Backbeat

Stressing the weak beats

The page Rhythm gives a tip: deliberately put the metronome click on beats 2 and 4 instead of 1 and 3. That sharpens the feeling for the backbeat, the stress on two and four to which pop and rock clap. In four-four time, according to the article Understanding and counting syncopation, the one is the strongest beat, the three the second strongest, two and four are weaker. The backbeat stresses exactly these weaker beats.

In funk, according to the article, the backbeat stays fixed on two and four while the stresses shift onto the sixteenth notes and the bass figure often lands a sixteenth before the one, which is called pushing. The result sounds urgent although the tempo is constant. Reggae, on the other hand, does not stress the one in the “one drop” but the three, and puts the chords on the offbeats between the beats.

Practising

The article describes the second exercise: set the metronome so that it clicks only on two and four. The click is then no longer the support but the counter-beat, and the one has to come entirely from your own feeling. That is unpleasant at first and after two weeks the most effective single step towards a sense of rhythm. The page Scales names the same setting as an advanced exercise that distinctly improves groove and inner pulse.

Common mistakes

• Speeding up: The stresses come earlier than expected, the body pulls the tempo along. The counter-check is the metronome on two and four.
• No longer feeling the one: The basic beat has to come from your own pulse.
• Equating backbeat and offbeat: The backbeat means beats 2 and 4, the offbeat the “and” in between.