One of the strongest tools musicians have at their disposal is a fairly small thing we describe as a “beat.” Though we often think of a beat as a precise moment, there’s quite an expansive space, in musical terms, in which a note can be placed and still be musically accurate, or still be “on the beat,” as we say.
A Beat Has Two Parts
To appreciate how this works, think about the beat as as having two main parts: the space where the note is positioned, called The Slot, and The Pulse, which is what the listener hears and imagines as the beat of the music. The Slot has a breadth which is measured in beats per minute or BPM. It goes without saying that, the size of The Slot is dependent on the pace of the music. The beat is simply a note played in The Slot.
The Trinity of the Slot
Imagine The Slot as consisting of three spots in which a note can be positioned to create a beat, and these are, in laymen’s terms, Early, On Time and Late. The actual terms for them are Pushed, In the Pocket, and Pulled. Each choice of beat placement will produce a novel feel to the music and alters how the listener hears the music.
Although we are picturing The Slot as being composed of three distinct parts, in fact it is a broad field with countless points where the note could fall. We’re simplifying it for clarity’s sake.
The Placement
When a musician uses a Push, it gives a drive to the music and makes the apparent tempo seem faster,, causing a sense of urgency and forward motion. When the beat is placed In the Pocket, it creates a satisfying sensation that we associate with dance music such that, “you just can’t sit still,” as the saying goes. When a musician uses a Pull, meaning the beat is late, it creates a sense of heaviness and makes the apparent tempo of the music appear slower than it actually is.
Using these systems of beat placement, a musician or producer can make the impact of the music much stronger and more effective for any application. These techniques are widely used in the performance of music for ballet class because of their efficacy in producing exactly the ideal musical conditions for dance, and drummers have employed these techniques since the dawn of music.
This is brought to you by Don Caron who is a composer/author/dancer/choreographer and who enjoys writing about a range of subjects which naturally includes music. He has composed four albums of ballet class music which are available from CDBaby.
