Part 2: Give the notes time · Lesson 012 / 117
Put four beats in a bar
Count a repeating four-beat group.
A bar, also called a measure, groups beats. Our first examples use 4/4. In this context, the top 4 tells you there are four beats in a bar; the bottom 4 means a quarter note is our beat unit. We will learn note lengths in the next lesson.
Count “1, 2, 3, 4; 1, 2, 3, 4.” The pulse stays even when the number returns to 1. A bar line is a boundary in the grouping, not an extra pause.
Make beat 1 slightly clearer by tapping it a little more firmly. Do not speed up towards it or insert a fifth beat before it. Later, chord changes will often land on beat 1, so being able to keep this repeating group matters.
For now, every exercise in this part stays in 4/4. Other metres are available, but we do not need them to begin making clear rhythm.
Hear it
Bars
Audio fileFour-beat count-in · 60 BPM · Warm sampled electric guitar. Listen once before playing along.
A concrete example
Two bars contain eight quarter-note beats: 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4. The vertical line marks a bar boundary.
Try it, slowly
- Count two bars while tapping.
- Play one note only on each beat 1, but keep counting the other beats.
- Repeat four bars with no gap at the bar lines.
Check one idea
How many beats pass between the beginning of bar 1 and the beginning of bar 3 in this exercise?
Show the explanation
Eight. Bars 1 and 2 each contain four beats. Bar 3 starts on the next beat, not after an extra pause.
A good place to stop
You can keep the four-beat grouping while sounding only its first beat.
Return to the example after a short break. A clear explanation matters more than speed.