Here is the meaning of these three terms -- Beat, tempo, and rhythm.
We'll use this sheet music as an example: At the beginning of each line you see a letter "C". That C stands for the word "common", which is what people sometimes write instead of writing "4/4".
4/4 is the BEAT of the song; that means you count out the time "1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4". Lots of songs are in 4/4 time, there are also a lot that are written in 3/4 time ("1 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 3"). That is the BEAT (music scholars also call it the METER).
The TEMPO is the speed of the music. There a plenty of songs that are in 4/4 time, some of them are fast, others are slow. That's all the tempo is.
Now look at the notes on the sheet music. Some of the notes are empty circles and some are filled-in circles. These different types of notes tell you how long each note lasts. If you listen to the audio for the song, you'll hear the sequence of longer notes and shorter notes that are a part of the tune.
Here's the audio: Glory to His Name
That series of notes ( long-short-short long-short-short long-long-long [pause] ) is the RHYTHM. The singers have a rhythm they are singing while the musicians will be playing other rhythms to accompany them.
This song, Glory to His Name, has a very simple rhythm. Other songs we sing have more complicated rhythms. Sometimes in the choir one part will be singing a line that has one rhythm while another part sings a different rhythm that plays against it.
Understanding these concepts of beat and rhythm can be useful in choir singing. If the director can tell you, "on the chorus, you start on beat 3", then you can feel where you are and come in right on time.
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