beat
The basic unit of time in music — the regular pulse that listeners tap their feet to.
In Depth
A beat is the steady, recurring pulse that underlies virtually all music. When you clap along to a song or tap your foot, you are following the beat. The tempo of a piece determines how fast the beats occur, while the time signature determines how beats are grouped into bars.
Beats are hierarchical: strong beats (like beat one in any time signature) carry more weight than weak beats. This alternation of strong and weak creates meter. In 4/4 time, beats one and three are strong, while two and four are weak — though in genres like rock and funk, the backbeat (emphasis on two and four) reverses this pattern.
The human heartbeat at rest (60-80 BPM) closely matches the tempo range of andante — which is why walking-pace music feels so naturally comfortable.