The course › Unit 12: Accompanying like a pro
Lesson 69 of 72 · Counting in threes: the sway of ballads and the blues
In 3/4, a measure has three beats, and each beat splits into two eighth notes: “1 and 2 and 3 and.” In 6/8, a measure has six eighth notes, but grouped in threes: “1-2-3, 4-5-6.” You feel two big beats, each one worth a dotted quarter note.
The result: a sway, like a boat on the water. It’s the meter of The House of the Rising Sun and Hallelujah, which you know from the pieces.
Six eighth notes, two big beats: “1-2-3, 4-5-6.” Then the two dotted quarters of the big beats.
Why this way: Dalcroze had his students walk to the music: one step per big beat, the eighth notes in the voice or the arms. Before you tap, rock from one foot to the other on each big beat, counting “1-2-3, 4-5-6” out loud.
Did you know?: The barcarolle, the song of the Venetian gondoliers, is traditionally in 6/8 or 12/8: its sway imitates the rocking of the gondola. The most famous one is from Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann.
The count-in gives you the two big beats. Tap while counting “1-2-3, 4-5-6.” The third rhythm, quarter + eighth, “long-short, long-short,” will come in handy later: it’s the secret of the shuffle!
At your own pace. The left hand plays on the big beats (1 and 4): the root with 5, the fifth with 1. The right hand answers on 2-3 and 5-6. “Boom-chuck-chuck, boom-chuck-chuck.”
A great ballad in 6/8: the chorus of Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen), in arpeggios of six eighth notes, as in Jeff Buckley’s version. The bass falls on 1; the arpeggio climbs over four notes and comes back down over two. F – A minor – F – C – G – C, twice. Left hand: each chord’s bass note.
In 4/4, each beat usually splits into two eighth notes. Split it into three: that’s a triplet, three equal notes in a single beat. Say “trip-a-let” on each beat.
When every beat of a piece is in triplets, it’s usually written in 12/8: four big beats of three eighths. It’s the sway of ’50s slow dances and doo-wop, where the piano pounds out the chord in triplets, as in Earth Angel (The Penguins, 1954).
Now keep the first and third notes of each triplet, and drop the middle one: “long-short, long-short.” That’s the shuffle, the “limping” rhythm of blues and rock’n’roll. Jazz musicians call these swing eighths: on the page, they’re written as ordinary eighth notes, but you play them unevenly.
Tip: Listen to a famous shuffle, Pride and Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan, and nod your head: “long-short, long-short.” Your body gets it before your fingers do.
The ’50s in 12/8: C – A minor – F – G in triplets. Right hand: the three notes of the chord on each beat, “trip-a-let”; left hand: two bass notes per measure. Right hand: the chord’s three notes in eighth notes. Left hand: two bass notes per measure.
The blues, shuffled: the “5-6” bass of rock’n’roll and boogie, long-short on every beat. Same pattern on C, F and G: only the position changes. Keep your wrist loose. The 12-bar blues in 12/8: on every beat, “long-short.” Left hand alone: 5 on the root, 2 on the fifth, 1 on the sixth. The computer answers with the chords on beats 2 and 4.