[Dixielandjazz] FW: Clapping on 1 & 3 - Was Dixieland Rock - WasStage Presence

[Jim Kashishian]

Clapping on 1 & 3 seems to be common in different folk musics, which is one
of the reasons Jazz stands out amongst the other forms....with its opposite
beat emphasis.  2 & 4 does't come natural to the Spanish at all.  

1 & 3 from the audience will happen to us if I don't give the cue as to
where it should be.  Even then, you get the odd one that just can't handle
it.  Worse yet is the guy or gal that slips into Flamenco form, with
clapping going on all over the place!  I will sometimes do a little talk &
example (with the music going on behind emphasising the afterbeat) & get
everyone to follow my example), which by the way fits into the Stage
Presence theme!  Going out into the audience & using your hands from behind
(a la practicing golf) is a good way, particularly if it's a pretty girl!

We had one concert years & years ago with the worst example of "swing
clapping" we've ever experienced.  So much that it has turned into a "band
only" joke:  "this gang must all be from (the town of the original band
experience)!".

1 & 3 is more common world-wide, and if you get them clapping on 2 &
4...great!  If they go to 1 & 3, I usually stop trying to lead them, and it
soon dies away.  No big deal & completely understandable.

I have a CD of Turk Murphy in Germany with a monster crowd doing a monster 1
& 3 thing!  My wife (Irish), after 34 yrs of marriage gives 2 & 4 a try, but
often asks me if she's got it right!

Jim