In music, the foremost beat of the bar (downbeat) is usually the strongest accent in the melody and the probable place for a chord variation, the third is the next strongest: these are "on" beats. The second and fourth are weaker which is called the "off-beats". Subdivisions for instance eighth notes that fall in the middle of the pulse beats are even weaker and these, if used regularly in a rhythm, can also make it "off-beat