Rhythm and tempo

Rhythm does not equal speed. Speed is a set rate at which the beats go by, like going 60 mph on the freeway. You drive a certain speed, your car is going to get from here to there in a certain amount of time, no less, no more. Speed = tempo.

So you're going to go 60 miles in one hour. But how many exits will you pass in one hour? Well, that depends on how they are spaced on that road. Maybe on this road you have four exits one mile apart, then two exits two miles apart, and then an exit every half-mile for four more miles:

Start__x__x__x__x____x____x_x_x_x_x_x_x_x_x
Start 1 min.x 1 min.x1 min.x1 min.x2 min.x2 min.x.5 min.x.5 min...etc...

So you will pass 14 exits in 12 minutes. But what if you don't have 12 minutes to get there? let's suppose nobody else is on the road and you are a fabulous driver with a high performance car, and you decide to go 120 miles an hour.

You will still have the EXACT same spacing:

Four exits one mile apart, then two exits two miles apart, and then an exit every half-mile for four more miles:

Start__x__x__x__x____x____x_x_x_x_x_x_x_x_x
Start .5 min.x .5 min.x.5 min.x.5 min.x1 min.x1 min.x.25 min.x.25 min...etc...

But now you pass them in six minutes, not 12. But the exits (rhythm) did not change! You just went at a faster speed (tempo), and so you went through those exits in six minutes instead of 12. The relationship/spacing/rhythm was constant. The speed changed.