Time
Time is the same thing in music that it is everywhere else in
nature. It is what passes while a piece of music is being played,
sung, or read. It is like the area of the surface upon which the
musical structure is to be erected, and which is measured or divided
into so many units for this, so many for that, so many for the other
portion of the musical Form. Time is that quantity which admits of the
necessary reduction to units (like the feet and inches of a yardstick),
whereby a System of Measurement is established that shall determine the
various lengths of the tones, define their rhythmic conditions, and
govern the co-operation of several melodies sung or played together.
Time is the canvas upon which the musical images are drawn--in melodic
lines.