What is Musical Rhythm?

The answer to the question, "what is musical rhythm?" could encompass all sorts of things. I'm going to approach it mainly in a technical sense. So here goes.

Musical rhythm is made up of a bunch of things. First, there's always a pace to a piece of music. There are slow songs and fast songs. They go at different speeds. So, the speed in which you play notes is part of rhythm.

But, every note is written in a way so that you know just how long to hold them. You can't play every note fast just because the speed of the song is fast. Some notes are held for longer times than others. So the speed of a song really has to do with the beat.

The beat is an important part in answering the question, "What is musical rhythm?" Notes are played long or short in relation to the beat. Some notes are held for 2 beats. Some are held for half a beat.

If you have a bunch of notes that each get 1 beat, you just play them steadily one after another. Now, if the speed of the beat is fast, you'll play those notes fast. If the speed is slow, you'll play it slow. But in both examples they each get one beat.

There are a couple more things that go into musical rhythm. Aside from notes, there are also rests. They are times that you don't play anything. Times of silence. This is also a part of rhythm and are played according to the beat.

The notes and rests in music are governed by something called a time signature. They tell you how many notes and rests you can play in a bar. Time signatures can be a little confusing so to learn more about them, I suggest looking at the piano rhythm lessons page.

So, to technically answer the question, "what is musical rhythm?", we say it's a collection of notes and rests played according to a beat at a certain speed. That about sums it up. You can check out the what the rhythm symbols are next to learn some more.

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Piano Music Rhythm Quiz Games

We have created a series of games and quizzes to help you learn piano rhythm which takes you through the basics step by step.

Here is a rhythm memory game you might like.

More pages that might help:

Music Rythm Games
Online interavtive music rythem games and quizzes kids and adults can play on their computer or phone
Music Rhythm Symbols
Learn your music rhythm symbols including types of notes, rests, and time signatures.
Rhythm Patterns for Piano Chords | Simple & Sound Great!
There are a number of simple and easy rhythm patterns for piano chords that will get your piano chords sounding great!
Piano Rhythm Lessons
Four basic piano rhythm lessons to help you understand notes, time signatures, and how to play music on the piano.
Basic Rhythm
Learn about basic rhythm. A video tutorial plus note values and exercises to practice with.
Time Signatures in Music Explained
Time signatures in music explained for all including beginners. Find out their meaning, how to read it and see example.
Time Signature Games - Free!
Get ready to practice your time signatures with these time signature games and learning exercises. Do you know what it all means?
Counting Beats In Music
Counting beats in music is very important and one of the main things we do is use words to count these out. Here are the ways you can do this too.