Photo by Scott Pickering

Friday, September 2, 2011

Waiting For Beat Two

"Waiting for beat two" is a widely accepted performance practice in drumset playing.  
When the drummer ends a phrase and moves to a new section with a fill (and plays a cymbal crash on beat one), the full drumset groove often does not resume until beat two.   (There are exceptions.)
As a percussionist, you can take advantage of waiting for beat two.   When you encounter  that musical moment when it is a challenge to make that logistical change (a good example: switching from shake tambourine to congas), you might be able to buy yourself another half second or so by waiting for beat two. 
Listen carefully to make sure it works with both the drumset and the overall phrasing.

It's surprising how that extra moment can make the difference between an awkward thrash and a smooth transition between instruments.  

1 comment:

  1. There's an awful lot of merit in, of all things, listening to what the drummer is doing and fitting in. Sometimes, certain elements of counterpoint make sense, but I've found also that listening to what works on others' recordings helps make me a better player -- or better non-player, when that's appropriate.

    One of my favorite percussionists lives here in Charlotte. Jim Brock has played on records for all types of musicians all over the world, and he told me one night, "If you leave a few holes, so music might leak out somewhere." Brilliant, I thought.

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