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Definition of Downbeat
1. Noun. The first beat of a musical measure (as the conductor's arm moves downward).
Definition of Downbeat
1. Noun. (music) The accented beat at the beginning of a bar (indicated by a conductor with a downward stroke) ¹
2. Adjective. sad or pessimistic ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Downbeat
1. the first beat of a musical measure [n -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Downbeat
Literary usage of Downbeat
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of Music by William Smythe Babcock Mathews, Emil Liebling (1896)
"... It. -ч Nel battere (net bät-tä're), It. In the downbeat of the measure. ...
The downbeat, or accented part of the bar. ..."
2. Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups by Harvey Daniels (2002)
"(Looking back, Maggie says that this selection proved to be too downbeat, and
she plans to try another one next year.) As they worked through the book, ..."
3. Trouvères and Troubadours: A Popular Treatise by Pierre Aubry (1914)
"In the present case, taking the spring at the beginning of a step as coinciding
with the downbeat of a bar, we get three springs, three steps, three bars, ..."
4. Youth & Drugs: Society's Mixed Messages edited by Hank Resnik (1994)
"Other constraints on commercials include the fear of offending or interfering
with sales by being too negative or downbeat. ..."
5. Music and Musicians by Albert Lavignac (1903)
"... and even upon the downbeat;, is when they are syncopated, as in the following
example: Simple as this rule is, there seems to be great difficulty in its ..."
6. A History of France by George William Kitchin (1896)
"... you-r poor people are but skin and bone; worn out, downbeat, more dead than
alive: we beseech you to do something to assuage the disorders of finance. ..."
7. A Dictionary of Musical Terms: Containing Upwards of 9,000 English, French by Theodore Baker (1895)
"... the downbeat of every second measure being strongly marked ; presumably invented
in France about 1853, as a variant of the Polish polka, mazurka, ..."
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