In music, a chop chord is a "clipped
backbeat
In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the ''mensural level'' (or ''beat level''). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a p ...
". In
: . It is a
muted
Protein Muted homolog is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MUTED'' gene.
Function
This gene encodes a component of BLOC-1 (biogenesis of lysosome-related organelles complex 1). Components of this complex are involved in the biogenes ...
chord that marks the
off-beats or
upbeat
Up beat may refer to:
*Upbeat, in music, the last beat in the previous bar which immediately precedes the downbeat
*Anacrusis, a note (or sequence of notes) which precedes the first downbeat in a bar in a musical phrase
* ''Upbeat'' (album), by t ...
s. As a
rhythm guitar and
mandolin technique, it is accomplished through chucking, in which the
chord is muted by lifting the
fretting fingers immediately after
strumming, producing a
percussive
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
effect.
Traditional
bluegrass bands typically do not have a drummer, and the timekeeping role is shared between several instruments. The
upright bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...
generally plays the
on-beats, while the
banjo keeps a steady eighth-note rhythm. The
mandolin plays chop chords on the off-beats or upbeats. (see:
boom-chick) By partially relaxing the fingers of the left hand soon after strumming, the strings are allowed to rise off the frets, and their oscillations are
damped by the fingers. All strings are stopped (
fingered);
open strings are not played in chop chords.
The offbeat was played on the piano in rhythm and blues "shuffle" style, as heard in songs like
Louis Jordan's "It's a Low-Down Dirty Shame" (1942) and
Professor Longhair's "Wille Mae" (1949). This popular, danceable shuffle style was present on many early rock and roll records. It was played on the electric guitar at least as early as 1950 by Robert Kelton on Jimmy McCracklin's "Rockin' All Day." Either played on the guitar, piano or both, the "chop", "chuck" or "skank" offbeat eventually influenced Jamaican rhythm and blues of the 1950s, which morphed into ska in late 1962, then rocksteady and reggae, all of which featured the offbeat "chuck" or "skank" guitar.
Guitar
The "chuck" usually consists of a downward strum on the up beat notes. Alternatively, the
bass note
In music theory, the bass note of a chord or sonority is the lowest note played or notated. If there are multiple voices it is the note played or notated in the lowest voice (the note furthest in the bass.)
Three situations are possible:
# ...
can be played and allowed to ring, with the remainder of the chord being "chucked" on the up beat. This technique is usually used in a rhythmically simple manner, such as chucking on every beat, or bass notes on down beats and chucking on up beats.
Freddie Green
Frederick William Green (March 31, 1911 – March 1, 1987) was an American swing jazz guitarist who played rhythm guitar with the Count Basie Orchestra for almost fifty years.
Early life and education
Green was born in Charleston, South Car ...
,
Django Reinhardt
Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...
and
Nile Rodgers are known for this technique.
Mandolin
Mandolin "chunks", or more commonly known as "chops", rarely include a down-beat strum. When a mandolin is playing rhythm it is most often in conjunction with other instruments, such as guitar and bass, which produce the main beat. The mandolin contributes to the rhythm by producing a sharp "chunk" on the upbeat notes. This is particularly common when playing
bluegrass music. According to
Andy Statman
Andy Statman (born 1950) is a noted American klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/ newgrass mandolinist.
Life and career
Statman was born in New York City and grew up in the borough of Queens. Beginning at age 12, he learned to play banjo and g ...
, "the mandolin can drive and push the band in the same way (as) a snare drum."
[Statman, Andy (1978). ''Teach Yourself Bluegrass Mandolin'', . Amsco Music Company, New York. .]
Fiddle
The chop was introduced to fiddle playing by
Richard Greene
Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series ' ...
in the 1960s.
See also
*
Banjo roll
In bluegrass music, a banjo roll or roll is a pattern played by the banjo that uses a repeating eighth-note arpeggio – a broken chord – that by subdividing the beat 'keeps time'. "Each standard"roll pattern is a ''right hand'' fingering ...
*
Bluegrass mandolin
*
Ska stroke
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chop chord
Bluegrass music
Folk music
String performance techniques
Bill Monroe