Pickup Measures

Notice that in the last song, the very first melody note began on beat 1 of the first measure. “So what?” I hear you say, “Why wouldn’t it?” Well, believe it or not, there are a lot of songs that start part-way into the first measure (in other words, on either beat 2, 3, or 4). We could write one or more rests at the beginning of the first measure to indicate this, but in practice, composers normally use a “pickup measure” instead, which omits the rests at the beginning (you’re already silent before you start playing, right?). So, in the first measure of the next example, instead of the four beats we would expect in 4/4 time, notice there are only three beats. This is the pickup measure you’ve heard so much about, with the first melody note (C) falling on beat 2 of the measure.

…On to our next song in C Position, “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Practice the tune on your own first, and remember to follow the finger numbers. After you’ve played it a bit, have a listen to track 4 and play along.

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Watch out for the pickup measure as you listen to this song. You will actually hear five metronome clicks before the first melody note. The first four clicks are beats 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the count-off measure, and then the next click is beat 1 of the pickup measure (the “missing” beat) before the melody actually starts, on beat 2. Cool huh!

This is also our first song containing a mixture of notes and rests. Make sure you observe (i.e., don’t play during) the rests, and count your way through each measure as needed. You may write in the counts below the notes as you did before if it helps. Have fun!