What is the "Backbeat"?
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- The backbeat is an incredibly important concept because it has determined almost all popular Western music, from jazz to metal, for about 100 years. And especially for drummers it is indispensable - but: What exactly IS the backbeat ...? That is what I want to explain for you in this video.
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![Backbeat (1994) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HQ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5hbfyo8alXg/mqdefault.jpg)
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I am Japanese. In Japan, almost all musics are made to emphasize 1,3 instead of backbeat. For that reason, I think that even when listening to songs from overseas, the feeling of listening to them is the exact opposite of that of foreigners. What kind of exercises do you think I should do to feel the backbeat?
Thanks for this addition! In Germany, this is also true. Most people clap on one and three, if they are not used to Jazz, Rock, Soul etc.
The best exercises are the following:
1. Jam on the drums, but keep the backbeat going ALL THE TIME. Whatever you play, you play 2 and 4 on the snare. No matter if Groove, Fill-in or Solo. You can even add to that by consciously omitting the downbeat on the one and giving even more weight to the backbeat this way.
2. Put a metronome on the backbeat, not on all the quarter notes, if you do an exercise.
3. If you listen to music that emphazises the backbeat, feel it, stomp it, clap it, jam along and also accent the 2 and 4. Just get into the feel of it.
Let me know if this helps :-)
@@AndiRohdeEnglishChannel
Thanks so much!!
I’ll try it!!
Thank you for the explanation! No one has ever explained this to me. They just assume you know.
I am glad, it helped you! :-)
Yes, some people just expect that and are not willing - nor not able? ;-) - to explain it at first.
Very nice! As an x drummer I know the importance of the backbeat in any speed. Now I'm playing (learning) the guitar and see how they come together! Great lesson. Thank you!
That's great! Thanks so much!
Great explanation. I am so glad you explain this so well. As a drummer for over 60 years, I am very sensitive to those few people in the audience who clap their hands on the "1" and "3" instead of "2" and "4". This makes me cringe.
I think i'm one of those 1 and 3 guys! :)
Video starts at 2:10
Thank you!
I grew up listening to Hewey Lewis tell me that the backbeat rhythm "really, really drives 'em wild", but didn't really understand what that meant. Thank you for your very clear explanation. I learned a lot from watching your video.
Thank you very much! 🙂
That's a rockin' tune! 💯
One of the most important lessons for my students, thank you for sharing these clear rules !!
You are very welcome!
Please always feel free to share these videos with your students :-)
Thank you for the education
I watched a video about the Eurythmics. It said that their big break-out hit was "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This." The odd thing about the story was thata they were using a new musical instrument machine, that provided rythm, but it was wonky, and did the backbeat on the first beat.
They were going to fix it, but Annie Lennox said, "No! Leave it in!"
And thus was created the signature sound that blew people's minds in that song.
And I saw that, and said, "What's a backbeat, and why is it so odd to have it on the 1?"
Thanks for teaching me! I understand more, now!
Thank you for this lesson!
Great explainer, this has eluded me for some time‼️✌️
Thanks so much! 🙂
Actually , there are sections during the non-chorus sections where Learn to Fly dispenses with any sound on the 4th
This was a great explanation and the demonstration was excellent. Cheers! - p
Thanks so much! You can also recommend it to others, that would be a great support of this channel :-)
Thank you!!!!
I'm glad, I could help :-)
Thanks
2:00 in he quits yapping
Thank you
It would be really cool if you could do a video about what a driving rhythm is. I have no idea what that means.
Driving means creating a feeling of unrest, of forward momentum. This can sound very different in different styles or songs. A very simple variation can be to play the snare on all downbeats. A good example is "Hold me Back" by AC/DC. It is rather slow, but has a driving feeling. I hope this helps 🙂
Thanks for making this. very informative.
You are very welcome! :-)
Helpful, thank you
I am happy about that :-)
Thanks great explanation i though
Glad it helped
Thank you very much for great explanation! I’d like to ask, how is it called when the accent is on the 1st and 3rd? And how is it called when the accent is on the all four beats? Thank you very much.
I am glad it helped. The 1st ist called the "downbeat", so if you accent 1 and 3, it gives a heavy downbeat-feel. I am not sure there is a specific term for accenting ALL the beats. Maybe someone else knows ...?
@@AndiRohdeEnglishChannel thank you sir. Regarding the accents on all four beats I think the song Pretty woman by Roy Orbison would be a great example. The snare literally plays on all 4 beats. I read somewhere this could be considered a march rhythm since marches are often times accented on all 4 beats.
@@joepipkin101 Yes, you could argue that. I think if it gets the message across to the other person, it is right 🙂
Great video bro! Great explanation
Thank you very much! :-)
is there a term for when we play 16th notes but accent every third note which gives that sort of 3 against 2 feel? When played over quarter note down beats you get those 4 accents on 1, the "uh" of 1, the "and" of 2, the "e" of 3 and then typically just resolve it with 4 unaccented 16th notes. Hopefully I'm explaining that well...
I know what you mean. This is called a Polyrhythm. I also made a video about that :-)
ua-cam.com/video/wHudCawU_V4/v-deo.html
What you describe is a simple 3 over 4 Polyrhythm that is resolved within one bar.
Thanks for clarifying what a bacbeat is. But WHY is it called a bacbeat? Thx!
Good question! I have not researched this. Maybe because it is a driving force BEHIND the band....?
Actually it began with the blues. The backbeat in blues was to have the downbeat on 1 & 3, & solo blues guitarists, they would hit the body of the guitar on 2 & 4 for rhythm. The downbeat was a downwards strum & the backbeat came from hitting the guitar body for percussive content. That's how it originated in blues & since Jazz grew out of the blues that's how it got into music.
No.. The 'backbeat' refers to the beat that is one half beat before the downbeat of the next measure. If you strum a guitar in 4-4, the backbeat is on the upward strum before the downward strum of the next measure. Glenn Miller used the backbeat extensively in his swing tunes. Swing, boogie woogie, rock and roll....all highlight the backbeat.
Can you do a video on transients?
That is not really my area of expertise, sorry.
yo ive recently dug into the history of gospel and found out lots of interesting stuff there including that this genre probably born all of the modern music (spirituals - blues and gospel - jazz - rock, pop, metal, hip-hop etc.) And also there is clapping tradition on off beats in gospel so...
do you think that this backbeat thing is probably a natural descendant of gospel clapping tradition?
Thanks so much for your addition.
That seems probable, but I would have to look deeper into it. It is usually not possible to find ONE source for such a cultural phenomenon. Rather, it is a slow process moving through time, fed from many different sources, and only after the fact we can define a specific phenomenon, which just emerged naturally.
@@AndiRohdeEnglishChannel yeah yeah you re probably right
I was confused about what you mean by the stops on the hihat.
If you are more specific, I can clear that up for you :-)
Hii! I'm here because i'm making a translation video to beyonce's BODYGUARD and there's a word backbeat and i have to learn what it is to translate😭
Starts at 1:36
I'm not sure this video depicts a backbeat. I'm 66 and I have been playing drums since I was 12 yeas old. I was always told that a backbeat is when a drummer hits the snare just a little bit off of the beat. With just a slight hesitation.
Thanks for the comment. What you describe is called playing 'laid back' 🙂
3:15 modern pop music
Andi, would you say that the back beat is a form of syncopation?
Thanks for the question.
I would say, that the backbeat is definitely not a form of syncopation, as it is fixed in its position on the "2" and "4" of a 4/4-measure and functions as an orientation. So it is actually the opposite of syncopation, because the backbeat is the rhythmic foundation in pop and rock music. Some displace the backbeat, then it becomes a syncopated rhythm, but .... then it no longer IS the backbeat ;-)
For example "Mother Popcorn" by James Brown: The backbeat is moved from the "4" one eighth note to the "and of four". Now it becomes a syncopated rhythm: We expect it on the "4", but it is displaced.
As the backbeat is played on the two and four consistenly for the whole song in almost EVERY pop and rock song, it is the norm, that what we expect and thus the opposite of a syncope.
@@AndiRohdeEnglishChannel Andi, I'm quite confused about this.
I found this comment below in an article:
"Even note syncopation or backbeat relies on time signatures with an even number of beats, like 2/2, 2/4, and 4/4. By far, the most common time signature in Western music. Usually, standard rhythms stress odd-numbered beats. With even-note syncopation, you emphasize beats two and four in a standard bar."
This seems to contradict your response. Do you have any further explanation, as I'm really struggling to understand syncopation.
This is a link to the page with that comment:
Even note syncopation or backbeat relies on time signatures with an even number of beats, like 2/2, 2/4, and 4/4. By far, the most common time signature in Western music. Usually, standard rhythms stress odd-numbered beats. With even-note syncopation, you emphasize beats two and four in a standard bar.
This comment may come from a classical musician. But I still don't agree. If you claim, that 4/4 is the most common time signature, then every beat that falls on one of the quarter notes is not syncopated, as the quarter notes ESTABLISH the main beat. So the BACKbeat is just an emphasis on half the beats, but does not stray FROM the beats. It even constitutes the new point of orientation.
For a classical musican, the backbeat might feel odd, but in the context of Pop music, it is definitely NOT a syncopation.
@@AndiRohdeEnglishChannel So the backbeat will beat the 2/4 in a 4/4 signature. And in holistic terms, this is referring to what is most emphasized in the music, if I'm understanding correctly. In jazz/swing music, will the downbeat always refer to the 1?
@@trash_whisperer Yes, the backbeat is the emphasis on the 2 and 4 in 4/4 time. The Downbeat is the first beat of any measure. It is called that, because a conductor always strikes down here.
In Jazz, most musicians orientate themselves on the backbeat, although it is not really called Backbeat here. But I believe, it is the origin of this phenomenon.
why insist the way to do something IS this way.
no 100 years in Western Populer music. Blues had if for 100years in the States. White man took it around 50s. British took it. Beatles Rolling Stones. Rolled over Beethoven.