[garbageman007]

hi guys again.
im having some trouble with the counting part in a tune..

4/4 time means 4 quarter notes per measure ,and thats what the bass player plays. the notes he plays would be 12341234 . but we should skip every second beat and count like 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & right?

thanks guys

 

[Dog Pants]

The bass player sounds like he's playing with a 2 feel. Half notes, 2 of 'em per bar, or playing beats 1 and 3 if you prefer to think of it that way.

Just tell him the ship is sinking, and he'll reply "**** it, let's play in 4."

 

[bfoster64]

No. If you are going to count beats, count beats. Don't call the third beat of a measure "2". And don't count "and" on the second and fourth beats of the measure.

However, most people don't need to count all four beats to keep track.

Ultimately, you want to feel the down beat (the one) of each bar, then start feeling four bar chunks, and sixteen bar chunks (or twelve if you're playing a blues). That will help you follow along better when listening and playing.

 

[hakukani]

I stopped putting numbers to beats in my head. It makes playing in odd sigs and subdividing things much easier. The heirarchy should be the emphasis.

Just a pet theory I've been working on...

 

[bluesaxgirl]

How do you people count like this? I just remember what each note sounds like, or how short it is.

 

[martysax]

I
Just a pet theory I've been working on...

You got some funky pets on that island?

 

[bluesaxgirl]

You got some funky pets on that island?

Hakukani's mongoose.

 

[martysax]

Hakukani's mongoose.

Are you speaking French?

 

[garbageman007]

ok thanks guys, i was just confused as to wether the bass player in 4/4 time playing 4 notes per measure was playing quarter notes or half notes. thanks

 

[grantonsax]

I really hope no one is paying you to play if you have to count beats unless your tacet and counting measures rest. Actually that's par for the course.

 

[Jolle]

hi guys again.
im having some trouble with the counting part in a tune..

4/4 time means 4 quarter notes per measure ,and thats what the bass player plays. the notes he plays would be 12341234 . but we should skip every second beat and count like 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & right?

thanks guys

If you ask me : 1 2 3 4 is at 120bpm, then 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 is exactly the same 4/4, but at 60 bpm. Which would make both ways each beat a quarter not, but if you play the second when counting the first, the quarter notes become a half note in 4/4 at 120 bpm.

something like that...

 

[gary]

Normally the "&" refers to eighth notes (following the major beats) and the large numbers (one, two etc) to the beats themselves - falling on the downbeats, ie.

So, one, two, three, four would refer to the four quarter notes in a measure.
One &, Two &, Three &, Four & would be eight successive eighth notes.
It has nothing to do with tempo.

If you were counting quarter; eighth-eighth; quarter, eighth-eighth out loud you would say, one, two &, three, four &.

Even if the downbeat is an eighth or sixteenth, you still say "one, two" etc.
So: quarter; two eighths; quarter; 4 sixteenths would be spoken:
one, two&; three; four-ta-&-uh.**

(**or something like that. Not everybody speaks the 16ths with the same words. I learned it one-ta-te-ta.)