Playing Between the Beats

Almost There

In the previous lessons all notes and chords have been played on numbered beats. This was so you could easily keep track of when you were supposed to play. Now a new challenge is added: playing between the beats. Before, our downbeat was 1 and 3, and the back-beat was on 2 and 4. Now, All numbered beats are down beats, and the offbeat is played in between.

This also means the chop is being played twice as fast if the metronome is the same speed as previous exercises. The suggested default tempo has been slowed down for you, but feel free to roll it back as needed. For the first four measures the down beats are played to help you keep track of the beat and feel comfortable. For the last 4 measures the played downbeats are removed and the chord is only played on the backbeat. This is the way the chop is meant to be played.

The back-beats here are written as sixteenth notes which means they are short, you should try and release the finger pressure before it’s time to play the next down beat in measures 1-4 and try to release pressure immediately after playing in the last four measure