Singing and Playing Behind the Beat: What Does It Mean?

If you’re curious about singing and playing behind the beat and what this means exactly, you’ve come to the right post!

The Groove: Most Important Thing That Music Schools Won’t Teach You

Before we get into the matter, it’s important to explain what the groove is. You’ve most likely heard the phrase plenty of times. It’s not something that many classical musicians talk about. However, it’s essential for most modern genres.

We have tempo as one of the main elements in music. We define it through beats per minute. Then we also have rhythm patterns. This is more complex as it involves the duration of different notes.

Be it drums, guitar, or any other instrument, you can apply a different rhythm to the same musical piece. But it’s not the same as tempo, or beat as some may call it.

But then we have the groove. And it’s a bit tricky to define. It has to do a lot with dynamics and other nuanced details of a rhythm pattern. There’s no strict definition of groove. But I like to refer to it as a feel-based play on tempo, dynamics, patterns, and individual note timing.

Of course, you need to have impeccable timing sense to produce a quality groove. It all starts with the boring old practice with a metronome advice. And this is essential to everything else. With a good sense of timing, you can play around with dynamics and individual note duration.

In order to understand this better, I suggest that you check out this brief lesson by Carol Kaye.

Singing and Playing Behind the Beat

Maybe you’ve heard of someone playing behind a beat. You’ve probably also heard about someone playing ahead of a beat, or rushing.

Essentially, this refers to the tempo and timing of a piece that one is playing. Additionally, it’s about playing with a band or a metronome and not being in sync with the set tempo.

So what does playing or singing behind the beat mean? What does it sound like? In simplest terms, it’s about being just a little bit late.

Let’s give an example. There’s a set tempo that a band is playing in. And, let’s say, a guitar player is just slightly late. They play the right notes but they miss the beat. It’s as if they’re playing to the metronome that’s set differently. It has the same tempo as the rest of the band but it started only milliseconds late. 

If someone is playing ahead of the beat, it means the opposite. It means that they’re rushing. In this case, a musician who’s rushing is also out of sync with the rest of the band. It’s as if they started just milliseconds earlier.

Why Is It a Bad Thing?

Unless there’s a specific thing that you’re aiming for, playing behind the beat isn’t exactly the sign of good musicianship. Honestly, it sounds like a mess if you’re constantly behind the beat.

The trickiest part is that the one doing is rarely aware of it. And that’s the biggest problem. If you’re behind the beat, your bandmates and the audience can notice it.

It usually happens if you’re focused solely on what you’re doing. But if you’re playing with a band, you need to be aware of the bigger picture.

Doing It on Purpose: It’s Trickier Than You Might Think

Some musicians may be dragging their feet on purpose. However, this is way trickier than you might think. In order to play perfectly behind the beat, one needs to have an impeccable sense of timing.

And it needs to fit the right context. A certain musical piece might have one instrument or voice coming in a quarter note late. Two voices, for instance, singing the same melody but one of them is late.

Whether you’re ahead or behind, it’s super tricky to pull off properly. And this is not the same thing as I described in the previous section. It sounds good within the context of the piece that a band or choir is performing.

There’s also a variation to this. For instance, there are plenty of blues, jazz, or rock pieces where a lead instrument is off-beat on purpose. They might be rushing or dragging on purpose.

However, they aren’t doing it precisely one quarter or eighth note late or early. It can be a phrase or a song section that is not completely in sync with others. Once again, only those with an impeccable sense of timing can pull it off properly.

Always Practice With a Metronome

Do your bandmates tell you that you’re constantly playing behind the beat? There’s only one solution. Practice with a metronome.

Yes, I know. It’s may feel annoying or tedious. But if you learn to play with a metronome, it will seriously level up your musical skill. Some may say that it sucks the magic out of music. But really, if you want to create magic with your music, you need to be in full control of the timing.  

Conclusion

I hope this post has clarified what singing and playing behind the beat means.

And I hope that you will let me know in the comments below if you have questions about this or another guitar-related topic!

Lastly, if you enjoyed this post, you may want to check out some of the posts on this blog like:

• How to Learn Guitar Songs by Ear