Bien rythmé

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff, often at the opening of a piece or of an accompaniment pattern, in the modern spelling rythmé or the older rhythmé, and sometimes inside a longer direction (très sec et bien rythmé). It applies to the passage it introduces, until a freer marking replaces it.

Also spelled: bien rhythmé, bien rythme

How Composers Use It

It asks for clear, steady rhythm with the metric pattern well defined — dance rhythms and ostinatos especially — without rubato blurring them. Use it at the start of an accompaniment figure whose rhythmic profile carries the character, as Bizet does at the head of a song. Ravel joins it to très sec, showing how naturally it combines with articulation words.

Example

Bizet, 20 Mélodies, Op. 21, “Adieux de l’hôtesse arabe”, piano, m. 1: “bien rhythmé”, in the older spelling, at pp, under “Andantino.”.

Related Terms