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Music vocabulary · Notation and Reading Music

Anacrusis

Meaning in music, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In music, anacrusis means: One or more notes that come before the first full bar, leading into the main rhythmic pattern of a piece.

In Turkish: eksik ölçü, auftakt

How it is used

Used in notation, conducting, and teaching to describe a pickup before the downbeat of the first complete bar. Often discussed with phrasing and counting-in.

Example sentences

  1. Count the anacrusis carefully, or the choir will enter a beat late when the full bar begins.

    Here anacrusis means the pickup notes before the main measure, which must be counted so the entry lines up correctly.

  2. The song's anacrusis makes the first lyric feel conversational rather than squarely placed on the downbeat.

    In this example, anacrusis shapes the musical feel by placing the opening text before the strongest beat.

Common collocations

  • short anacrusis
  • one-beat anacrusis
  • anacrustic opening
  • count the anacrusis
  • downbeatThe first and usually strongest beat of a bar. It also means the conductor's downward hand movement that starts the music.
  • barA short section of music that contains a fixed number of beats, shown on the page between two vertical lines called bar lines.

More terms: Notation and Reading Music

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