![]() There is a hand-clapping back beat on " Roll 'Em Pete" by Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner, recorded in 1938. Although drummer Earl Palmer claimed the honor for " The Fat Man" by Fats Domino in 1949, which he played on, saying he adopted it from the final "shout" or "out" chorus common in Dixieland jazz, urban contemporary gospel was stressing the back beat much earlier with hand-clapping and tambourines. An early record with an emphasised back beat throughout was " Good Rockin' Tonight" by Wynonie Harris in 1948. "A big part of R&B's attraction had to do with the stompin' backbeats that make it so eminently danceable," according to the Encyclopedia of Percussion. "It's got a backbeat, you can't lose it" – Chuck Berry, " Rock and Roll Music"Ī back beat, or backbeat, is a syncopated accentuation on the "off" beat. Certain genres tend to emphasize the off-beat, where this is a defining characteristic of rock'n'roll and ska music. The downbeat can never be the off-beat because it is the strongest beat in 4Ĥ time. According to Grove Music, the "Offbeat is where the downbeat is replaced by a rest or is tied over from the preceding bar". This is a fundamental technique of African polyrhythm that transferred to popular western music. So "off-beat" is a musical term, commonly applied to syncopation that emphasizes the weak even beats of a bar, as opposed to the usual on-beat.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |