In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a “break” from the main parts of the song or piece. A solo break in jazz occurs when the rhythm section stops playing behind a soloist for a brief period, usually two or four bars leading into the soloist’s first chorus. A notable recorded example is Charlie Parker’s solo break at the beginning of his solo on “A Night in Tunisia”. In DJ parlance, a break is where all elements of a song (e.g., pads, basslines, vocals), except for percussion, disappear for a time. This is distinguished from a breakdown, a section where the composition is deliberately deconstructed to minimal elements (usually the percussion or rhythm section with the vocal re-introduced over the minimal backing), all other parts having been gradually or suddenly cut out. The distinction between breaks and breakdowns may be described as, “Breaks are for the drummer; breakdowns are for hands in the air”. In hip hop and electronica, a short break is also known as a “cut”, and the reintroduction of the full bass line and drums is known as a “drop”, which is sometimes accented by cutting off everything, even the percussion.
