When Did You Learn About Bar Counts, Song Structure, Measures etc?

[stealthbomber]

Suppose my subconscious grasped traditional 4, 8, 16 bar structures as a youth

But it was when I picked up djing in my late teens I realised you had to know your 8 bar counts

Studying others GOATs on the buttons I realised you could pre plan your mixes by just matching up your 16 bar intros with the 16 bar chorus on the last tune for example (these times I'm mixing UK Garage)

Got to know my tunes well enough I could pull off intricate blends on the fly, "oh that tunes got 16 bars of drums then it drops", "that tune there got 16 bars of drums, 16 of melody, another 16 the bass comes in, then the whole tune drops out for 8 bars, builds up then kicks in to the main drop"

DJs mixing out of wack is bad enough for everyone, but hearing a DJ mixing out of sequence to a pro like moi is horrible

By my late teens I'm writing bars and from there you know it's a wrap

I once did the bar count on Da Mystery of Chessboxin' lads, that tunes all over the place.



worst!

you would hate me i just did my first real set earlier this year

it was a house party but i fukked up on 2 transitions, nobody really noticed but my soul was burning on the inside

 

[ridedolo]

i had to take a chorus class in junior high and learned about music measurements and shyt. then just realized it kinda applied to rap around the same time

 

[Shadow King]

My uncle taught me when I started writing verses.

Damn that was so long ago

 

[PhonZhi]

I actually have a habit of counting bars. I love doing it. Its fascinating to me how rappers can summarize everything they want to say in a certain amount of bars. Was counting the bars to this joint yesterday and noticed that they only spit 12 bars each instead of the usual 16

 

[BronxFleeZ]

Great thread

 

[Cole Cash]

Like when did u learn that most verses are 12-16 bar measurements, Hooks are mainly 4-8 bars and bridges 8bars in the average song made for radio? When did u become aware that songs are "measured" and are similar in length? When and how did u learn to count bars? obviously if u were in the band you learned earlier than most, but what about those of you that werent taught?

when i started playing saxaphone. but rap is different because its very basic, 16 bars 8 bar hook 4/4 tempo.

 

[Big Blue]

School. I sang in high school with a group (Good enough to get invited to perform at Jazz @ Lincoln Center).

 

[Shadow King]

I actually have a habit of counting bars. I love doing it. Its fascinating to me how rappers can summarize everything they want to say in a certain amount of bars. Was counting the bars to this joint yesterday and noticed that they only spit 12 bars each instead of the usual 16

Me too that and tempo. If I know the time length of a verse or hook I know the tempo.

S/n I hated Jeremih on this song

 

[Therht]

you would hate me i just did my first real set earlier this year

it was a house party but i fukked up on 2 transitions, nobody really noticed but my soul was burning on the inside

two beats clanging in the mix is hard for anyone to stomach but the imminent failure of a poorly sequenced mix, looming over the dancefloor, is painful

keep doin you my man

i know you got it!

 

[Jack Skellington]

naturally, by listening to the music

 

[PhonZhi]

naturally, by listening to the music

same here

 

[patscorpio]

learned how to read music back in the 4th grade when i played the trumpet

 

[PhonZhi]

 

[pointproven214]

i learned from this

why is music theory important ?

 

[RealestSinceKumbaya]

When I used Fruity Loops in like 2000..