How do pulse and rhythm work?

What is pulse?

In music, the pulse is a special type of beat that is regular.

It's the heartbeat of a piece of music and similar to a ticking clock.

Have you ever wondered why people tap their foot or finger while listening to music?

We don't always hear the pulse in songs but we do feel it.

The pulse helps musicians all play a piece of music together. We call this playing in time.

A marching band moves in time with the pulse of the music.

Listen to your favourite piece of music.

Can you tap your foot or finger in time with the pulse?

Discover how pulse and rhythm work with Anna Meredith and Lightning Jelly.

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Rhythm is a pattern of sounds of different lengths.

The length of a sound is called the duration. A pattern of sounds of different durations makes a rhythm.

In a pulse, all the sounds are the same length. In a rhythm, the sounds are different lengths.

Musicians and composers can combine short and long durations to create rhythms like this.

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Here's the same rhythm played on a bass drum.

Why not find two pencils to use as drum sticks and see if you can play your own rhythm!