Quality Information: Bass Kicks & Snare Hits

In a normal bar of rap music, beats one and three are the strong beats, while beats two and four are the weak beats. Because of this, beats one and three generally have bass kicks land on them, while beats two and four have snares land on them. This gives the music a strong, propulsive feel.

Again, for memory : )

Double time music upsets this straightforward idea of when snares and bass kicks hit a bit. In double time music, snares typically happen on the third beat of the bar, not the second, while bass kicks happen on beats one, two, and four.

Confusing, right? Don’t over think it, just know it exists!

This pattern of double time music makes the music sound twice as slow as it should sound to the ear. This is because the snares in a double time song are only coming half as much as they would in a regular time song; hence the term double time.

For example, Notorious Thugz’ song could be notated in a 4/4 bar meter at 156 beats per minute (BPM, which is a mathematical measurement of tempo, the speed of a song) or in a 2/2 meter at 78 BPM.

If you notice, the snares do happen on beat three on it, but the rappers respond to the lower division of the quarter note (another term for a beat.)