Rhythm reading lessons › Lesson 17 of 19
Anticipations: notes that arrive early and tie into the next bar.
An anticipation starts a note just before the downbeat and ties it over the barline, so beat 1 of the next bar is silent. It is everywhere in pop, jazz and Latin music.
Clap the anticipation and then hold still on the downbeat. The next clap after a tied downbeat is where most people rush.
| Figure | Count | Kodály syllables |
|---|---|---|
| Anticipated downbeat | … 4 & | (1) 2 | ti-(ta) over the bar |
| Eighth-quarter-eighth into the next bar | 3 & (4) & | (1) | syn-co-pa |
An anticipation plays a note early. Instead of arriving on the downbeat, it arrives an eighth note before and is tied over the barline. On paper you see a note at the end of one bar joined by a curved line to a note at the start of the next. You clap once, on the first of the two.
Keep counting through the barline: "3 & 4 & | 1 2". Clap the "&" of 4 and let it ring through 1. Say "1" out loud without clapping. The barline is only a visual marker. The rhythm is the eighth, quarter, eighth syncopation you already know, shifted so that the silent beat is beat 1.
Two things go wrong. Some people clap the tied note again on the downbeat out of habit. Others lose track after the tie and come in early with the next note. Tap your foot on every beat and exaggerate the tap on the silent downbeat.
Singers and horn players anticipate constantly, which is why written-out pop and jazz melodies are full of ties.