The Backbeat and Its Importance:
The BACKBEAT is the key to everything rhythmic in music!
My experience with thousands of young beginning drummers has taught me one thing.
Some students seem to possess a natural feel for the backbeat while others must be
trained to feel it.
VERY IMPORTANT!
The ability to feel the backbeat of a song is crucial to becoming a drummer. If you feel
the backbeat strongly enough, it is possible to become a drummer without formal
instructions and lessons. Without a special sensitivity for the backbeat flow in a song, you
may never become a drummer, no matter how many lessons you may take.
If you know what I am talking about and and if you possess this feel for the backbeat already,
then this lesson may not be for you.
This very special lesson is for those of you who do not know what I am talking about.
WHAT IS THE 'BACKBEAT'?
The backbeat in a song is usually the dominant repeating snare sound that flows
through the music. In all forms of 4/4 the backbeats are on the counts of 2 & 4 in each
bar.
The secret to 'feeling' the backbeat is in developing PATIENT LISTENING HABITS . . .
DO THIS, NOW . . . (Learn to 'feel' the backbeat.)
- 1. Let a 4/4 tune play on your stereo system or radio. (Almost every song you may
hear will be in some form of 4/4.) Find something with a moderate tempo . . . Get a song
with a solid but simple drum part . . . at a medium tempo (not too fast and not too slow.)
..........................................................
NOTE:
ABOUT 99% OF ALL THE MUSIC PLAYING RIGHT NOW ON YOUR RADIO IS IN SOME
FORM OF 4/4 . . .
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- 2. Get one ear into the speaker system or headphones.
- 3. Pick out the dominant, repeating, accented snare sound in the music. In some
complex songs, you may hear additional snare notes that are falling around the
backbeat. Ignore those!
Just listen for the strongest, loudest accented snare notes. Now clap your hands in-time
with these 'BACKBEATS' as the drummer plays the song. YOU HAVE FOUND IT! Virtually
every song you hear will be held together by this 'flowing' backbeat. The other musicians
in the group tend to rely on the drummers backbeat to get their tempo and timing
correct. Our job (when we do it correctly) is to maintain this 'backbeat' with 'swiss-watch'
precision. If we can't hold it steady . . . the band usually disintegrates and we get a
thumbs down, 'raspberry', haha. (BAD DRUMMER!) But IF we can hold a SOLID
backbeat through out ALL songs . . . we are considered a WINNER and a candidate for
MUCH praise & worship, haha.
It really doesn't matter to the other band members how fancy we play. They usually
don't give a hoot about that. They want us to make THEM 'feel' the backbeat while they
impress the audience and the world with their ingenious musical technique ;>0 . . .(<--
sly wink)
So . . . the DRUMMER IN DEMAND is the one who can lay that backbeat in there with
no mistake . . . consistently . . . in every piece of music.
HOW TO 'FEEL' THE BACKBEAT . . .
How do we acquire this indisputable perfection with our time measurement and 'feel'
for the backbeat?
Practice, Practice, Practice (with recorded music!)
Memorize the BASIC 4/4 Dancebeats first, then Jam with every conceivable type of
recorded song. Listen for the recorded drummer ALWAYS. Strive to acquire an
indisputable 'feel' for tempo and solid 'backbeat' no matter how softly we may be required
to play. This can prove to be a contradiction at times with some forms of soft, laid-back,
music.
Anyway, the secret to ALL drumming is buried in this backbeat concept. The
'backbeat' IS the quintessential 'BACKBONE' of the music . . . ALL MUSIC.
If we feel the backbeat strongly, and learn to lay it in there dominantly . . . we can BE THE
BEST!
EVERYTHING . . . and I mean EVERYTHING in music is based around that backbeat
flow of the song . . . This includes fancy fills, complex syncopations and all of the intricate
jazz techniques that a drummer might play. Those other incidental intricacies just
CAN'T HAPPEN until the backbeat has been established in a commanding way . . .
(usually by the drummer.)
. . . BUT, * NOT ONLY * THE DRUMMER!
The other (rhythm) instruments in the band are normally working as a team with the
drummer, to help establish a solid backbeat flow.
The rhythm guitarist will usually play a 'chucking' rhythm sound on the backbeat . . .
Pianists and keyboard players will usually compliment the backbeat throughout a
song with repetitious notes (normally played in the higher register) on the counts of 2 & 4
in 4/4 time . . .
accenting the 'backbeat'.
NOTE:
3/4 time usually consists of 2 backbeats per bar on the counts of 2 & 3. 5/4 and
other odd time signatures usually contain 3 or more backbeats per bar. These 'lop-sided'
signatures are only used rarely in jazz and other complex music styles . . . it is best to
stick with common 4/4 music styles in the beginning until that unique 'feel' for the
backbeat has been developed, then move into 3/4 grooves before progressing on to the
really complex signatures.
ENCOURAGING NEWS!
- We can miss cymbal notes . . . No problem!
- We can blow it with our fancy bass drum licks . . . NO PROBLEM!
- We can omit most of the intricate rhythmic variations! That's OK too.
- The BACKBEAT is the important thing! If we lay it down PERFECT we are OK! If we
don't? Well, we had better enjoy slinging burgers or pumping gas!
You will find the above to be true in nearly all professional situations. Remember it
always!
There's plenty more to learn . . .
Why not enroll?
Check out the complete course contents (and price) at the Homestudy Institute of Drums.
Email your comments to Bill Powelson drums01@att.net
Copyright Bill Powelson 1994 all rights reserved.
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