Inmusic andmusic theory, thebeat is the basic unit of time, thepulse (regularly repeating event), of themensural level[1] (orbeat level).[2] The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a piece of music, or the numbers a musiciancounts while performing, though in practice this may be technically incorrect (often the first multiple level).[clarification needed] In popular use,beat can refer to a variety of related concepts, includingpulse,tempo,meter, specificrhythms, andgroove.
Rhythm in music is characterized by a repeating sequence ofstressed and unstressed beats (often called "strong" and "weak") and divided intobars organized bytime signature andtempo indications.
Beats are related to and distinguished from pulse, rhythm (grouping), and meter:
Meter is the measurement of the number of pulses between more or less regularly recurring accents. Therefore, in order for meter to exist, some of the pulses in a series must be accented—marked for consciousness—relative to others. When pulses are thus counted within a metric context, they are referred to asbeats.
Metric levels faster than the beat level are division levels, and slower levels are multiple levels. Beat has always been an important part of music. Somemusic genres such asfunk will in general de-emphasize the beat, while other such asdisco emphasize the beat to accompany dance.[4]
As beats are combined to form measures, each beat is divided into parts. The nature of this combination and division is what determines meter. Music where two beats are combined is induple meter, music where three beats are combined is intriple meter. Music where the beat is split in two are in simple meter, music where the beat is split in three are called compound meter. Thus, simple duple (2
4,4
4, etc.), simple triple (3
4), compound duple (6
8), and compound triple (9
8). Divisions which require numbers,tuplets (for example, dividing aquarter note into five equal parts), are irregular divisions and subdivisions. Subdivision begins two levels below the beat level: starting with a quarter note or a dotted quarter note, subdivision begins when the note is divided into sixteenth notes.
Thedownbeat is the first beat of thebar, i.e. number 1. Theupbeat is the last beat in the previous bar which immediately precedes, and hence anticipates, the downbeat.[5] Both terms correspond to the direction taken by the hand of aconductor.
This idea of directionality of beats is significant when you translate its effect on music. The crusis of a measure or a phrase is a beginning; it propels sound and energy forward, so the sound needs to lift and have forward motion to create a sense of direction. The anacrusis leads to the crusis, but doesn't have the same 'explosion' of sound; it serves as a preparation for the crusis.[6]
An anticipatory note or succession of notes occurring before the first barline of a piece is sometimes referred to as an upbeat figure, section or phrase. Alternative expressions include "pickup" and "anacrusis" (the latter ultimately from Greekana ["up towards"] andkrousis ["strike"/"impact"] through Frenchanacrouse). In English,anákrousis translates literally as "pushing up". The term anacrusis was borrowed from the field ofpoetry, in which it refers to one or more unstressed extrametricalsyllables at the beginning of a line.[5]
In typical Western music4
4 time,counted as "1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4...", the first beat of the bar (downbeat) is usually the strongestaccent in the melody and the likeliest place for a chord change, the third is the next strongest: these are "on" beats. The second and fourth are weaker—the "off-beats". Subdivisions (like eighth notes) that fall between the pulse beats are even weaker and these, if used frequently in a rhythm, can also make it "off-beat".[9]
The effect can be easily simulated by evenly and repeatedly counting to four. As a background against which to compare these various rhythms a bass drum strike on the downbeat and a constant eighth note subdivision on ride cymbal have been added, which would be counted as follows (bold denotes a stressed beat):
So "off-beat" is a musical term, commonly applied tosyncopation, that emphasizes the weak even beats of a bar, as opposed to the usual on-beat. This is a fundamental technique ofAfrican polyrhythm that transferred to popular western music. According to Grove Music, the "Offbeat is [often] where the downbeat is replaced by a rest or is tied over from the preceding bar".[9] The downbeat can never be the off-beat because it is the strongest beat in4
4 time.[10] Certain genres tend to emphasize the off-beat, where this is a defining characteristic of rock'n'roll andska music.
Aback beat, orbackbeat, is asyncopated accentuation on the "off" beat. In a simple4
4 rhythm these are beats 2 and 4.[13]
"A big part of R&B's attraction had to do with the stompin' backbeats that make it so eminently danceable," according to theEncyclopedia of Percussion.[14] An early record with an emphasised back beat throughout was "Good Rockin' Tonight" byWynonie Harris in 1948.[15] Although drummerEarl Palmer claimed the honor for "The Fat Man" byFats Domino in 1949, which he played on, saying he adopted it from the final "shout" or "out" chorus common inDixieland jazz. There is a hand-clapping back beat on "Roll 'Em Pete" byPete Johnson andBig Joe Turner, recorded in 1938. A distinctive back beat can be heard on "Back Beat Boogie" byHarry James And His Orchestra, recorded in late 1939.[16] Other early recorded examples include the final verse of "Grand Slam" byBenny Goodman in 1942 and some sections of TheGlenn Miller Orchestra's "(I've Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo", whileamateur direct-to-disc recordings ofCharlie Christian jamming atMinton's Playhouse around the same time have a sustained snare-drum backbeat on the hottest choruses.
OutsideU.S. popular music, there are early recordings of music with a distinctive backbeat, such as the 1949 recording of Mangaratiba byLuiz Gonzaga in Brazil.[17]
Slap bass executions on the backbeat are found in styles of country western music of the 1930s, and the late 1940s early 1950s music of Hank Williams reflected a return to strong backbeat accentuation as part of the honky tonk style of country.[19]In the mid-1940s "hillbilly" musicians theDelmore Brothers were turning out boogie tunes with a hard driving back beat, such as the No. 2 hit "Freight Train Boogie" in 1946, as well as in other boogie songs they recorded.[citation needed] SimilarlyFred Maddox's characteristic backbeat, aslapping bass style, helped drive a rhythm that came to be known asrockabilly, one of the early forms ofrock and roll.[20] Maddox had used this style as early as 1937.[21]
In today's popular music thesnare drum is typically used to play the backbeat pattern.[7] Earlyfunk music often delayed one of the backbeats so as "to give a 'kick' to the [overall] beat".[18]
Some songs, such asThe Beatles' "Please Please Me" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand",The Knack's "Good Girls Don't" andBlondie's cover ofThe Nerves' "Hanging on the Telephone", employ a double backbeat pattern.[22] In a double backbeat, one of the off beats is played as two eighth notes rather than one quarter note.[22]
Cross-rhythm. A rhythm in which the regular pattern of accents of the prevailing meter is contradicted by a conflicting pattern and not merely a momentary displacement that leaves the prevailing meter fundamentally unchallenged
Ahyperbeat is one unit ofhypermeter, generally a measure. "Hypermeter is meter, with all its inherent characteristics, at the level where measures act as beats."[24][25]
Beat perception refers to the human ability to extract a periodic time structure from a piece of music.[26][27]This ability is evident in the way people instinctively move their body in time to a musical beat, made possible by a form ofsensorimotorsynchronization called 'beat-based timing'. This involves identifying the beat of a piece of music and timing the frequency of movements to match it.[28][29][30]Infants across cultures display a rhythmicmotor response but it is not until between the ages of 2 years 6 months and 4 years 6 months that they are able to match their movements to the beat of an auditory stimulus.[31][32]
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