How would you count

[Tyeetime]

The intro to Tumbling Dice by the Rolling Stones?
That first bar is kind of unique.

[Andyrondack]

To me it just sounds like some conventional blues phrasing over 1 bar with a pickup note at the end of the mostly silent 1st bar. So
/***&/1&2&3&4&/ then into the main riff

[rick-slo]

4/4 best IMO

[Bob from Brooklyn]

The intro starts on the 1 and continues to the 4.

[Tyeetime]

I guess it is simpler than I thought, but I detect a slight pause on the 3 and 4 it just doesn't seem like straight forward eighth notes.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Tyeetime

I guess it is simpler than I thought, but I detect a slight pause on the 3 and 4 it just doesn't seem like straight forward eighth notes.

Yeah, the Stones had some swagger. I wouldn't try matching that tune up with a drum machine.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Tyeetime

I guess it is simpler than I thought, but I detect a slight pause on the 3 and 4 it just doesn't seem like straight forward eighth notes.

Yeah, that's the "wobble" that Bill Wyman speaks of as a result of having he and Charlie generally following Keith, rather than have the rhythm guitarist following a locked in bass / drums combination. Keith, and Charlie's ability to play off Keith (and Wyman too, but not to the same extent as Charlie) have always been the special sauce that made the Stones a good deal funkier and more wonderfully off-kilter than your standard blues-rock band. They found some funky grooves, peaking on Exile, but plenty before and after as well, that just weren't gonna come out of any other band. The whole idea of "counting" a Stones rhythm seems a bit misguided to me - I think you have to feel it at a pretty deep level to be able to play it right. Most of us can't... Kinda like trying to play Jimmy Reed... Folks like that will make you better if you try to capture some of that feel, but most of us never come close to playing it like they did. Just got take it in and wonder in it. That's why we like going to see the best of the best play, because they're way better than us...

-Ray

[Tyeetime]

Originally Posted by raysachs

Yeah, that's the "wobble" that Bill Wyman speaks of as a result of having he and Charlie generally following Keith, rather than have the rhythm guitarist following a locked in bass / drums combination. Keith, and Charlie's ability to play off Keith (and Wyman too, but not to the same extent as Charlie) have always been the special sauce that made the Stones a good deal funkier and more wonderfully off-kilter than your standard blues-rock band. They found some funky grooves, peaking on Exile, but plenty before and after as well, that just weren't gonna come out of any other band. The whole idea of "counting" a Stones rhythm seems a bit misguided to me - I think you have to feel it at a pretty deep level to be able to play it right. Most of us can't... Kinda like trying to play Jimmy Reed... Folks like that will make you better if you try to capture some of that feel, but most of us never come close to playing it like they did. Just got take it in and wonder in it. That's why we like going to see the best of the best play, because they're way better than us...

-Ray

Yeah, I should know better than to try to pin a Stones riff into an exact count. I've read quotes from musicians that this is the perfect groove, just the right amount of "laid back" that sucks you in.
But the intro is so simple, so short, but so unique and I have a hard time pulling it off like it is recorded.

[Andyrondack]

Online transcriptions show it as 1&2&3&4& so none of us got it right.

https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusi...?ppn=MN0097633

[Tyeetime]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

Online transcriptions show it as 1&2&3&4& so none of us got it right.

https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusi...?ppn=MN0097633

I don't think I've seen the bass clef symbol on the treble staff before, why is that?

[stanron]

The first line of the score is standard piano notation. The right hand plays the top part and the left hand plays the bottom part or bass clef.

After that there is a vocal treble clef part on top of the piano score. This is all standard stuff in music publishing although not always accurate for guitar based material.

[Tyeetime]

Originally Posted by stanron

The first line of the score is standard piano notation. The right hand plays the top part and the left hand plays the bottom part or bass clef.

After that there is a vocal treble clef part on top of the piano score. This is all standard stuff in music publishing although not always accurate for guitar based material.

But what about that bass clef symbol between the 2nd and 3rd set of quarter notes the first bar? is that just showing the left hand is playing those notes?

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

Online transcriptions show it as 1&2&3&4& so none of us got it right.

https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusi...?ppn=MN0097633

It shows 4/4 like most of us have posted already.

[stanron]

Originally Posted by Tyeetime

But what about that bass clef symbol between the 2nd and 3rd set of quarter notes the first bar? is that just showing the left hand is playing those notes?

Ah yes. It's small on my screen and I didn't see it. I guess (I don't know the track) that the run continues down to where it goes so low on the stave as to be easier to write in the bass clef. It won't affect the way you count.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by stanron

(I don't know the track)

Wait! Time out!