Rhythm is arguably the most important part of music. It’s what drives the music, keeps it going, and keeps musicians playing together like musicians. Without rhythm, there is no music. You may say that notes are required to make music music, but this is not true. All you need is a rhythm and something to make sound with.

The most basic forms of music have no tune at all, just a rhythm. Take Native American drumming as a good example. Frequently all they have is those drums, and yet the make music just the same. It’s just a basic rhythm, and it is enough to get your foot tapping.

The rhythm of a piece of written music is made up of two things. The time signature) and the tempo. Both can be seen in the above image. The 3/4 indicates two things, how many beats in a measure, and which…