Time Warp

Playing behind, ahead of or on the beat

- BY JARED JAMES NICHOLS

AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT of playing music is being aware of “where” you're playing in the beat and how it relates to the groove being laid down by the rhythm section. This concept can be broken up into three approaches: playing behind the beat, playing ahead of the beat or playing squarely on the beat. How a guitar player chooses to interact with the beat, or pulse, will have everything to do with the feeling of the music and the expression being communicated to the listener. This is, of course, true for all instrumentalists, regardless of musical style.

When I was first learning to play the music of my biggest hero, Mountain guitarist Leslie West, I was thinking, “Why does it sound different when I play the ‘Mississippi Queen’ intro, as compared to when he does it?” I'd be playing right “on the click,” meaning that I was following metronomic time. We've been taught to practice with a metronome, and develop solid time at different tempos.