Pickup Notes (Anacrusis): Songs That Start Before Beat One
· 5 min read
Pickup notes are the notes before the first full bar of a piece. Beat one comes after them. The formal name is anacrusis. Other names: pickup, pickup bar, pickup beat, upbeat, lead-in. German: Auftakt.
Vocal: Ben E. King, "Stand By Me" (Atco, 1961). A one-second excerpt of the isolated vocal, quoted to show where the pickup sits.
| Term | Origin | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Anacrusis | Greek anákrousis, "pushing up" | Brought into music theory by the German classicist Rudolf Westphal, 19th century |
| Anacrusis in poetry | Unstressed syllables before the first stressed syllable of a line | Baum, The Principles of English Versification, 1922 |
| Pickup | English, mostly American | Everyday term in schools and rehearsals |
| Upbeat | English, mostly British; German Auftakt | Older term, also used for beat 4 of a bar |
If the backing track is on your computer, hear CountIn count it in on beat one. Listening is free and needs no account.
How a pickup bar is written
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Pickup bar | Shorter than the time signature. Holds only the pickup notes. |
| Bar numbers | Bar 1 is the first full bar. The pickup bar is bar 0. |
| Last bar | Shortened by the length of the pickup. The two add up to one full bar. The short last bar is called the complement. |
| MuseScore | "Pickup measure (anacrusis)" option in the new score wizard |
| Dorico | Time signature popover: 4/4,1 gives a one-beat pickup |
Classic melodies with a pickup
| Song | Written | Time | Pickup | Beat one on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Birthday | 1893, Mildred and Patty Hill, as "Good Morning to All" | 3/4 | "Hap-py" | "birth" |
| The Star-Spangled Banner | Words 1814, Francis Scott Key; US anthem since 1931 | 3/4 | "O-oh" | "say" |
| Amazing Grace | Words 1779, John Newton; tune "New Britain", 1829 | 3/4 | "A-" | "-maz-" |
| Auld Lang Syne | 1788, Robert Burns | 4/4 | "Should" | "auld" |
Six records measured
Measured on the original recordings. Beat grid: the tracker CountIn uses. First word: the vocal separated from the mix.
| Song | Released | Tempo | Words before beat one | Beat one on | Pickup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hey Jude, The Beatles | August 1968 | 74 BPM | "Hey" | "Jude" | 1 beat (0.78 s) |
| Let It Be, The Beatles | March 1970 | 70 BPM | "When" | "I" | ½ beat (0.42 s) |
| Stand By Me, Ben E. King | April 1961 | 120 BPM | "When the" | "night" | 1½ beats (0.76 s) |
| Redemption Song, Bob Marley | June 1980 | 117 BPM | "Old" | "pirates" | 1 beat (0.56 s) |
| Don't Stop Believin', Journey | October 1981 | 120 BPM | "Just a" | "small" | 1 beat (0.50 s) |
| Yellow, Coldplay | June 2000 | 87 BPM | "Look at the" | "stars" | 1½ beats (1.03 s) |
No pickup, for comparison: "Yesterday" (1965) and "Something" (1969). Both vocals start on beat one.
A pickup of 1½ beats means the singer comes in on the "and" of beat 3 of the bar before. A pickup of 1 beat means beat 4. Half a beat means the "and" of 4.
How to count in over a pickup
The count goes to beat one, not to the first note. The singer or the instrument with the pickup comes in during the count, on the beat where the pickup starts.
| Pickup | Count | Singer comes in on |
|---|---|---|
| ½ beat (Let It Be) | 1, 2, 3, 4 | the "and" after 4 |
| 1 beat (Hey Jude) | 1, 2, 3 | 4 |
| 1½ beats (Stand By Me) | 1, 2, 3 and | the "and" after 3 |
The figure at the top of this page plays that last case: "When the" comes in on the "and" of 3, under the count, and "night" lands on beat one. King sings "night" an eighth early, pushed onto the "and" of 4 and held through beat one, which is why the word arrives a hair before the orange 1.
Pickups in a backing track
| Situation in CountIn | Result |
|---|---|
| Marker | On beat one, the first downbeat. Not on the first sound in the file. |
| Pickup shorter than the count-in | The pickup plays under the last beats of the count. Beat one follows the last count. |
| Intro longer than the count-in | The count-in is laid over the intro. The file keeps its length. |
How we measured
- Source: the version on the artist's official YouTube channel or official audio upload.
- Beats and bars: beat_this (Foscarin et al., Johannes Kepler University Linz, ISMIR 2024), the tracker behind CountIn's click.
- Vocal: separated with Demucs (Meta AI, htdemucs). First word: the onset in the vocal level, with faster-whisper word timestamps to name the words.
- Each result was checked by ear with a click on beat one. Songs where the tracker put beat one in doubt were left out.
Frequently asked questions
What is a pickup in music?
One or more notes before the first full bar. The melody starts on a weak beat and the first strong beat, beat one, comes a little later.
Is anacrusis the same as a pickup?
Yes. Anacrusis is the formal term, pickup is the everyday one. Pickup bar, pickup measure, upbeat and lead-in all mean the same.
Is a pickup bar counted as bar 1?
No. The pickup bar is bar 0, and bar 1 is the first full bar.
Why is the last bar shorter when a piece starts with a pickup?
Convention. The last bar plus the pickup bar make one full bar, so the piece as a whole has a whole number of bars. Many modern scores and lead sheets do not follow this.
How do you count in a song with a pickup?
Count to beat one of the song and let the pickup come in during the count. For a one-beat pickup in 4/4, count "1, 2, 3" and the pickup takes beat 4.
Does Hey Jude start with a pickup?
Yes. "Hey" is a one-beat pickup and "Jude" falls on beat one. In the 2015 remaster the gap between the two is 0.78 seconds at about 75 BPM.
If the backing track is on your computer, hear CountIn count it in on beat one. Listening is free and needs no account.
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