1. Duration

2. The Basics
Duration refers to the lengths of sounds and silences in music and includes the aspects of beat, rhythm, tempo, pulse rates and absence of pulse.
Beat: the underlying pulse in music.
Rhythm: patterns of long and short sounds and silences found in music.
Tempo: the speed of the beat. Music may be fast or slow and may become faster or slower.
Metre: the grouping of the beats. Beats can be grouped in any combination, with any type of beat.

3. Terminology Syncopation: Playing notes/rhythms off the main beat.
Rubato: Free timing, play with your own sense of time.
Rhythmic ostinato: A rhythmic pattern played over and over again.
Polyrhythm: A melodic sequence that makes use of two or more different rhythms at once.
Cross rhythm: A rhythm in which the regular rhythmic pattern/beat is contradicted by a conflicting pattern/beat
Hemiola: When three beats of equal value in the time normally occupied by two beats.
Simple time: Musical rhythm or meter in which each beat in a measure can be subdivided simply into halves or quarters.
Compound time: Musical rhythm or meter in which each beat in a bar is subdivided into three smaller units (dotted notes).

4. Time Signatures

5. Tempo Terminology Adagio: Slowly Allegro: Lively and fast
Andante: At an easy walking pace
Grave: Very slow
Larghetto: Rather broadly
Largo: Broadly
Lento: Slowly
Moderato: At moderate speed
Presto: Very fast
Prestissimo: Very fast
Vivace: Lively and spirited
Vivo: Lively and vivacious
A tempo: Return to former tempo
Accelerando: Gradually become faster
L’istesso tempo: At the same speed even though changed time signature
Meno mosso: Less speed
Piu mosso: More speed