What is a Beat.

The beat of a piece of music forms the core of its style; it is a measure of time or the pulse of the music that dictates its rhythm.

In more popular modern styles of music it is often referred to as, tempo, meter rhythm or groove. In R&B and Hip Hop it is the non-vocal layer of a song, and is usually produced by a drum machine that plays back a recorded, looped sequence.

There are different kinds of beats that can be used, each places a different emphasis or stress on the music and deserve an explanation here.

• Downbeat. – The name comes from the down stoke of a conductors baton, and usually happens at the beginning of a bar of music. It carries the strong accent to the rhythm.
• Upbeat. – This beat anticipates the downbeat, it is unaccented and an upbeat is usually at the beginning of a bar preceding the downbeat, picture it like the up stroke of a conductors baton before the down stroke.
• On-beat /off- beat. – In 4/4 time i.e. when there are 4 beats in the bar, counted as 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4, the first beat (1) is the on-beat and carry the strongest accents, with the third (3) being the next. The off-beat two and four (2, 4) are less stressed and have a weaker accent.
• Backbeat. – A backbeat changes the accents of an on-beat and an off-beat around and places emphasis on the off-beat, so two and four are heard as being louder than one and three.

The rhythm or beat of a piece of music is usually repeated throughout the song, giving it a consistent feel. Different styles of music place emphasis on the different beats in a bar, there are machines that can make beats for you, providing you with the musical accents you need.