Chapter 3 – Downbeat and Upbeat

So you can’t dance? Not at all? Not even one step? How can you say that you’ve taken any trouble to live when you won’t even dance?
— German-Swiss Nobel Prize-winning  poet and novelist Hermann Hesse


I have a memory from childhood, from that old TV show Hee Haw, of a man dressed in overalls marking time to the music. He improvised a set of drums by alternating a stomp of his foot with a clap of his hands. Eight beats of music went like this: stomp clap, stomp clap, stomp clap, stomp clap. I now know that this guy was capturing the downbeat and upbeat, which is the natural pairing of beats that occurs in virtually all dance music. The stomp was the downbeat and the clap was the upbeat.

I believe the downbeat and upbeat are the secret to mastering the beat of the music. This is the pattern that got me to feel the beat, to bring it beyond my ears and into my body. When I hear it I know I’ve probably found the underlying beat (if I’m not sure I listen for sets of 8 to confirm that I’m on the beat). When I feel it, I believe it acts like an autopilot and keeps me on the beat.

As the Hee Haw musician demonstrated, it’s a simple two-beat pattern that usually comes from the drums. All dance music—except the waltz—has this structure, albeit in the background; and it repeats with every two beats of music. The first beat of the pair, the downbeat, is often, but not always, a heavier or deeper pitched beat, as if it were created by a bass drum or bass string instrument. The second beat, the upbeat, is often, but not always, a lighter or higher pitched beat, like the sound of a snare drum or cymbals. Thus, instead of two beats sounding like thump thump or tap tap, which is how I simplistically described the underlying beat on page 24, two beats really sound more like thump tap. If you say it out loud, try emphasizing it like this: thum TAA!!!

Get a Sharpie and write this down: “The concept of two-beat increments is important.” We’ll keep returning to it.

Recalling that beats are numbered and come in sets of 8, when counting music the downbeats are the odd beats (counts 1, 3, 5 and 7) and the upbeats are the even beats (counts 2, 4, 6 and 8). The first step of almost every dance occurs on a downbeat.

As with most elements of music, the downbeat and upbeat is subtle at first. It’ll be easiest to hear in songs with upbeats that are strongly accented (I give some song suggestions in a moment). The emphasis on the upbeat varies tremendously, so expect it to be obvious in some songs and elusive in others. I find that swing music and blues music generally have pronounced upbeats, which is why it’s easy for me to hear the beat in those genres. Salsa, in addition to the profusion of drumming, tends to emphasize the downbeat, which makes it a bit trickier. A lot of contemporary music, especially rap, has easy-to-hear upbeats.

But regardless of the degree of emphasis on the upbeat, beats have a natural pairing, and in good dance music the second beat of the pair hits the ear differently than the first. Over time you’ll see that this pairing, especially if the distinction between beats is vague, is more of a feeling than an auditory difference; it’s something that’s just in the music. If I can’t identify the downbeat and upbeat it’s either not dance music or it’s a waltz.

After I trained my ear to hear the downbeat and upbeat combo, I was amazed at the preponderance of songs with a distinctive pairing of beats. While music websites like the iTunes Store are a great way to sample a lot of cuts (you can hear 30 seconds for free), I believe surfing the radio dial, for variety and serendipity, is a good exercise; it’s sort of a test, as you need the ability to hear this structure in all types of music to be comfortable dancing to anything that may be thrown your way. However, not all music on the radio is dance music—that’s part of the test.

Lingo Alert: I’ve heard other terms used to identify the downbeat and the upbeat and I’ve heard downbeat and upbeat used to describe other stuff. In particular, musicians use these words differently than dancers. I lament this lack of uniformity, but that’s the way it is. Check with your source when you hear these terms used.

Whenever you hear music—the morning commute, the elevator, watching TV—listen for the beat. Listen for sets of 8 andthe downbeats and upbeats until they are second nature. Know the beat well.

Examples of Songs with Emphasized Upbeats

Short of embedding a computer chip in the book, there’s not much I can do in these pages to let you hear the downbeat and upbeat. Freebie Video: If you poke around my website (ihatetodance.com), you’ll find video clips where I identify the downbeat and upbeat using a variety of music.

I wanted to give you a list of songs in the book that have pronounced upbeats, especially songs that have clapping on the upbeat. But a song has different arrangements, performances and recordings, so the same song doesn’t always sound the same; it would be hard to steer you to the exact recording that I’ve listened to. But it’s easy to do that in the videos I’ve made. Plus I can visually identify the musical components. Don’t expect much—a maestro I’m not.

That said, I’ll mention two songs, which you can search for on, say, iTunes or YouTube. First, Shame by Evelyn Champagne King. This is a good place to start, as you can hear clapping on the upbeat; and I’ve heard the clapping on every recording of the song. Second, Family Affair, by Mary J. Blige. This song doesn’t have clapping but it has a distinctive and typical thum TAA, which is what you hear in a lot of popular music. These songs are just a place to start.

EXERCISE 2: Downbeats and Upbeats

Listen for the downbeat and upbeat structure in a variety of music. Especially listen for how the upbeat hits the ear differently than the downbeat. Choose songs with pronounced upbeats so it’ll be easy to hear—you have to hear it in the easy music before you’ll be able to hear it in the hard stuff. Do you feel the lifting feeling of the higher-pitched upbeat? Does the thump tap of the downbeat and upbeat create a rhythmic feeling that better defines the underlying beat? When I was learning to hear the beat I always had success with 1950s–60s oldies music: it’s good dance music, especially for swing, cha-cha and rumba; tempos are slow enough to easily keep time; the sets of 8 and downbeats and upbeats are easy to hear; it’s easy to find oldies stations on the radio; and the music is easy on the ears. For comparison, sample some salsa and disco (or “house”) music. Salsa, as I’ve previously warned, often has a beat that’s hard to hear; so don’t dwell on that genre for now. Disco doesn’t have the profusion of drumming found in salsa; so the beat is easy to hear—typically, it’s a hard, driving beat, very easy to hear—but it’s often hard to distinguish between the downbeat and upbeat. Disco
often sounds more thump thump than thump tap, which may be one reason why some people find it monotonous. Where’s my mirror ball?

EXERCISE 3: Clapping and Snapping

Although audiences often do it wrong, when you clap to most popular music, you’re supposed to clap on just the upbeat, which gives a nice lifting feeling and makes the music swing a little. Most audiences will, incorrectly, clap on every beat or just the downbeat. Experiment with a variety of popular music, especially some with pronounced upbeats. Clap only on the upbeat, then only on the downbeat, then both the downbeat and upbeat. Which one feels best? It’s subtle; so don’t think too hard. Just relax and feel it in your body. Snapping your fingers to music works the same way—you’re supposed to snap on just the upbeat. Advanced Exercise: Find some mellow, folksy rock music with hard-to-hear downbeats and upbeats. Repeat the experiment above, snapping your fingers instead of clapping. The beginning of the 1964 hit, King of the Road, by Roger Miller, is a classic example of snapping on the upbeat (you can find it on YouTube—it has to be the original recording by Roger Miller).

EXERCISE 4: Stomp Clap

Listening to music, try the stomp clap combo discussed earlier (stomp a foot on the downbeat, clap hands on the upbeat) and compare it to just a stomp stomp. I find the stomp clap combo fascinating. When I do it to most popular music, I almost feel like I’m an instrument jamming with the band; but if I stomp my foot on every beat, it feels like I’m just stomping my foot—I don’t feel as connected to the music. I’ve found this stomp clap maneuver handy when faking musical talent with friends (I can’t sing, so I provide the rhythm section when they sing or play a guitar).

EXERCISE 5: Body Squeeze

Let the beat inspire movement in your entire body, not just the feet. Experiment with different types of music, particularly stuff with beats that are easy to hear. Maybe turn up the bass and turn down the treble. Let the head bob and the body sway; let your whole body absorb the music. Be conscious of your solar plexus and, making small movements, try letting it move side-to-side to the beat (try tracing a bit of an arc pattern). Also, when you get a song with a pronounced upbeat, try squeezing your body a bit on the upbeat, as if there were a pulse going through your body, which would, theoretically, stretch your body and make your head rise. Try some of your favorite music too, some music that naturally moves you.
Be brave: turn down the lights and let go.

Copyright © 2010  James Joseph. All rights reserved.