How to Count a Musical Bar in Hip Hop

Hip Hop music, like any musical score is composed of bars and phrases. Each bar represents the end of a measure that contains a certain number of beats depending on the time signature. The time signature indicates beats per measure and what notes get one beat.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Begin the music you wish to count to get an overall feel for the piece. Hip hop music puts the most emphasis on the first beat of the measure or the first note after the bar.

2. Notice the phrasing in the music is in segments of one strong beat followed by three more subtle beats in each measure.

3. Practice counting just the bars in the phrase at 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.

4. Go back and count all the beats in the measure between bars with the first number indicating what bar you're on; for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 3, 4 through the end of the piece.

5. Begin counting when the music starts, understanding that how the music ends determines on what beat the notes in the song begin. All music comes out with the right number of beats from beginning to end.

6. Clap out the rhythm for each bar putting more emphasis on the first beat and clapping softer on the rest to help you as you count.

Tips & Warnings

• Write out the beats per measure and the number of bars in the song to help you visualize what the bars look like as you count.