The Visual Story, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 8 Rhythm

Rhythm is easy to experience but difficult to describe. Rhythm is perceived in three different ways: we hear it, we see it, and we feel it. We’re most familiar with rhythm we can hear, so we will define rhythm’s subcomponents using the sound from a musician’s metronome. A metronome’s ticking sound creates beats that we recognize as rhythm. Every rhythm is made up of three subcomponents: alternation, repetition, and tempo.

Alternation

A metronome’s rhythm exists because there’s a sound followed by a moment of silence. Without alternation between sound and silence there can’t be any rhythm.

There are many types of alternation. There is alternation between sound and silence, high- and low-pitched sounds, or loud and quiet sounds, ...