Trivia: What do upbeats and downbeats do for the orchestra?
Dictate volume
Determine who plays
Keep time
Entertain the audience
The correct answer is Keep time
So why is this answer correct? : Conductors typically signal upbeats and downbeats by flicking their batons up and down. When keeping time, upbeats stand for numbered beats, while downbeats are the brief rest between them. They tell the orchestra when to start playing and how fast.