Learn Danish: Tenoren har bare at følge takten i dag. - The tenor had better follow the beat today.

On its own, har at expresses an obligation, similar to "has to". Inserting bare (just/simply) intensifies the phrase into a strict demand or a mild threat. It implies that following the beat is the only acceptable option, which is why it translates so well to "had better".

Why do we use the infinitive marker "at" before "følge" if this phrase expresses obligation like a modal verb?

Even though har bare at expresses a strong obligation, at have is not a true modal verb like skal or må. True modals take the bare infinitive without at, but when you use have for obligation, you must include at, exactly like "have to" in English.

What does the word "takten" mean outside of a musical context?

Here, takten means the musical beat or measure, which makes sense for a tenor. However, outside of music, en takt can mean pace or rate. For example, at holde takten can mean keeping up the pace in a project or a race.

If I start the sentence with "I dag" for emphasis, how does the word order change?

Danish is a V2 (verb-second) language, meaning the conjugated verb must stay in the second position. If you move I dag to the front, the subject and verb swap places: I dag har tenoren bare at følge takten.