Transcript Duration - The Music Room 2

Duration
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.
Terminology
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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).
Time Signatures
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