Part 2: Give the notes time · Lesson 019 / 117
Enter between the beats
Place an offbeat entrance and hold it across the next beat.
An offbeat entrance occurs between the main beats. In our even eighth-note count, it can happen on an “and.” You still need to know where the numbers are, even when you do not attack on them.
Count a whole bar, remain silent on beat 1, and begin a note on the and of 1. Let it last one and a half beats, ending as beat 3 begins. Then play a one-beat note on 3 and rest on 4. The whole bar still adds to four.
In conventional notation, a tie joins two written notes of the same pitch into one held sound. There is no second attack at the tie. This can show a sound beginning between beats and continuing across a beat boundary.
Do the rhythm with claps or one note first. A new pitch sequence would add a separate challenge. You are learning to place a sound in time, not to race through a complicated lick.
Hear it
Offbeat
Audio fileFour-beat count-in · 60 BPM · Warm sampled electric guitar. Listen once before playing along.
A concrete example
Rest 0.5 beat; sound E for 1.5 beats; sound E for 1 beat; rest 1 beat. Attacks occur at 1& and 3.
Try it, slowly
- Speak the whole subdivision aloud.
- Clap only the two entrances, on 1& and 3.
- Play one note with the same timing, stopping it during the rests.
Check one idea
Does a tied continuation require another pick attack?
Show the explanation
No. A tie continues the same pitch across the written durations. Repicking would create a different articulation and rhythm of attacks.
A good place to stop
You can enter on 1& while keeping the numbered pulse clear.
Return to the example after a short break. A clear explanation matters more than speed.