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I enjoy pop music, and when a new tune starts I'll find myself bopping to the beat. I like to think my musical intuition is good, and I enjoy listening to the song build up as expected. However, there are a few tunes out there which have introductions which completely mislead me, such that when the downbeat drops in, it's nowhere near where I think it should be.

Here are some examples (the ones I can think of have rhythm-only introductions, but I'm sure I've heard some with notes as well):

In each of these cases there's a very obvious beat during the main portion of the tune, and when I hear the introduction I get a clear feeling of where the beat will be, but when the beat comes in I find I've misinterpreted it. It's a disconcerting feeling, and distances me a bit from the enjoyment of the tune. I would guess that a course in composing might warn against writing tunes that have this feature (flaw?).

Do songwriters recognize that such an effect occurs, and try avoid it (unless an iconoclast chooses to court it)? And, what would you call such an introduction?

Dom
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Daniel Griscom
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    I don't know the answer, but [Galileo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI1keSSwdcI) (Indigo Girls) is another excellent example. – vwegert Jun 30 '15 at 05:24
  • Add the Eagles' 'Take it Easy' to the list. Not misinterpreted, just plain 'missed a beat'! – Tim Jun 30 '15 at 06:31
  • The Beatles' She's a Woman' did that to me the first few times, till I realised that the intro. was all on the offbeat. – Tim Jun 30 '15 at 07:39
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    from a quick listen, Queen does actually start on the 1; Cecilia starts on 4&, making the kick drum the first '1'; Bodhi starts on 1&, leaving you an 'invisible' 1 you have to mentally add. Knowing this intellectually doesn't help you to clap in time, though - you still have to get them to settle in your head the right way round ;) – Tetsujin Jun 30 '15 at 07:56
  • As said by Ringo "I am the click track". Drummers are not machines some can keep better time than others. – david strachan Jun 30 '15 at 09:38
  • With Cecilia, the first chords coincide with where 'Ce-' goes. An anacrucis. – Tim Jun 30 '15 at 10:12
  • The classic example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRilgJDSlMI&feature=youtu.be&t=2m10s. The original drummer was Ginger Baker, who could keep time like no one's business. –  Jun 30 '15 at 12:09

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