Key learning points

1. Most music has a steady beat. The beat can be fast or slow.
2. When the beat is fast, we say it has a fast tempo. When the beat is slow we say it has a slow tempo.
3. The rhythm matches the pattern of the words or syllables in a song.
4. Using stick notation is one way of writing down the rhythm of a song.

Keywords

• Beat - the playing or showing of the steady pulse, like the ticking of a clock

• Tempo - how fast or slow the music is played

• Rhythm - the pattern of sounds that we play and sing

• Syllable - a part of a word

• Stick notation - a way of writing rhythms down

Common misconception