Backbeat
The emphasis placed on the second and fourth beats of a four-beat bar, usually by the snare drum.
The backbeat is the defining rhythmic feature of most popular music, and its effect is to make the odd-numbered beats feel like motion and the even ones like arrival. Guitarists relate to it by playing their chords slightly behind the backbeat or by chopping into it, which is what gives rock and roll and ska their particular snap. Before the backbeat became standard, dance music was built almost entirely on the first and third beats.
Example: A rhythm part that accents the second and fourth beats along with the snare drum is playing to the backbeat.
See also
Related
- PageDownbeat
- PageUpbeat
- PageGroove
- PageAccent
- PageAction height
- PageAlternate picking
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley