noun
Musical beat, rhythm, or time. Sense 2 is a specific musical beat; merged here as a natural sub-sense.
この曲は拍子が取りにくい。
This song is hard to keep the beat to.
Dance to the rhythm of triple time.
noun
Often used in the pattern 〜した拍子に to mean 'at the very moment of doing something' or 'when something happened, then...'.
立ち上がった拍子に、めまいがした。
The moment I stood up, I felt dizzy.
くしゃみをした拍子に、眼鏡が落ちた。
When I sneezed, my glasses fell off.