BECE JHS
Beat is the steady pulse. Rhythm is the pattern of long and short sounds laid on that pulse. Tempo is how fast the pulse moves.
If you clap a steady "one, one, one" you are keeping the beat. A rhythm can hold some beats and hurry through others, the way a song does when some words last longer. Tempo is the speed of the beat: a lullaby is slow, a recreational dance is often fast. Pitch is how high or low a sound is, which is different from loudness. A drum can be loud or soft without changing its pitch much. A flute changes pitch when the player opens and closes holes, which changes the length of the air that vibrates.
Ghanaian music uses instruments you should be able to name and place. The donno is an hourglass talking drum held under the arm. The fontomfrom is a large state drum played with sticks. The gyil is a xylophone of the Upper West. The atenteben is a bamboo flute. The gankogui is a double bell, often keeping time. Call and response is a form: a lead singer sings a line and the group answers. It is not the same thing as rhythm. Rhythm is the pattern of durations. Call and response is a way of organising who sings.
The Creative Arts and Design tips guide sets out music beside design, visual art, and dance and drama. BECE Creative Arts and Design tips
Beat, rhythm and tempo are three marks, not one. Do not define rhythm as "the beat". Tempo is speed, not the pattern. Name an instrument and say how it is played or what family it belongs to. "Drums" alone is thin when the question asks for a named example. Call and response needs both the leader and the answering group.
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
3 marks
Distinguish between beat, rhythm and tempo. (3 marks)
Beat is the steady pulse. Rhythm is the pattern of long and short sounds on that pulse. Tempo is the speed of the beat.
4 marks
(a) Name one Ghanaian drum and one Ghanaian melodic instrument. (2 marks)
(b) State how sound is produced on the melodic instrument you named. (2 marks)
(a) The donno is a drum. The atenteben is a melodic instrument.
(b) The player blows across the atenteben and the air inside the bamboo vibrates. Covering the holes changes the pitch.
3 marks
Explain call and response, and state one reason a group uses it. (3 marks)
A leader sings a line and the group sings an answer. It lets everyone take part, and the group can learn a song without reading it.
More questions on this topic are inside glearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
Practise Creative Arts and Design freeThe beat is the steady pulse you could walk to. Rhythm is the pattern of longer and shorter sounds placed on that pulse. Tempo is how fast or slow the beat is.
A leader sings or plays a phrase and the group answers with another phrase. It is a way of sharing a song. It is not the same thing as the rhythm, which is the pattern of long and short sounds. All BECE Creative Arts and Design past questions