Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [beats]

For questions about the underlying pulse of a musical piece. Do not use for questions about rhythm patterns and instead use the rhythm tag.

The essential rhythm or pulse underlying a musical piece, frequently the point where a listener would tap their foot and commonly represented in Western music by the quarter note.

152 questions
42
votes
8 answers

Is there a difference between 2/4 and 4/4

I cannot figure out the actual difference between these two beats. Isn't it sufficient to have only 2/4 (or 4/4 )?
DinushanM
  • 921
  • 1
  • 10
  • 16
33
votes
9 answers

Do musicians count the meter all the time?

When I started as a beginner on the piano I just timed the notes by feeling. That is, until my teacher played back a recording of me to show me just how messed up my timings were. Since then I've always been very diligent about figuring out the…
W4uoe9A
  • 431
  • 1
  • 4
  • 4
29
votes
10 answers

Why are measures (aka "bars") important?

Just as an example, let's say we have 60 BPM. So every second there's a beat. Imagine nodding your head every second to this rhythm. Now isn't that enough information to make a song? If I have a metronome at 60BPM then I can rap over it, or play a…
user34288
22
votes
4 answers

What is the connection between time-signature, beat, and tempo?

What is the connection between time-signature, beat, and tempo? Mainly time-signature and tempo. Tempo is beats-per-minute I know, but does the time-signature affect it? For example, in a 120bpm tempo, are note durations of 4/4 time-signature…
user488792
  • 443
  • 2
  • 4
  • 7
22
votes
3 answers

What is this beat and why is it so popular

In many concert etudes, along with several rock songs, there is an accented pattern that often serves as a link to a new section of the music. It also works as a great fill. It usually comes from the drummer, but I have heard it on other instruments…
Cody Guldner
  • 931
  • 2
  • 11
  • 32
18
votes
5 answers

How to develop rhythmic sophistication in writing music?

Often times when I'm writing or producing some music on my computer I tend to follow the usual and annoying pattern "standard" beat pattern, like when you have a metronome that ticks and you start or change a phrase exactly on that given beat, no…
user2485710
  • 281
  • 2
  • 5
15
votes
9 answers

Intended shift of meter in certain songs?

In pop music, there are some songs that pretend to have the beat accent at a certain time in the intro but with percussion coming in, the beat (apparently) shifts the meter such that you have the feeling to stumble on some extra beat until your…
unndreay
  • 253
  • 2
  • 5
14
votes
13 answers

Is it hopeless in terms of becoming decent musicians, if they can't count beats?

My flesh-n-blood guitar teacher has tried to get me to count beats (verbally or at minimum in my mind), and I think that I've tried reasonably hard in doing so for few months now. However I've come to suspect that at 44years my mind isn't able to…
bdutta74
  • 759
  • 2
  • 10
  • 19
12
votes
14 answers

Trouble keeping time to a beat

I have a fair amount of skill (meaning technique and ease of learning a new piece) with both the piano and the guitar, and have had lessons with both for years. Unfortunately the teachers I've had have always emphasized interpretation over strict…
kylex
  • 773
  • 2
  • 10
  • 18
12
votes
10 answers

What time signature has 3 out of 8 beats accented?

It's been a very long time since I've done musical theory but I know this rhythm is quite common, especially in dance and even some punk/metal. So, some songs have 4 beats to a bar but it has 2 triplets and 1 double. In total, it consists of 8 notes…
BBking
  • 305
  • 1
  • 3
  • 8
11
votes
4 answers

How do you know if a song has triplets in 4/4 or if the tempo is 3/4?

How do you know if a song has triplets in 4/4 or if the tempo is 3/4 ? For example, consider this song : For the first line , I can count 1,2,3 ,1,2,3 ,1,2,3 ,1,2,3 or simply 1 ,2 ,3 ,4 Does the song have 4 triplets or…
RandomName_opt
  • 179
  • 1
  • 1
  • 7
11
votes
9 answers

Why is the ''backbeat'' called the ''rock beat''?

The basic rock beat is 4/4, so you count 1-2-3-4. And to create the rock rhythm, you have to place the emphasis on the off-beats, which 2 and 4. So it goes like this: one, TWO, three, FOUR. At least that I was taught. But I personally think this…
Freak
  • 111
  • 1
  • 1
  • 3
10
votes
2 answers

Where did the term backbeat come from?

In most modern music in 4/4 beats 2 and 4 are where the snare hits are and are usually referred to as the backbeat. Normally in 4/4 the 2 and 4 beat would not be accented, but the snare hits do just that. Where did this idea originate and why is it…
Dom
  • 47,095
  • 22
  • 150
  • 281
10
votes
5 answers

Are notes played on the beat [always] played louder?

I know that the 4/4 time signature is played as [ONE-two-Three-four]. But in the third beat of the first measure there are two 8th notes; the first one coinciding with the beat. So would they be played as Dum-Dum or Dum-dum ?
user69075
9
votes
6 answers

Do you play the upbeat when beginning to play a series of notes, and then after?

Do you play an upbeat like this when beginning the song, and then also at the end?
Gio M
  • 93
  • 1
  • 4
1
2 3
…
10 11