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Playing with the click on beats 2 and 4
In a bar of four, a metronome usually clicks on 1, 2, 3 and 4. Jazz, funk, soul and rock musicians often set it differently: the click sounds only on beats 2 and 4. Confusing at first, this exercise changes the way you feel rhythm.
Beats 2 and 4, the backbeat
In most popular music, the snare drum hits on beats 2 and 4. This is the backbeat. It is also where a jazz audience snaps its fingers and a soul audience claps its hands.
A click on 2 and 4 puts you in the position of a musician playing with a drummer: the snare gives you the landmarks, and it is up to you to hold beats 1 and 3.
What it changes
- You stop leaning on the metronome. With a click on every beat, it is easy to follow without listening. With a click on every other beat, you carry the pulse between the clicks.
- The groove settles in. Feeling 2 and 4 as accents gives that swing that makes people tap their feet. Many musicians find a song grooves more after this kind of practice.
- Your inner tempo gets stronger. The gaps without a click show straight away whether you are rushing or dragging.
How to get started
The classic trap: after a few bars, you start hearing the clicks as beats 1 and 3 without realising it. To avoid it:
- Start with all four beats at a comfortable tempo, and count out loud: “one, two, three, four”.
- Mute beats 1 and 3 without changing the tempo, and keep counting. The clicks should land on “two” and “four”.
- Keep the tempo slow at first, around 60 to 80 BPM. The slower the tempo, the bigger the gap between clicks, and the harder the exercise.
- Tap your foot on all four beats, or only on 1 and 3, while the click gives 2 and 4.
- If you get lost, bring back all four beats for a few bars, then try again.
Once you are comfortable, play your scales, your exercises, then your songs with this setting.
Variations to try
- Beat 1 only. One click per bar: you handle the other three beats on your own. Very useful for fast songs, where four clicks per bar get in the way.
- Beat 4 only. The click announces the next bar. Demanding, but very instructive.
- In 3/4, keeping only 2 and 3 gives the lilt of a jazz waltz. Keeping only beat 1 makes you feel the whole bar as one.
- In 12/8, keeping only beats 4 and 10 gives the equivalent of 2 and 4 in blues and soul ballads.
With TempoClic
In TempoClic, each beat of the bar is a numbered tile. Tap tiles 1 and 3 to mute them: they switch to “mute”, and the song keeps this setting. You can do it while the metronome is playing, without stopping it, for example to switch from all four beats to 2 and 4 along the way.
Muted beats stay visible during playback, which helps you keep your place in the bar. And if you turn on the count-in, the count-in bar plays every beat, even the muted ones: you know exactly where beat 1 falls before you start.
You can also create two songs for the same piece, one with all beats and one with 2 and 4, and switch between them with one click. The guide explains every setting.