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<u>Tempo</u> establishes how many regular intervals of time (or <u>beats</u>) should occur within a certain period of time, usually a minute. A common tempo is 120 beats per minute (bpm). This means there are 120 equal intervals of time per minute. Each beat will contain the standard minumum of controlled sound. For example, a drummer may play one stroke per beat, or a guitarist may strum a chord once per beat. Of course, doing the same thing every beat is boring. Master musicians know how to play "around" the beat, "off-beat", across several beats, or even subdivide a beat. But the point is that ''tempo provides a framework in time to create order'' - the listener does not feel lost, and a band or orchestra consisting of numerous instruments can simultize their playing to create a unified whole.
<u>Time signatures</u> describe the number of beats per measure, where each <u>measure </u> is basically a musical idea, although this is a very loose concept. The time signature consists of a pair of numbers with a slash dividing them. The top number is the number of beats per measure, and the bottom number defines what type of note corresponds to 1 beat. Most modern music is 4/4. That's 4 beats per measure with each beat represented by a quarter note. 13/8 would indicate 13 beats per measure with an eighth note lasting 1 beat. A guitarist may play each chord for one measure, strumming each beat. A drummer may play a repeating pattern every measure, with at least one stroke per beat.
The time signature often suggests a certain <u>meter</u>, which is a repeating pattern of <u>accents</u>. Consider a common drum pattern in 4/4 - boom ssss taah ssss boom ssss taah ssss. The musical idea repeats every 4 beats, with accents on both the 1st and 3rd beats but the 3rd being a bit stronger (> - ^ -). ''(- is a normal hit, > is an accent, and ^ is a strong accent.)'' Here's a similar pattern in 3/4 - boom ssss taah boom ssss taah (> - ^). The musical idea repeats every 3 beats. We could play the first pattern in 3/4 or the 2nd in 4/4, but the pattern won't fit neatly inside each measure, appearing more complex than it actually is.