Rhythm & Meter

Upbeat

Definition

An upbeat is the weak beat just before a downbeat, usually the last beat of a bar, named after the conductor's upward lift. Notes that lead into the first full bar of a piece are also called an upbeat.

The upbeat is the beat that leads into a downbeat: in most cases the last beat of the bar, such as beat 4 in 4/4 or beat 3 in 3/4. It takes its name from conducting. On the last beat of each bar the conductor's hand lifts upward, ready to fall on the next beat 1. An upbeat is weak in itself, but it has a strong sense of motion: it points forward to the downbeat.

A treble-clef line in 4/4, four bars. Each of the first three bars has a dotted half note followed by two beamed eighth notes on beat 4, counted 4 &: E5 then D5 E5; F5 then E5 F5; G5 then A5 B5. Bar 4 has a dotted half note C6 and a quarter rest. — In each of the first three bars, a long note is followed by two eighth notes on beat 4, the upbeat. They lead up into the next downbeat: D and E into F, E and F into G, A and B into the high C.

Three meanings of "upbeat"

The last beat of a bar, as described above.
A pickup: the note or notes before the first full bar of a piece or phrase. "The tune starts on an upbeat" means it starts with an anacrusis.
The off-beats: in jazz, pop and rock, players often call the "&"s between the beats the upbeats. A ska guitar part "on the upbeats" plays on every "&".

Context usually makes the meaning clear. Outside music, "upbeat" also means cheerful, which is unrelated to rhythm.

Breathing and preparing on the upbeat

Because the upbeat prepares the downbeat, it is where ensembles get ready. Singers and wind players breathe on the conductor's upbeat before an entrance, and a bandleader's count-in ("1, 2, 3, 4") ends on the upbeat just before everyone plays. When you play a lead-in note on the upbeat yourself, give it direction: let it lean into the next bar rather than sounding like the end of the previous one.

Upbeats and syncopation

Notes that start on an upbeat and are held into the following beat are one of the most common ways to create syncopation. In 4/4, a chord on the "&" of beat 4 tied over the bar line, often called a push, is a familiar sound in pop and rock.

Practice tunes that start on an upbeat with Pickup Notes, and find the hidden pickups in Meter Detective.

Common questions

Is an upbeat the same as a pickup?

Often. A pickup, or anacrusis, is the upbeat that leads into the first full bar of a piece or phrase. But "upbeat" can also mean the last beat of any bar, or, in pop and jazz, the off-beat "&"s.

What does it mean to play on the upbeat?

It depends on the style. In classical music it usually means on the last beat of the bar. In pop, jazz and ska it usually means on the "&" between the beats.