We explain what rhythm is, the elements that make it up and what musical rhythm is. Also, what is melody and rhythm in physical education.
What is rhythm?
Rhythm is any regular and recurring movement, marked by a series of opposite or different events that occur over time. In other words, the rhythm is a flow of movement of a visual or sound nature whose internal order can be perceived and even reproduced.
Rhythm underlies most art forms, especially music, poetry and dance, since The nature of rhythm is subjective, it depends on each person's perceptions. There could well be a rhythm behind all the things that happen in time, as long as they involve a certain margin of repetition.
Rhythms have a series of elements, such as:
- Pulse This is the name given to each of the units of the series of repetitions that make up the rhythm, which can be regular or irregular, accelerated or slowed down.
- Accent. It is a certain emphasis that is given to a given pulse, and that coincides with its main energy discharge.
- Compass This is the particular way in which various pulses are organized into groups, generating a contrast between their weak and strong, accented and unstressed parts.
- Tempo. This is known as the speed or frequency at which repetitions occur, which is why it is usually measured through beats per minute (bpm).
- Duration. Determined from the relationship between pulse and tempo.
The word rhythm comes from Greek rhytmós which translates “regular and recurring movement” or also “symmetry.” Its study occupies different fields of human knowledge, depending on the subject in which it manifests itself: rhythm in music, rhythm in the performing arts, in painting, in heartbeats, in the flow of spoken language, in architecture and even in natural phenomena and laws.
See also: Fine arts
musical rhythm
Since music consists of a succession of notes and harmonic sounds whose totality expresses a set of emotions or sensations rhythm is a fundamental notion in it (along with melody and harmony), both in its academic and popular variants.
It could be said that rhythm is the driving force of music. The musical rhythm comprises the frequency with which cycles within a melody or song repeat each other, that is, the frequency of intervals and sounds that are transmitted to the listener and who is able to reproduce them with their body. That, among other things, is what dance or dance consists of.
Rhythm and melody
The musical rhythm is articulated from short, medium and long sounds as well as the spaces of silence between them. The specific way of articulating these elements is known as melody and it responds to cultural reasons: Western music historically tends to ignore silences and flow; while the eastern one incorporates silence as another note, you could say.
The melodies, thus, receive specific names and are due to the creativity of the musicians since they have an entity of their own. For example, nowadays we often talk about riffs or of alonedepending on whether it is respectively a repetitive melody, usual in the accompaniment, or rather an autonomous melody, unique within the piece.
Rhythm in physical education
Rhythm and coordination have a common basis, which It involves knowing how to translate a frequency of energy discharges and intervals into actions. These movements usually involve more than one part of the body, as occurs in dance, and modify the center of gravity of the human body, test its balance, among other physical talents.
Hence, physical education often uses music and rhythm for its activities. Thus, the human body obeys the rhythm and translates it into a series of muscular tensions and distensions, gestures and efforts, enhancing not only the body's harmonious response to external stimuli, but also its ability to express itself, which is useful for the development of performing arts (dance, theater, etc.).
Sports activities such as aerobics, circuit exercise or forms of recreational boxing (taebo, etc.) often use music for these purposes, and also to impress in the minds of athletes the willingness to follow the rhythm emotionally.
