Sing "Oh when the saints go marching in" and notice where the weight falls. The first three words, "Oh when the", are light and hurried; the word "saints" lands with a strong, held feeling. Those first three notes are not the start of the first bar. They lead into it. Notes like these are called a pickup, also known as an upbeat or, in more formal books, an anacrusis.
Once you understand pickups, a whole family of well-known tunes suddenly becomes easier to start, because you will know exactly where the strong beat is.
What a pickup is
Normally the first bar of a piece is complete: four beats in 4/4, three in 3/4. A pickup is a short bar at the very beginning containing only the last beat or beats of a bar. The first strong beat, beat 1, comes in the first full bar that follows.
When the composer writes a three-beat pickup in 4/4, those three notes are beats 2, 3 and 4. You count beat 1 silently in your head, then play.
Notice how short that first bar looks. It is not a mistake in the printing: it is a pickup bar, and it has three beats instead of four on purpose.
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When the Saints Go Marching In
This tune is the classic example. The pickup C, E, F is followed by a long G that fills the whole first bar. Then the tune does the same thing again, but this time there is a quarter rest on beat 1 before C, E, F, so the pattern sits inside a full bar.
Seeing the two versions side by side is useful. In the third bar you can see the rest that stands for the "missing" beat 1. In the pickup bar at the start, that beat is not written at all; you simply count it.
You can find the full tune on the When the Saints song page.
Pickups of different lengths
A pickup can be one beat, two beats, or more. The rule is always the same: the pickup holds the last beats of the bar.
A one-beat pickup in 4/4 is beat 4 alone. Count "1, 2, 3" silently and play on "4".
In 3/4, a two-beat pickup is beats 2 and 3. Count "1" silently, then play.
What happens at the end
Composers often balance a pickup by shortening the last bar of the piece, so that the pickup and the final bar add up to one complete bar. A piece in 4/4 with a one-beat pickup might end with a bar of only three beats. Not every edition does this, and some simplified arrangements give the last bar its full length, but it is common enough that you should not be alarmed by a short final bar.
How to start a pickup confidently
The danger with a pickup is not playing the notes; it is starting them in the right place. Here is a reliable method.
- Find the time signature and count how many beats are in the pickup bar.
- Work out which beats are missing. In 4/4 with a three-beat pickup, beat 1 is missing. In 4/4 with a one-beat pickup, beats 1, 2 and 3 are missing.
- Count a full bar in first. Say "1 2 3 4" out loud at your chosen speed, so the pulse is already running.
- Then count the missing beats and enter. Say "1" (silently or aloud) and play C, E, F on "2 3 4". The next "1" is your long G.
- Lean on beat 1, not on the pickup. Play the pickup notes lightly, as if they are leaning forward, and give the first full bar's beat 1 a little more weight.
- Practise only the join. Play pickup plus the first note of the next bar several times. That join is where the music's energy is.
Common mistakes
- Rushing in. Without a count-in, players often start the pickup too fast. Always count at least one full bar before you begin.
- Accenting the pickup. The pickup is light. The weight belongs on the next beat 1.
- Forgetting that a rest can do the same job. In the middle of a piece, a phrase may begin after a rest on beat 1, just like a pickup. Count the rest and come in on beat 2.
- Losing the beat during long notes. After a pickup, the first full bar often holds a long note. Keep counting through it so the next pickup arrives on time.
Try it in Pianuvo
The Academy lesson starts with one-beat and two-beat pickups and then builds up to When the Saints with its three-beat pickup over a band accompaniment. Every exercise listens as you play, using on-screen keys, a MIDI keyboard or a real piano heard through your microphone, so you can tell straight away whether you came in on the right beat. It is in Unit 6: Ties, dotted rhythms, upbeats and phrasing.