Playing in 3/4 time

Counting in three

Until now, your bars had four beats. A bar in three (written 3/4) is counted “1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3”: the 1 is strong, the other two lighter. That’s the sway of the waltz: “boom, chick, chick.”

Start a metronome at 90 and count in three while tapping your foot, leaning on the 1. Then do the same over a song you know in three: Happy Birthday, for example.

The waltz

A downstroke on 1, then down-up on 2 and on 3. Your hand keeps its back-and-forth motion, as always: down on the beats, up on the “ands.”

Say it while you play: “down, down-up, down-up.”

The waltz with a bass note

The waltz gets its shape from the 1: you play only the chord’s bass note there, as in the lesson Accents, then two light strums on the high strings.

Bass note reminder: G on the low E string, 3^rd fret; C on the A string, 3^rd fret; D on the open D string.

Three or four beats?

To find out whether a song is in three or in four, tap your foot to it and count, leaning on the strongest beat. If you land back on “1” after three beats, it’s in three.

1. Listen to a waltz, a lullaby or a folk ballad, and count in three.
2. Listen to a pop song of your choice, and count in four.
3. Try it the other way around: counting in four over a waltz quickly makes you feel lost.

You’ve got it when…

• You count in three while tapping your foot, leaning on the 1
• You play the waltz on G, C, D, G at 80 without stopping
• You can tell whether a song you know is in three or in four