1. Rhythm

2. Basic to life Feel as we breathe Heartbeat Walking Rhythm – the flow of music through time Particular arrangement of note lengths in a piece of music Beat, meter, accent and syncopation, and tempo recurring pattern of tension and release Avoids the flow of time Has diversity Forms the shape of music Passes at varying speeds and intensities

3. Beat Beat – a regular, recurrent pulsation that divides music into equal units of time. Sometimes easy to feel and other times barely noticeable

4. Meter The organization of beats into regular groups of stronger and weaker beats. Downbeat- the first stressed beat in a measure Upbeat – the unaccented pulse before the downbeat Measure – 1 group of a fixed number of beats Duple Meter – 2 beats per measure Triple Meter – 3 beats per measure – waltz Quadruple Meter – 4 beats per measure – strong beats are 1 and 3 – jazz and rock Sextuple Meter – 6 quick beats per measure – can also be felt in 2 Quintuple Meter – 5 beats per measure Septuple Meter – 7 beats per measure – 20 th century music – combines duple and triple meter.

5. Accent and Syncopation How are notes stressed? Accent – a note emphasized by being played louder than the notes around it. Syncopation – when an accented note comes where we normally would not expect one – off beat or weak beat Used in Jazz

6. Tempo tempo- - the speed of the beat – fast or slow This usually is given at the beginning of a piece. Usually the terms are in Italian TermDefinition LargoVery slow, broad GraveVery slow, solemn AdagioSlow AndanteModerately slow, a walking pace ModeratoModerate AllegrettoModerately Fast AllegroFast VivaceLively PrestoVery Fast PrestissimoAs Fast as possible AccelerandoBecoming faster RitardandoGradual slow down

7. I Got Rhythm (1930) by George Gershwin Genre: Musical Comedy Musical Characteristics: Duple Meter Instruments: Vocal – Soprano, orchestral accompaniment

8. Unsquare Dance (1961) by Dave Brubeck Genre: 20 th century Musical Characteristics: Septuple meter, pizzicato bass tones Instruments: piano, double bass, and percussion