Rhythm & Meter

Anacrusis (Pickup)

Pronounced an-uh-KROO-sis

Definition

An anacrusis, or pickup, is one or more notes leading into a downbeat at the start of a piece or phrase. An opening pickup is often an incomplete first bar; a pickup to a later phrase can occur within a complete bar.

Many tunes do not start on beat 1. They begin with one or a few notes that lead into the first strong beat, the downbeat of the first full bar. Those lead-in notes are the anacrusis, much more often called the pickup. The word comes from poetry, where it names the unstressed syllables before the first stressed beat of a line, and music uses it the same way: a pickup is usually a light start that falls forward into the downbeat.

A treble-clef melody in 3/4. A single quarter note G4, counted 3, stands before the first bar line. Then: a half note C5 and quarter note E5; quarter notes G5 F5 E5; a half note D5 and quarter note B4; and a final bar holding only a half note C5. — The G before the first bar line is counted 3, the last beat of an incomplete first bar, and leads into the downbeat C. The final bar is shortened to two beats, so the pickup and the last bar together make one full bar.

How a pickup is written

The first bar is incomplete. In 3/4 with a one-beat pickup, the first bar holds only one beat: the last beat of an imaginary full bar.
Bar numbering normally starts at the first complete bar, so the pickup is not counted as bar 1 (it is sometimes labeled bar 0).
The final bar of the piece is often shortened by the length of the pickup, so that the first and last bars add up to one complete bar. Not every edition does this, especially in band and popular music.

Counting in

Count the missing beats silently before you play. With a one-beat pickup in 3/4, count "1, 2" to yourself and play on "3". With a pickup of two eighth notes in 4/4, count "1, 2, 3" and play on "4 &". Conductors and bandleaders usually count in a full bar first, so the pickup arrives in its proper place.

Pickups inside a piece

Pickups are not only for the opening. Many phrases in the middle of a piece also start with a pickup leading into a strong beat; the phrase belongs with the bar that follows, even though it begins in the bar before. Singing helps you feel this. In a line of lyrics, unstressed opening words such as "the" or "and" often sit on the pickup, and the first stressed syllable lands on the downbeat.

Practice finding and counting pickups in Pickup Notes and Meter Detective.

Common questions

Is the pickup measure counted as measure 1?

Usually not. Bar 1 is the first complete bar, and the pickup is left unnumbered or called bar 0.

What is the difference between an anacrusis and an upbeat?

They overlap. An upbeat is the weak beat just before a downbeat, wherever it falls. An anacrusis is specifically the note or notes before the first full bar of a piece or phrase. People often call an anacrusis an upbeat.