: a steady pronounced rhythm stressing the second and fourth beats of a four-beat measure
Examples of backbeat in a Sentence
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My background is so much in bluegrass, and bluegrass is all about that choppy kind of backbeat thing with the mandolin.
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Tom Roland, Billboard, 8 Apr. 2025
Time has eroded some of Fair’s quirks, turning him into a preservationist weirdo who still believes in the eternal truth of three chords and a backbeat.
—Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2025
The ascent from quiet guitar picking to soul backbeat to power chords feels inevitable but satisfying.
—Jon Pareles, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025
Along with resonate vocals from both, credit Mars’ rhythmic instincts for including drums that power the urgency of the song’s lyrics, with fills nudging the chorus instead of existing merely as a backbeat.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 19 Dec. 2024
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Tom Roland, Billboard, 8 Apr. 2025
Time has eroded some of Fair’s quirks, turning him into a preservationist weirdo who still believes in the eternal truth of three chords and a backbeat.
—Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2025
The ascent from quiet guitar picking to soul backbeat to power chords feels inevitable but satisfying.
—Jon Pareles, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025
Along with resonate vocals from both, credit Mars’ rhythmic instincts for including drums that power the urgency of the song’s lyrics, with fills nudging the chorus instead of existing merely as a backbeat.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 19 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for backbeat
Cite this Entry
“Backbeat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/backbeat. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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backbeat
noun
back·beat
-ˌbēt 
: a steady pronounced rhythm stressing the second and fourth beats of a four-beat measure
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