Starting chord-changes at "the and of 4"

[Ekulati]

In 1987 I got into a house Latin band at a jumpin' club in AZ. I remember being blown away learning that stuff that there were some tunes (mostly Cuban) where the ONLY down beat I played was the very first beat of the tune. Never again another downbeat for 4, 5 minutes. Cool stuff.

But THAT SAID: in ANY other style, you should not think that you should just do this, throughout a whole song, just cuz you "feel like it." In non-Afro-Cuban music, this has a very specific purpose and effect. As others have said, use it sparingly and tastefully.

 

[EastCoastThump]

 

[EastCoastThump]

Chords change where they change. The "one" doesn't care.

 

[Mushroo]

Syncopation/anticipation is a fundamental musical concept all bass players should understand. The convention is to always write it in 4/4 with a tied note across the bar line. Notating a song like this in 7/8 would just be wrong in my opinion.

 

[Thunder_Fingers]

Thanks for your input, the internet!

Much appreciated, even more learned! (Or maby I should say Relearned)

 

[Jhengsman]

The neo soul people do it all the time too. Listen to Pino with whatever that guy's name is ... (sorry, it's not really my thing but I listen occasionally cos I love Pino Palladino).

D'Angelo is the artist to search for.