Last month we explored some possible backbeat placements for rock patterns in 3/4. In this lesson, we’ll check out some options for the backbeat’s placement in 5/4. As a review, a basic rock or jazz backbeat is played on beats 2 and 4 in 4/4 time. In 12/8, the backbeat often falls on the 8th-note counts of beats 4 and 10. Typical backbeat placement in 4/4 and 12/8 is notated as follows.

March 2018 Issue