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Audio file (.mp3) - for second groove

Second groove audio file

Are you ready to get your groove on? Good, because no matter what kind of music you play, whether it’s simple or complex, it has to be in the groove. The word “groove” doesn’t simply mean it’s perfectly in time — if it did, drum machines and computers would have the best grooves in the universe and we know that’s not the case— rather; “groove” means how you play the time. A little on top, a little bit behind, intentionally phrasing in front of the bass or behind the guitar, or perhaps right down the center to let other instruments play in front or behind. These are just some of the possibilities when you have full command of your groove.
   Every drummer has different tendencies. A few common ones, for example, are to simply rush or drag, play faster when you get louder, slower when softer, speed up coming out of a fill, slowing down when switching grooves and a thousand more. We ALL have some of these tendencies and the sooner you discover what YOUR tendencies are, the sooner you can eliminate them from your groove because they truly are groove destroyers. While great grooves are often organic and very human, sloppy playing will ruin any hope of getting a deep pocket. My “Groove Essentials” series is designed for all players, of all skill levels, to discover those tendencies and take the action needed to conquer anything standing between you and your groove, as well as expanding the groove vocabulary of any drummer. Today, we’re going to look at two very different basic grooves, a few variations for each groove and, best of all, a chart and play along track for you to explore. Let’s get to work…

KEY

The following sixteenth-note rock groove is the seventh groove of the 47 in Groove Essentials. Oh sure, we could have done the obvious eighth-note rock groove, but, come on, let’s get a little adventurous. So, here’s the main groove in its simple glory:

Some obvious things first; the hi-hat is played with two hands working together to create a continuous flow of sixteenths. These sixteenth are the glue, the “connective tissue” that binds this groove together. All your other limbs must perfectly line up with these sixteenths or you’ll have a giant “flamming” mess on your hands. Flams, unless you are actually trying to play them for an effect, are groove killers!
   The tempo of this song is slow enough that many of you could probably play the hi-hat with one hand, however... don’t! One-handed sixteenths throws us into more of an R&B feel and mentality, which we don’t want right now. Playing with two hands instead of one gives us a more “chunky” sound on the hi-hat that seeps into all your limbs, adding weight and heft to the groove.  Give it a try yourself and you’ll see what I mean. You also have less “work” to do playing with two hands, which adds a different overall feeling to the groove. The moral of the story is; even if you can play it with one hand, sometimes it’s a wise choice not to.
   Please notice how there are no accents in the groove. It would be silly to write accents on a groove like this because it would simply represent ONE version of this groove while there are literally countless ways it can be played. For example, close your hi-hats tightly with your foot and play lightly with the tip of your stick in the center of hi-hat. Now, loosen them slightly with your foot and play hard with the shoulder of the stick on the edge of the hi-hats. Do you hear those two extremes? Well, there are a million possibilities between those two sounds that are at your disposal to create breathing, grooving hi-hat parts that will enhance the groove exponentially.  Experiment!
           

            Now here are two groove variations:

Variation A:

Variation B:

As you can see they are both a bit more rhythmically adventurous when compared to the original groove but still maintain a strong relationship. Variation A has a slightly busier bass drum part and adding the powerful “open-hat” sound. If you look at the construction of this variation, you can see how the open hi-hat takes the place of the original bass drum note that was in this spot (the “and of 2”). 
   Variation B is an example of enhancement by addition and subtraction. The hi-hat has become much more sophisticated now as we’re adding a slick little 5-stroke roll in addition to some pretty intricate open/closed hi-hat work. However, you can still see the relationship to the main groove very clearly. Variation B is an example of a groove spice! It’s not designed, nor should it be played as a main groove, but rather as an alternative, to be added once in awhile. Think of Variation B as hot red pepper— a little goes a long way.

Even if you can’t read a lick of music, you can follow this very simple chart. A chart like this is just for you to know what is going on in the band; the organ entering at letter A, for example. So, now you go to tommyigoe.com and download the mp3 file “groove 7- slow” and play it and, most importantly, record yourself playing it! Only upon playback can you truly judge your groove consistency and clarity.

The second groove we’ll discuss here is from the Hip Hop/R&B family and is the 15th groove of the 47 explored in the Groove Essentials universe. Let’s take look.

Can you see the “connective tissue” of this groove? Before I tell you where it is, try to visualize it yourself. See it? This groove is an example of a more “open” construction where multiple limbs work together to form the connective tissue that binds it together. The eighth-notes in this groove are formed by the ride cymbal and hi-hat working together on the downbeats and upbeats to form a continuous line of eighths.Coordination is naturally an issue with this groove and should be approached with caution. Take it slow and steady, practicing with a metronome at all times while learning the coordination. 
   As with all grooves, what counts is how you play it. To give this groove a Hip-Hop flair, try giving it a little bit of a swing. All the sixteenths need to sit back in the pocket a little bit to give a rounder feel that is one of the Hip-Hop genre’s calling cards. You can play this groove straight too, of course, and it works great like that too.
   For you budding session players out there, in terms of authenticity, this groove is definitely too “wet” to use on a Hip-Hop recording. One thing that most R&B and Hip-Hop producers insist on is a very dry drum track. So, the ride cymbal part you see here would have to go. You can just move the right hand to something that doesn’t ring so much or, do what I did on a session, throw some tape on your ride cymbal so it barely rings. The artist loved it! Then again, I saw ?uestlove last week and he was playing his ride the entire time and it sounded great, so maybe things are changing yet again. The moral of the story: be open to any possibilities.

Looks pretty easy, right? Well, as usual, looks can be deceiving. This uses one of my favorite hi-hat techniques; using the open hi-hat sound on the downbeat (instead of the upbeat which is more common). The open hi-hat must be a perfect eighth-note in length, no shorter, no longer. Why? —Good question— because the length of the open hat sound is the consistent “glue” that holds this variation together. Any shorter or longer than a perfect eighth-note and it will start to clash the snare/bass drum interplay going on underneath. It is so easy to play this groove badly, be careful.

Here’s variation B:

Here’s a different approach to this feel that I recommend you play at letter “A” on the upcoming chart. As far as the connective tissue, we have the eighth-notes been played by the foot on the hi-hat and the upbeats on the ride cymbal. Please, please, please, don’t flam! Unintended flams, as I said before, are groove killers. They create clutter and confuse the ear of the listener. To be sure, you must record yourself and listen back with a critical ear to see if your groove is as accurate as you want it to be.

Whoa, a bit more going on in this chart, wouldn’t you say? Don’t worry, if you can’t read, just listen to the song a few times first. For advanced players, you’ll notice letter A is repeated the last time through the form. I’ve constructed the arrangement this way so you have some solo space to explore. Perhaps “fill” space may be a better word here since the song doesn’t stop, and there are little accents from the other musicians popping around you as you make your contribution at letter A. It’ll be obvious when get to this point in the chart that there is a lot more space, so musically fill it up a bit and take charge. Too bad the chart doesn’t tell you all that stuff, right? Ah, yes, the joys of chart reading; get used to it.
   The fun of this chart is taking a Hip-Hop inspired groove and then throwing into a decidedly un-Hip-Hop musical situation! I’m a firm believer that all music cross-pollinates and doesn’t live in a vacuum; we all borrow from, and influence, each other. This is one of my favorite tracks in Groove Essentials and I hope you have a ball with it. Download the MP3 file for the second groove.
   Our time is already finished and I’ll leave you with one thing to think about as you head down to the practice room: you are never as accurate as you think you are when playing in real-time. You must record yourself playing with these songs and then listen back with a critical ear, to truly judge your performance and groove contribution. Record yourself with the latest computer gizmo or a cheapo vintage cassette, doesn’t matter, just record yourself somehow, someway. When you do, you’ll hear things you never thought were happening as you were actually playing and you’ll be in a great position to fix them and concentrate on the stuff that’s really important: the music.

About the Author

Tommy Igoe is the leader of New York’s “Friday Night Big Band” at the famous Birdland jazz club. He is the principal drummer, assistant conductor and creator of the drumset book for the “Lion King” on Broadway and is the author of the “Groove Essentials” series of products published by Hudson Music.