What is so special about Beat 1?

I’ve been listening to more music lately than is my norm. Mindful listening as some like to call it.
I’ve always known that beat 1 is the most important of them all but it’s quietly dawned on me that there’s something very special about it.
I focus on different instruments in the band and follow one for a while, then switch to another. When I listen to lead or melody the beat is still there but I may not be paying much attention to it. When I go back to listening to the beat, I immediately know where beat 1 is.

It depends on the song of course, but more often than not, beat 1 is the quietest…and the fun and games are on the other beats.

Beat 1……it’s solid, it’s dependable, it’s the granddaddy of them all!
It has its own unique sound……but now I’m struggling because sound is difficult to describe in words.

What’s your interpretation of Beat 1 ?

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With out beat 1 there are no other beats to follow. Even if beat 1 isn’t the first note of an intro or piece of music with out it you couldn’t start.

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Wow David, I think you’re going ā€œDeepā€ here!!!
I haven’t given a whole lot of thought to Beat 1 - I haven’t been knee-deep in… ummmmm… let’s just say fertilizer either!!! Either you’re onto something or you need some fume-free fresh air!!! :rofl:
Sorry, sometimes I just can’t control the smart-aleck inside!!!
Seriously though, I do like the ā€œfeelā€ of songs that start on beat 1 & not on another beat… I guess I don’t really have enough music theory to understand why song don’t ALWAYS start on beat one. Beat 1 is pretty important for the military… marching cadences start with 1… can you imagine the havoc if the sergeant started with a different number? Nobody would ever march in time!!! :joy:
Good thread idea! I’m interested to see what the Community has to say!

Tod

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Like trying to find the start on Escher stairs?
image
It’s getting pretty philosophical in the JG community today.

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@CATMAN62
Hey Tod don’t panic! I get more than my fair share of fresh air!

Just to clarify, (@stitch) I’m not talking about the first beat of a song. I mean beat 1 in every bar. It’s special!

The reason I put the question is because it’s musicians who create and define beat 1 and we are all learning to be musicians, so we need to create and define it as well.

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In my simplistic view, I see beat 1 as so important because your brain has to organize the rhythm in some pattern and it is easier in groups of 4, 3, or 2 (or 2 groups of 3 as in 6:8). If you weren’t consistent in having a beat 1 then the song’s rhythm would be more random and not be as enjoyable.

On a related topic, notice that the range of normal tempo from slow to fast is roughly the same as the range of slow to fast heart rates (roughly 50 - 150+). I don’t think it is a coincidence.

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@SteveL_G99
I understand what you’re saying, Steve, but that is more about the maths or structure of the rhythm.
My question is about the distinctive, unmistakable SOUND of beat 1

Interesting question, but it’s not clear to me what you mean by saying that beat 1 is the quietest. Do you mean how much stress is put on it? Also, IMO, beat 1 is defined by the composer/songwriter/bandleader, not the ā€œmusiciansā€. (Imagine a group - I’m not talking about free improvisation here - playing according to 5 different beats 1…)

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True, but I think that the structure of the rhythm has an impact on the sound. The band has a rhythmic pattern in their heads that they are all following so they can stay in a groove. If beat 1 is the quietest, it is probably because they are using a back beat rhythm. So the band is going to deemphasize the first beat That is not the whole answer you are looking for, but I think it is part of it.

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Hmm…stress…now that’s interesting.
Can beat 1 be stressed without being accented?

Flexing time! Is that happening?
It’s almost as if beat1 is a little bit longer, stretched, but we’ve caught up again by the time beat2 comes round.
It can be done on guitar by dragging the strum a little to make it longer.
When I’m tapping my foot, I seem to leave it down a tad longer on beat1

Or…maybe beat1 IS a fraction longer and the others a fraction shorter to compensate?

Maybe it’s that beat1 is bassier, making it stand out?

Or maybe a combination of some, all….or non of these things!

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To me, accent = stress. You’ll often find that beat 1 sounds somewhat more powerful than the other beats, but any beat can be accented in a piece of music. As for the duration of the note(s) played on beat 1, there probably used to be more of a ā€œhuman factorā€ when musicians only had their hands, mouths and feet to use instead of quantizing everything in a DAW. But it’s absolutely possible to play something other than a quarter note on beat 1 as well.

This article might explain accented beats a little better:

I haven’t found very good videos on the topic but this one might be useful:

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Ha ha! No wonder you couldn’t find much.
I put my question into Google and this JG Community topic was top of a very short list!
So maybe it’s just me!
I don’t believe that though. Surely someone somewhere understands what I mean.
Yes, beat1 can be accented, but in many songs it isn’t and yet it still sounds distinctive.

Your video doesn’t really tell me much that I didn’t already know.
Interestingly though - when he’s counting the rhythm, he always drags out the word ā€˜One’ making it longer even when he’s not putting an accent on beat1.
ā€˜Two’ ā€˜Three’ and ā€˜Four’, by comparison, are more clipped.
When he puts an accent on beat3 he still drags ā€˜One’ but doesn’t drag ā€˜Three’. He accents it by keeping it clipped and saying it louder.

When a band plays in the corner of a pub, the beat is laid down by the drums and bass and the rest play to it. Not a computer in sight! Musicians.

I think you’re confusing Tempo with Beat. The beat is written out by the composer as in 4/4, 3/4, 6/8 etc. The tempo that a song is played at(BPM Beats Per Minute) is laid out by the drummer.

The beats per bar stay the same no matter how fast or slow a song is played or how many notes are played in that measure

Hey David @BurnsRhythm, I’ve been trying to hear in my mind’s ear what you observe. In your original comment, you suggest that you hear this … specialness … in most songs. Could you provide one or two songs along with descriptions of what sound you’re describing? And just as importantly, an example and description of a song where this does not occur?

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Can you post some examples of familiar songs where this is true?

I ask because I just randomly played some of the songs I’ve worked on (in Moises, because it finds Beat 1 quite reliably), and did not find this to be the case.

For example, Wish You Were Here - the strongest beat is Beat 1…at least to my ears.

The other songs I tried were similar.

Maybe it depends on the type of music you listen to?

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Ha…great minds think alike!

Though you beat me by 6 minutes…so I bow down to your superior intellect! :wink:

@Tbushell Better to bow down to our obvious mutual skill at reading minds! :rofl:

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@stitch
No Rick, I ain’t confused.
The composer won’t be there. The drummer has to lay down the correct beat (and tempo) for the song or it’s not going to sound too good.

@judi @Tbushell
Sultans Of Swing - no obvious accent on any beat but beat1 has it’s own unique sound.

Eric Clapton’s River Of Tears - it’s in 6/8 with a heavy accent on beat 4. Beat 1 is fairly quiet, but again, it has it’s own unique sound.

Ditto for Gary Moore’s Still Got The Blues
He takes a few liberties with his fantastic solos but he ALWAYS nails beat1

There aren’t any examples where beat1 isn’t special. Whether there’s a strong accent on 1 or not, it’s always special.

Rhythm is king - beat 1 is king of rhythm!

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If beat 1 is always special, then it’s… not special at all :crazy_face:

I don’t know, I think I get what you mean by it’s ubiquitous specialness, but we might be lacking the terminology to name it.

Anyway, it made me think of funk music being ā€œon the oneā€, as mentioned so often by James Brown, Bootsy Collins, etc.

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Those funk boys know!
They put a heavy accent on it, but they know what beat1 is, they know where it is.

I don’t think I could carry off the bling covered leather gear look! I got shades though :sunglasses: