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Rhythm is a general term used to describe the motion of music in time. The most fundamental element of rhythm is the pulse, or the beat. A musical event may be emphasized through the use of an accent. There are at least three ways to create an accent: dynamic, agogic, and tonic. A dynamic accent is simply when one note or chord is played louder than all the others. An agogic accent is when a note is longer than surrounding notes, and a tonic accent is when a note is higher than surrounding notes. It is possible to use a combination of these methods to form a stronger accent, but usually one method alone is enough to create a proper accent.
Meter is the regularly occurring pattern of pulse. Essentially, there are only two major forms of meter: duple and triple. Duple meter is meter in 2, Triple is meter in 3. This means that the pulse either is divided by 2 or 3, or a combination of the two. It is important to realize the true pulse of a piece, and to make sure that you can pick out either a 1-2 pattern or a 1-2-3 pattern (or a combination.)
When a part of a measure which is normally unstressed is accented, the rhythm is called syncopated. For instance, if you have a 4/4 measure with 8 eighth notes in it, playing a pattern of C-D, C-D, (up one step), and there is an accent on the D. This is the upbeat, and is not normally stressed, however syncopation changes that.
Motives are also a large part of rhythm. Many motives are purely rhythmical, and almost all motives rely on the rhythm to some degree. Cadences often end with a longer note than the previous note values, or are followed by a rest. Phrases can also exist on the rhythmic level, completely absent of a melodic pattern. Harmonic rhythm is the principle signal of the meter. Where the chords fall is very important to the listener trying to decipher the meter. For instance, if you were in 4/4 time, but layed down a new chord every 3 beats, it would be incredibly difficult to know if you were in 3/4, 6/8, or 4/4.
