In music, downbeat means: The first and usually strongest beat of a bar. It also means the conductor's downward hand movement that starts the music.
In Turkish: ölçünün ilk vuruşu, kuvvetli zaman
How it is used
Used in rehearsals to coordinate entries: 'Everyone in on the downbeat of bar 9', 'Hit the downbeat together'. Its opposite is the 'upbeat' or 'pickup', the note or notes just before the downbeat.
Example sentences
The whole band stops on the downbeat of the last bar.
Wait for my downbeat, then come in together.
Common collocations
on the downbeat
hit the downbeat
give the downbeat
downbeat of bar
upbeat and downbeat
Related terms
beatThe steady pulse that you tap your foot to in a piece of music. Beats are grouped into bars, and their speed is the tempo.
barA short section of music that contains a fixed number of beats, shown on the page between two vertical lines called bar lines.
syncopationPlacing accents on weak beats or between beats instead of on the strong beats, which makes a rhythm feel surprising and lively.
conductorThe person who leads an orchestra or choir, setting the tempo, showing entries and shaping the performance with hand movements or a baton.
rhythmThe pattern of long and short sounds and silences in music, and how they are placed in time against the beat.
