The Chirp: Developing Musical Timing and Coordination
The Chirp builds directly on the timing and coordination developed through the Baby Scratch. What changes is the demand placed on your hands. Timing, once carried primarily by one hand, must now be maintained across two.
Scratching is a rhythmic art form. To sound musical, both the record and the fader must move with the pulse of the song. With the Chirp, that timing becomes even more important because both hands must stay coordinated for the scratch to remain on beat and sound clean.
Why Timing Matters in the Chirp
In scratching, timing keeps multiple actions synchronized to the same pulse of the beat. When they align, movement feels connected to the beat. When they do not, the result may feel awkward, even if the motions themselves are correct. The difference is whether the movements land on the beat.
With the Chirp, the record hand moves forward and backward within the pulse of the beat, while the fader moves in time alongside it. Each action has a place inside the beat. If either one is out of time, the technique falls apart.
Practicing the Chirp reinforces the importance of good timing. Record movement and fader movement are not separate tasks. They are parallel actions, locked to the same rhythmic clock.
With good timing, the Chirp feels controlled and deliberate. Without it, the movements may look correct, but they may not line up properly with the beat. The result can sound awkward and uneven, like the hands are guessing where the movements should fall. The sound that the technique produces becomes clean and even when the motions behind it are properly executed in time.
Coordinating Both Hands With Notation
Control in the Chirp is still the relationship between what you hear, what you want to do, and how your hands respond. The difference is that this relationship now must involve both hands working together.
Your record hand and fader hand must execute in time with one another. Your ears catch the beat, and you consciously predict when each motion should occur. Over time, that process becomes subconscious.
Practicing the Chirp using notation strengthens this connection by allowing you to focus on the notation while still requiring coordination and maintaining musical accuracy. Clean strokes come from record control and precise fader movement executed in time with one another. The notation shows when those movements must occur, removing guesswork and allowing you to focus on executing the shared movements of the technique.
A Skill That Extends Beyond the Technique
The timing and coordination developed through the Chirp support more than just this one scratch. Any technique that relies on the fader depends on the same principles being reinforced here.
When both hands meet the demands of the rhythm being scratched, attention can shift toward musical expression rather than execution. Both hands respond consistently. Musical ideas can be deliberate and purposeful.
This is where scratching continues to move closer to instrumental playing and self-expression. The focus stays on rhythm, placement, and control, but now you can decide when and where that will happen.
The original transcript for the video is below.
Rhythm 1
What's up guys? In this video we're going to chirp quarter note and eighth note rhythms. You’ll find the link to the sheet music and everything discussed in this video in the description below. If you are not familiar with music theory terminology, check out our baby scratch series where we go over various note values, and get yourself caught up. Now let’s get started. The tempo is at 90 beats per minute. Here we go!
Rhythm 2
Let’s move on to number two. This time let’s focus on record and fader control. We want our strokes to be clean and even as we open and close the fader. If you don’t have good fader control, your chirp will sound sloppy. Alright, here we go!
Rhythm 2
Let's play rhythm two again, and this time we will focus on playing clean and even strokes while we count out loud. Counting out loud will help us make sure that our strokes are evenly spaced apart and on beat. Let’s count it off.
Rhythm 3
I have a feeling that you are starting to get your quarter notes on beat, but you might be rushing the eighth notes. We are going to continue to count out loud, while we get our stokes clean and evenly spaced apart. But this time, we are going to focus on not rushing the eighth notes. Here we go!
Rhythm 4
Hopefully you’re really starting to get the hang of this. With our last rhythm, let’s focus on getting a clean and consistent sound. We want our strokes to sound crisp and clear. Let’s get it sounding nice and even. Alright, here we go!
We suggest that you incorporate these rhythms into your daily practice routine and make sure that you practice with both hands. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but you will eventually get used to it. Our Made Easy Method is structured and progressive, so as long as you practice this faithfully and consistently, you will continue to get better. Thanks for watching. Do us a favor and hit the thumbs up, because it really helps us out! See you next time! Peace!
FAQs
1. Why is timing more demanding in the Chirp?
Timing is more demanding in the Chirp because it must be maintained across both the record hand and the fader hand.
2. Why must both hands stay aligned with the beat in the Chirp?
Both hands must stay aligned with the beat in the Chirp because the record and fader movements are parallel actions locked to the same rhythmic clock.
3. How does notation help when practicing the Chirp?
Notation helps when practicing the Chirp by giving you a specific rhythm to follow, so you know exactly when the record and fader movements should occur.
Summary
The Chirp requires the record hand and fader hand to move in time with the same pulse of the beat. Notation shows when those movements should occur, helping both hands stay aligned so the scratch is executed cleanly and without guesswork.
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.
Pt. 2 → Pt. 3
Continue to: How I Learned to Scratch With the Cross Fader - The Chirp (Part 3)
