That Time I Lost the Beat in the Middle of My Solo
I was on stage in the middle of a solo when the drummer played a fill that completely threw me off.
I lost the beat. And then I lost the form.
I BS'd my way through the rest of the solo. The audience might've missed it, but inside, I felt like I'd tripped in the spotlight.
I knew I had a problem.
I couldn't hang with what that drummer was playing. Musically speaking, I was fooled by a rhythmic illusion: syncopation.
Wikipedia defines syncopation as "a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is 'a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm': a 'placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn't normally occur'."
Not a bad definition. But what about my mention of a rhythmic illusion?
Take a look at the famous Hermann grid illusion below:
Those phantom gray blobs at the crossroads of black and white? They aren’t really there. Yet, show this to my young son, Harrison, and he’ll swear they are.
Similarly, syncopation sprinkles phantom beats into music. To the untrained ear, these off-beats sound like the down beats, creating a rhythmic illusion that can easily lead one astray – the time goes out the window. Panic sets in. And before you know it, you've lost your place and have to BS your way through the rest of the solo.
Remember those Magic Eye books from the 90's?
They're a lot more fun when you can see the hidden image. But it takes practice and focus.
Music is no different. The next time you hear music that throws off your sense of time, look listen again. Listen closer. Find the actual beat – not the illusory one. You might need to slow down the recording. You might need to transcribe the rhythm.
Do what it takes. Don't be fooled. Find the beat!
Want to sharpen your sense of rhythm and avoid being thrown off by those illusory beats?
Check out my course, Phrasing Secrets. For a limited time, I'm including a free bonus lesson called Syncopation Secrets full of hacks and tactics for making sure you never lose the beat again.
Learn more about phrasing secrets at the link below and enroll before the end of the week to get the free Syncopation Secrets bonus lesson.
Happy Shedding,
Jeff