This lesson introduces counting bars and explains how beats are divided into measures. Using one-bar and eight-bar examples, it demonstrates how to count through the music and keep track of which bar you are in, a skill that can be useful when mixing, scratching, and transitioning into a song.
Below is the original transcript from the video.
Hey What’s up? As always, links are in the description. In this video, we are going to talk about counting bars. I assume that some of you know the basic concept or perhaps you already count bars when DJing. But I’m going to be on the safe side and give a quick overview for those that are new to this.
Music is divided into groups called measures. Measures are also called bars. Each bar contains a specific number of beats. These beats are the pulse of the song. The pulse is what we often bob our heads to when we listen to music. In popular western music, bars generally contain four beats. This is why we usually count to four when counting bars.
The ability to count bars is a great tool for scratch DJs to have in their skill set. I often count bars when I’m going to mix in a new song or when I scratch and transition into a song. Now that we got that covered. Let’s count some bars.
Example 1
One, two, three, four. We just counted one bar.
Example 2
Let’s do it again, but this time we are going to count eight bars, and each time we get to a new bar, instead of saying one again, we are going to say the number of the bar that we are in. That means we are going to count 1234-2234-3234-4234-5234-6234-7234-8234. Got that? Here we go!
There we go. We just successfully counted eight bars. Did you notice anything interesting while you were counting? Did you catch that the first beat of this song has a kick drum on beat 1, a snare drum on beat 2, a kick drum on beat 3, and a snare drum on beat 4? A lot of songs will keep this pattern. However, in this song, the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th measures didn’t have a kick on beat one. We chose this song specifically for this video. Watch the next video to find out the reason why.
FAQs
1. What is a bar in music?
A bar, also called a measure, is a group of beats. In popular Western music, a bar generally contains four beats.
2. Why is counting bars useful for scratch DJs?
Counting bars is useful for scratch DJs because it can help when mixing in a new song or when scratching and transitioning into a song.
3. How can you count multiple bars without losing track of which bar you are on?
You can count multiple bars by replacing the first beat of each new bar with the number of that bar, such as 1234, 2234, 3234, and 4234.
About the Authors
Jason E. Bullock and M. Dwayne Bullock (DjRoninTokyo) are the creators of Scratching Made Easy and the authors of Scratching Made Easy Turntable Method Book 1: A Guide to Scratching. They created a scratch notation system that uses standard musical notation to apply fundamental music concepts to scratching.
Continue to: How Learning to Count Bars Changed How I Scratch
