Tempo and rhythm are essential to every piece of music. On the other hand, you may find that the terms tempo and rhythm are confusing because they often refer to the play speed of a song. However, they are different.
Rhythm gives the structure of a piece of music, while tempo controls the speed of how you play the music.
In this post, let’s take a closer look at the tempo and rhythm.
Table of Contents
What is the Difference Between Tempo and Rhythm?
In music,
- the TEMPO is the rate of the movement or the speed of a music piece, and
- the RHYTHM is a repeated pattern of sound, rest, and force in a song.
For example, in Waltz, the rhythm is a low bass note followed by two higher notes: boom-cha-cha, boom-cha-cha……
In addition, a Waltz can be played fast or a little slower; the play speed is the tempo.
You usually start with rhythm first because you want to learn the beat sequence. Then, you’ll practice the tempo to ensure repeated patterns are consistent throughout the music piece.
The Time Signature
In Western music notation, the time signature is used to express the tempo and rhythm. The time signature is the number of beats in each measure. The time signature appears at the beginning of the staff right after the clef symbol.
The following are examples of common types of time signatures, and they are also commonly known as Simple Time Signatures.
Four beats per measure. A quarter-note receives one beat.
Three beats per measure. A quarter-note receives one beat.
Two beats per measure. A quarter-note receives one beat.
This is called common time and is the same as 4/4 time.
This means each note has half of its written value. Two beats per measure. A half-note receives one beat.
As you can see, the top number indicates the number of beats per measure; moreover, the bottom number indicates the type of note receiving one beat.
Compound Time Signature
The compound time signature divides the top number of beats per measure and the value of the eighth note by 3, giving the eighth note a beat.
This is an example of a compound time signature.
The bottom number for the compound time signature is 8 to indicate the eighth note. Since the notes are grouped by 3, the top number usually is a multiple of 3, such as 6, 9, or 12.
Why do we use the compound time signature? It changes the rhythm of the music. Let’s look at some examples.
Simple 3/4 Time Signature
Compound 6/8 Time Signature
Tempo
As mentioned earlier, the tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece of music. Conventionally, the tempo is indicated by a word or phrase, which is very often in Italian in music scores.
Composers use tempo variations to express the “color” and emotion of their music pieces.
| Basic Tempo Markings | Speed and Expression |
|---|---|
| Largo | Very slow and stately |
| Largamente | Broadly. Quite slow. |
| Larghetto | It’s faster than Largo but slow. |
| Grave | Seriously, solemn. |
| Lento | Slowly (often used temporarily). |
| Adagio | Slowly, very expressive. |
| Andante | Calmly, but moving right along. |
| Andantino | Slightly faster than Andante. |
| Moderato | Moderately. It is the medium point between the slowest and fastest tempo. |
| Allegretto | Animated, but less than Allegro. |
| Allegro | Lively, animated in movement. |
| Vivace | More rapidly than Allegro. |
| Presto | Very fast. |
| Prestissimo | The fastest tempo. |
Metronome
A metronome is a device that produces an audible click at a regular interval that the user can set. It helps the music to be played at the tempo indicated by the composer.
Nowadays, almost all digital pianos come with a built-in metronome that serves the same function as the conventional metronome.
In many music scores, you see the specific metronome markings at the top that specify the desired tempo for the piece.
Metronome Marking Examples:
Forty metronome beats per minute; a half note receives one beat.
Eighty-eight metronome beats per minute; a quarter note receives one beat.
You may read an article about how to use a metronome.
Syncopation
In music notation, we can move the natural strong beat from its usual place to a weak beat using unique accents (>). By doing this, we have syncopation. As a result, syncopation changes the natural rhythm of the time signature.
The Tie
The tie is a line curved between two notes of the same pitch (see example above). The first note is played and held for the time duration of both. You do not play the second note; instead, hold.
To Wrap Up…
In this post, we explained the difference between tempo and rhythm. In simple terms, rhythm is the structure, and tempo is the speed. The time signature tells you the number of beats or counts in a measure, as well as the type of notes that receive one beat.
The composers can use accent marks or ties to change the natural rhythm from the time signature that creates syncopation, ultimately achieving rhythm variations.
Hope this helped you to understand the tempo and rhythm, and time signatures. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Related: Music Fundamentals Series