresses regularly in 4/4 time, the first beat of the bar is the strongest, the third is the next strongest, and the second and fourth are weaker; subdivisions (like eighth notes) of any of the beats are weaker than the main beats and if used frequently in a rhythm can make it off-beat.[6]
Certain genres in particular tend to emphasize the off-beat. This emphasis is a defining characteristic of Ska music and its successors.
In terms of dancing video games (such as Dance Dance Revolution and In the Groove), offbeat notes are said to be off-sync, meaning that they do not fit in with the music. However, some offbeat notes are needed, such as in the songs "Ska A Go Go" and "Incognito". These help follow the rhythm of the song, but can be difficult to step at times.
See also
References
- ^ Berry, Wallace (1976/1986). Structural Functions in Music, p.349. ISBN 0-486-25384-8.
- ^ DeLone et al. (Eds.) (1975). Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music, p.213. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-049346-5.
- ^ (2005) "Glossary.", in in Deborah Stein (ed.),: Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517010-5.
- ^ "Downbeat". Grove Music Online (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-10.
- ^ a b DOGANTAN, MINE (2007). "Upbeat". Grove Music Online. Retrieved on 2007-02-10.
- ^ a b "Beat: Accentuation. (i) Strong and weak beats.". Grove Music Online (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-10.
- ^ "Off-beat". Grove Music Online (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-10.
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