Eight to the bar

Posted by ESC on April 24, 2005

In Reply to: Eight to the bar posted by Melissa on April 24, 2005

: I have heard the phrase "beat me daddy, eight to the bar" in an Andrews Sisters song, and in the Bing Crosby movie "Going My Way". Just what does it mean? The only thing I can come up with is beats in a musical measure. And where did the saying come from?

It is a music term that I don't understand even after reading this:

Stride vs. Boogie Woogie
As described by Chris Siebert, pianist for the Lavay Smith Band.

".Beat 1 Beat 2 Beat 3 Beat 4

So, in the space that you might count a typical measure ('a-one, two, three, four'), the Boogie Woogie player would play 8 bass notes. Hence the term 'eight-to-the-bar,' as in the famous tune 'Beat Me, Daddy, Eight to the Bar.' There are hundreds of idiomatic left-hand patterns in Boogie Woogie."

www.balboafeet.com/ articles/stride.php

• Eight to the bar Smokey Stover 24/April/05
• Eight to the bar Smokey Stover 24/April/05
  • Eight to the bar Smokey Stover 24/April/05
    • Eight to the bar Steve E 25/April/05
      • Eight to the bar Bob 26/April/05
        • Eight to the bar Smokey Stover 26/April/05
          • Eight to the bar Steve E 26/April/05