Compare Beat Spacing

Supplied materials

• Paper and a pencil, or typed notes. Draw beat boxes and write the time for each plan.
• Example: Four equal-duration beat cells occupy the entire stated time in each plan: A occupies 8 seconds and B 4 seconds. Each cell is one beat duration, rather than a gap between two onsets. Which plan has faster beat spacing? Choices: (A) A: each beat lasts 2 seconds (B) B: each beat lasts 1 second (C) The louder pattern must be faster (D) The tempi are equal.
• Try this: Four equal-duration beat cells occupy the entire stated time in each plan: A occupies 4 seconds and B 2 seconds. Each cell is one beat duration, rather than a gap between two onsets. Which plan has faster beat spacing? Choices: (A) A: each beat lasts 1 second (B) B: each beat lasts 0.5 seconds (C) The louder pattern must be faster (D) The tempi are equal.

Learn the idea

Tempo means how fast the beat moves. If two plans have the same number of equal beats, the plan that takes less time has the faster tempo.

Look at the example. The four cells fill each whole time span, so one beat cell lasts 8/4=2 seconds in A and 4/4=1 second in B. B has a shorter interval and therefore a faster tempo. Nothing about loudness was supplied.

Use the number of beats and the time for each plan. A louder sound does not tell you that the beat is faster.

1. Look at plans A and B. Each has four equal beat boxes that fill its whole stated time.
2. Divide each plan’s time by four. Explain why the shorter time per beat makes B faster.
3. Try the check question and the three practice questions. Then read the feedback.
4. Write two four-beat plans lasting eight seconds and four seconds, then calculate seconds per beat.
5. Check your work. The plans give two seconds and one second per beat; the second is faster under this equal-spacing model.

Check your reasoning

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Take it further

Try a new example: Four equal-duration beat cells occupy the entire stated time in each plan: A occupies 20 seconds and B 10 seconds. Each cell is one beat duration, rather than a gap between two onsets. Which plan has faster beat spacing? Choices: (A) A: each beat lasts 5 seconds (B) B: each beat lasts 2.5 seconds (C) The louder pattern must be faster (D) The tempi are equal. Answer: B: each beat lasts 2.5 seconds. The four cells fill each whole time span, so one beat cell lasts 20/4=5 seconds in A and 10/4=2.5 seconds in B. B has a shorter interval and therefore a faster tempo. Nothing about loudness was supplied. Make your own: Write two four-beat plans lasting eight seconds and four seconds, then calculate seconds per beat. Check your work: The plans give two seconds and one second per beat; the second is faster under this equal-spacing model.

Nothing here is saved to an account or sent to a teacher. The answer download includes your current choice and any checked feedback. It does not include choices from the separate More practice section. Download that section separately.