Illustration of structural downbeat

structural downbeat

Definition:
A point of harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic arrival that turns everything before it into an upbeat (Cone,1968). Also a point of simultaneous harmonic and rhythmic arrival (after Cone) (Epstein, 1979).
In the terminology of Lerdahl and Jackendoff (1983), the convergence of structural accent, metrical accent, and harmonic arrival at a singe moment. This definition is also favored by Kramer (1988).