Beat & rhythm

Pitch answers which note; rhythm answers when and how long. The steady pulse underneath is the beat, and its speed is the tempo, measured in beats per minute (BPM).

When a quarter note gets the beat, as in 4/4, a whole note lasts four beats, a half note two, a quarter note one, an eighth half a beat. Beats group into measures (bars) by a time signature — 4/4 means four quarter-note beats per bar, the most common feel in pop and rock.