Terms you NEED to know!

Downbeat, down beat or Down Beat may refer to:

• Downbeat, the first beat of a measure in music. This term originated from orchestral conducting, where the lowest point on the baton signals the first downbeat in a given measure. It is now used widely throughout music to also indicate the beginning of a piece of music.

Bass note

In music theory, the bass note of a chord or sonority is the lowest note played or notated. While the bass note is often the root or fundamental of the chord, it does not have to be, and sometimes one of the other pitches of the chord will be found in the bass. See: inversion (music).

What is a root note?  I am going to quote from studybass.com

"A root note is the main note on which a chord is built. It is the foundation, or root, of the chord. For example, the three notes G, B, and D form a G major chord. The note G is the chord's root note.


Curious about the bass guitar and what it does?  Click the next link, the folks at studybass.com put it very nicely.

http://www.studybass.com/lessons/common-bass-patterns/roots-to-chords/