All Along The Watchtower INTRO TIMING (Why Does Everyone Play This Wrong?)

All Along The Watchtower INTRO TIMING (Why Does Everyone Play This Wrong?)
In this All Along The Watchtower INTRO TIMING video we’ll learn how to count the timing of the intro of All Along The Watchtower.
If you want to learn how you play All Along The Watchtower intro and how you count All Along The Watchtower intro, this All Along The Watchtower INTRO TIMING (Why Does Everyone Play This Wrong?) is the video for you.
We’ll be checking out different ways of counting it and how artists count it when they perform it live. This intro to All Along The Watchtower might be a little confusing at first.
You might find out this could be one of those songs you play wrong.
If you are interested in All Along The Watchtower INTRO TIMING, don’t miss this video out.
All Along The Watchtower INTRO TIMING (Why Does Everyone Play This Wrong?): play along to this video and learn how you count All Along The Watchtower intro.
Would you like to see more Songs Explained/Why Does Everyone Play This Wrong videos like this?
What are other songs that confuse you? Let me know in the comments!
Like and share this video if you enjoyed this All Along The Watchtower INTRO TIMING.
Let me know in the comments if you’d like to see more videos on the channel about confusing songs.
Resources:
► The Classic Rock Show: • The Jimi Hendrix Exper...
► David Bennett Piano’s video: • Songs with Confusing I...
► Music Notes Sheet Music: www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic...
► Lenny Kravitz and Eric Clapton: • Lenny Kravitz & Eric C...
► Eric Johnson: • Eric Johnson All Alo...
► Bob Dylan: • BOB DYLAN -All Along T...
► Neo-Soul Guitar Tricks: • NEO SOUL GUITAR - Jazz...
► Learn more about Music Theory For Guitarists bit.ly/2E4ynnx
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[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Would you like to see more Songs Explained/Why Does Everyone Play This Wrong videos like this? What are other songs that confuse you? Let me know in the comments!

[@dreamawaythemiles]

this has puzzled me for 60 years, now it all makes sense - thanks so much!

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

I’m very happy to hear that! Thanks

[@JoeNocella]

Me too! 50 yrs of never understanding this intro. It drove me crazy. Starting on the and of 3 makes the most sense..

[@wasitthat]

Wow. After 30 years of hearing it wrong and never being able to hear it right and losing one when the intro solo comes in, you've made it clear. Cathartic.

[@jaygreer7430]

You can hear Jimi himself count it in on this album: “Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection.” It’s an alternative mix of the original studio recording that includes his count in. He starts the song on 3&, which confirms what is said in this video.

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Thanks for adding this information, very valuable

[@JoeNocella]

I've been drumming a long time and this intro always drove me crazy...I have a few Hendrix drum covers but this one I stayed away from because of that intro. Now I may do it! Thanks for clearing it up. Starting on the "and" of 3 makes sense. The snare lands on 2 & 4 as it should.

[@terrycoles9745]

Thank you so much for clarifying this!

[@cgarc12]

Thanks for the rythmic approach of that song which tought me a lot. Sheers !

[@guitarguy75]

Great video! I love that you did some solid research and showed famous performances to back up your point. Thanks

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Thanks so much

[@anthm27]

Yet another Brilliant clip thankyou Simone. This one to help us beginners understand actually what and how Anacrusis works in General. As you and I explored a few months back another good example of the Anacrusis is at the start of the song La Bamba, (lots of versions of this song available also.) With La Bamba I believe the first sound comes in on the 3+ of beat 3. therefore rest of 5/8ths before playing begins.

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Thanks Anthony. That's correct. La Bamba doesn't seem to be controversial!

[@PatriotGuitarSlinger]

very well explained!

[@Joakim-madsen]

Love this content. Thank you

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Thank you

[@SotGravarg]

That intro is stuck in my head for two days now

[@musikunterrichtwesel]

I was never aware of the differencies of counting this song, I think point the lead guitar starts make sure that this is the only reasonable way to count, because u can keep the measure.

[@MaggaraMarine]

Your way of feeling it is definitely the correct one. This can be easily confirmed by the way the song continues. I originally heard it the way David Bennett transcribed it (because that's how the changes in harmony made me hear it), but realized that it is wrong because this way you have a weird time signature change that doesn't really need to be there. Also, the same pattern continues behind the drums, so adding an extra 8th note to one of the bars simply makes it more complicated than it needs to be. After I figured out the correct way of counting it, I can't really even hear it in the way I used to hear it. It's kind of the same as Highway to Hell by AC/DC that also starts on the and of 3. But without the drum beat in the background, it sounds a bit like it starts on the beat 4. You could transcribe it that way, but it would make feeling the beat a lot more complicated (because you would need to change to 9/8 for one measure) than just learning to feel it starting on the and of 3. Same goes for the section before the guitar solo in Stairway to Heaven. Some transcriptions add some weird 7/8 measures and whatever. No. It's all in 4/4, and learning to feel it "correctly" in 4/4 is simpler than doing all of those weird time signature changes. Same thing with the intro of Rock and Roll by the same band (all in 4/4 and starts on the and of 3).

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Thanks for your comment! I'd like to keep the conversation open and find out how others count it and feel it. Also, I might include the songs you mentioned in another video. Cheers!

[@TheAerovons]

@@TheBeardedGuitarist There is no question it is straight 4/4.

[@valkhorn]

Disagree. The 2nd 8th should be the strongest, not the 4th. With the 9/8 bar you can more easily emphasize a better downbeat, and come in strong after the intro. The 3 note pickups are just done because it’s safer. But it definitely sounds wrong in terms of expression.

[@MaggaraMarine]

@@valkhorn Nah, this is basic syncopation. Once you feel it correctly, you don't really feel it in any other way. I used to hear it the way David Bennett transcribed it, but can't really hear it that way any more. It's not "because it's safer". People genuinely hear it that way, and I do too (as you can see, every performance is done this way, and these are professional musicians - if it was more natural to add a 9/8 bar, then they would do that). It's syncopation. It is possible to not put emphasis on the downbeat while still feeling the downbeat. This is actually very common in reggae and some Latin American music. But also, not putting an emphasis on the downbeat is common in rock music too. As I mentioned, Highway to Hell is a good example of this, and there are plenty of other examples. What Highway to Hell does is anticipation. It omits the downbeat from the riff, which makes the 8th note before the downbeat kind of take the role of the downbeat - the downbeat is anticipated.

[@valkhorn]

Yet every performance with the 3 note pickups is clearly accenting it different from the Hendrix version.

[@My6stringer]

I count starting on & of 3, it is the correct way .thanks

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Yes

[@FanGirl420]

no matter how you play, all that matters is that youre having fun.

[@valkhorn]

The way David does it means the notes are naturally phrased just like they are in the recording. In the recording the 2nd eighths are the strongest, but with the three eighth Ana cruces, the 4th eighth is the strongest. With the 9/8 bar you stitch both together and it sounds better.

[@jeffrey.a.hanson]

I’ve always heard and played it this way naturally…it’s a riff that never feels at ease, like everlong or glycerine. So, to me that feels we’re shifting chords ahead of the beat. Pearl Jam does this in Black chorus and it requires a nifty drum fill to get us back to feeling 4/4 even tho we never really left it.

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Thanks for commenting

[@robertleipold3716]

All you have to do is go to the published sheet music, which isn't people guessing on the internet, but professionals. And yes, it is an anacrusis that begins on the and of 3. It works perfectly.

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

I wouldn’t rely too much on published sheet music

[@spectromankenobi]

no meu caso, eu costumava contar de forma aleatória, observando este estudo, percebo que utilizava duas contagens diferentes, instintivamente e de acordo com o humor

[@longsnapper5381]

How is any way to play it "wrong" when everyone counts it differently? If you're saying right or wrong, if you don't do it like Bob Dylan, you're wrong. Great video....

[@ArenHill]

I still can't hear it any other way than this, I honestly don't know how anyone can hear it any other way!

[@hbtubman]

It actually gains three or four BPM as the solo starts.the bass adds two notes at the end of the intro with the time jumping faster in the rest of the song ,Hendrix was genius

[@hbtubman]

To understand the timing.its all in the bass line 1and1234 repeat 1and 1234 ,three times then 1and half time 1 2 3 4. Then in threes 123,123 12 3 4 and it's three beats per minute faster than the intro.maybe four faster .listen to just the bass line.jimi played it and only he would have this kind of creativity .that's why he is still the best to a lot of people.his time signature was as complex as his sound .easy slow solos ,but try to do it.

[@beahafkenscheid8421]

Actually Dave Mason played the intro on 12 string.

[@thomasdrake8630]

Is that a MIM powerhouse Stratocaster? It is a near carbon copy of my 97 MIM PHS. Only difference, is Marcela has gold anodized scratch gaurd.

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Mine is a Custom Shop 60

[@thomasdrake8630]

@@TheBeardedGuitarist sounds great. 👍👍

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

🙌

[@tonylacroix2962]

Really appreciate the analysis. But I think I see what's going on in this "debate." The versions you are using definitely count it the way you suggest, with the three-note anacrusis, so the first note of the song is on the end of 3. BUT, in the Hendrix version (the most popular version), Hendrix plays only TWO NOTES, not three like the Kravitz/Clapton performance, for example. Listening only to the Hendrix version, forgetting about any anacrusis and instead assuming the song starts on beat 4 is the most natural way to count the intro. It does, in fact, then require adding an eighth note before the drums fall into the verse rhythm. But I'd bet hard cash that's exactly how Mitch Mitchell navigated it.

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Thanks so much for your contribution! The notes/chords played in the Hendrix version are the same as the Kravitz/Clapton performance. However I can hear/count them now in both ways and still can't decide what's more comfortable :)

[@premanadi]

Nope, it's exactly the same. Three note anacrusis, but as with all version, the chord changes on the third note - so the changes always anticipate the beat by one eighth. That's also what Dylan does, right back to his original recording. Standard rock rhythm.

[@premanadi]

@@TheBeardedGuitarist You are exactly right, it's three eighths anacrusis. What confuses people is that all the chord changes are anticipations of the beat by one eighth, including if you go back to Dylan's original. But that's just standard rock rhythm! I was just checking out the intro to The Eagles Take It Easy. That one is really tricky because the whole song starts on the upbeat to the first bar, so your ear has no chance to figure out where the beat is. But it's the same idea - every change is on the upbeat, and once the main body of the song starts, it all works out perfectly. No doubt they counted these songs in in the studio, but we don't get to hear that count-in. A simpler example of the same principle is the Beatles' I Want To Hold Your Hand. Three note anacrusis, with the second chord change on the third note. This stuff is child's play compared to Black Dog. I've looked at transcriptions of that and I still can never wrap my head around the rhythm.

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

@@premanadi thanks for your comment and for your great contribution to the discussion.

[@premanadi]

@@TheBeardedGuitarist You're welcome! Enjoyed your video very much. You should tackle Black Dog, if only for the comments where everyone will fight over what's the "correct' meter.

[@gregwilliams4201]

Dude stop trying to build a friggin rocket ship...... just play it like you want to thats what Jimi would say....

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

If you say so mate

[@patriciovalenzuela6119]

I… don’t understand a word you just said….

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Very interesting

[@patriciovalenzuela6119]

Ha ha, it’s just a joke (napoleon dinamite) The truth is You tutorial is great and it illustrates an important point in the rhythm of this song. No offence intended, in fact I truly appreciate your valuable video.

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Thanks

[@williammclelland2216]

This isn’t quite right.

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

Of course

[@chevychevelle5953]

True.

[@TheBeardedGuitarist]

I agree