Pulse, Beat, and Tempo

In music, sound is organized in both space and time. In Unit 1a, we explored how sound is organized in space, and we called this “pitch.” Now we’ll turn to the organization of sound through time. In this chapter, we’ll look at three basic concepts of musical time: pulse, beat, and tempo.

Like your heart, music typically has a regular pulse. The steady thump-thump-thump of your heart is a lot like what’s happening in almost every piece of music. In music, each one of those “thumps” is called a beat. When you tap your foot, clap, or nod along to a song, you’re going along to the beat.

Tempo is how fast or slow that pulse is, usually measured in beats per minute (bpm). Think about your own heartbeat: when you’re resting, it might beat around 72 times a minute. After you’ve been running around, it speeds up to maybe 116 beats per minute or more. Musical tempo works the same way. A slow tempo might sound calm; lullabies and love songs usually use a slow tempo. On the other hand, a fast tempo might sound exciting, like a chase scene in a movie.