The Pulse in Music

In order to understand the beat and meter, we first need to understand pulse. 

The pulse is a series of identical, regularly occuring sounds.  

Think of the ticking of a clock or an old fashioned mechanical metronome - every sound identical and all happening at a predictable interval of time.
 

Listen to Exercise 1 Audio.  This demonstrates a series of pulses.  Clap in time to the pulse.
 

Time Signature Here   

As the brain is a pattern-seeking mechanism, it is difficult to perceive this series of identical pulses without hearing them in groups - pairs, for example.  The brain has a tendency to impose a pattern when none exists.  

If you say these words in time to the pulse audio: one-two, one-two you feel this grouping even when you stop speaking.

Try saying one-two-three, one-two-three in time to the pulse audio. Do you then feel the pulse grouped in threes?
 

The pulse can be represented on the musical score as a series of notes as shown in Example 2 below.

It would be very difficult for a musician to read a series of notes written like this without getting lost.
  
Try listening to the audio again and follow the written notes from left to right.

Fortunately, music has various ways of grouping pulses and notes making the music easier to read.  This will be examined in the next lesson.