Beat Structures

It's more important than you realise

Beat structure is one of those things that seems obvious once you know it, and completely alien before that. The book has a full chapter on how beats build into bars, phrases, and then verses and choruses — this page is a lighter companion to that.

The video clips that used to sit on this page were built around Apple's old QuickTime plug-in, which no longer works in modern browsers, so they've been removed rather than left broken. The explanation below still stands; a proper video replacement is on the list.

Why this matters

Beat structure is a foundation — something you need to know, and something that has to become second nature. Early on, it helps to consciously count beats and bars to build your sense of the pattern. But this should only be a temporary crutch, for a week or two while you get used to how tunes are put together.

Needing to count beats in the booth is a sign you're still early in your development. The goal is to listen — to cymbal crashes, melody, lyrics, build-ups — and use your knowledge of structure plus your memory of the tune to know where you are, without counting.

Learn structure by counting beats and bars. Don't try to DJ by counting them. Use your ear, your memory, and your instinct instead.

The basics

• 4 beats make a bar
• 4 bars make a phrase
• Phrases combine into sections — intros, verses, choruses, breakdowns and outros

A section is usually a multiple of four phrases, though it can occasionally be just one or two — it depends entirely on how the tune was written. See Better Mixing for how this feeds into mix placement.