Musical Beat and Tempo

This lecture explores the fundamental concepts of musical beat and tempo, highlighting the universal presence of a beat or pulse in music. Topics include beat analysis, tempo changes, expressive timing, perceptual limits, inter-onset intervals, metrical structure, rhythmic syncopation, and computational models of rhythm generation. The lecture delves into the cognitive ability of entrainment to an external beat, the metrical grid, rhythmic-metrical schemata, and rhythmic transitions. It also covers rhythmic patterns in world music, onset statistics, and generative rules for rhythm. Various examples from classical music compositions are used to illustrate the concepts discussed.