techniques groove master class lock in -...
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TECHNIQUES GROOVE MASTER CLASS
Lock InWhether you’re a singer, soloist, or part of the rhythm section, these five exercises will help get you in the groove.
By Adam Perlmutter & Zoro the Drummer
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You may not realize it, but every time you listen to a singer or instrumental soloist deliver a great performance, you’re
hearing more than their individual talents. They may not get the attention, but musicians backing them up are just as important as the soloists themselves. In fact, one of the overlooked skills of any great soloist is the ability to connect with the rhythm section, the core of any band, that usually consists of percussion, bass, and chording isntruments.
Being a strong rhythm player involves much more than just having a good sense of time. It requires countless hours of deep listening to all the dif-ferent rhythmic approaches common to a particular style. Great rhythm players constantly study new beats to adapt to their style and add to their repertoire. We reached out to Zoro the Drummer, who has played with everyone from Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons to Lenny Kravitz. Known as “The Minister of Groove,” he explains five essential rhythm patterns that every musician should learn, with tips on how to play them individually and in ensemble settings. Z
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Zoro the Drummer performs with Lenny Kravitz
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TECHNIQUES GROOVE MASTER CLASS
THE “BO DIDDLEY BEAT” MAY BE named for the rock pioneer who made it famous in the 1950s, but this rhythm has actually been around for much longer, originating in New Orleans a century before Bo Diddley used it. It contains elements of the clavé—the basic pattern heard in so much Latin music—and has a strong connection to Afro-Cuban rhythms. Over the years, it’s been at the center of many different pop songs, including “Mickey’s Monkey” by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, “Faith” by George Michael,
“Desire” by U2, and many others. Try playing this exercise exactly as written, with all instruments in rhythmic unison. Subdivide if needed, so that the eighth notes land on the weak beats at the exact right time. The accents defined by the top-line in the drum part (and echoed by the bass and guitar) are very important to making this rhythm groove. Once you’ve got the basic feel, try playing variations of this beat while retaining its essence—for example, leaving some notes out or shifting the weight of the accents.
ALL MUSICIANS NEED TO BE comfort-able with 12/8 time—12 eighth notes per measure—which is at the heart of many blues and jazz grooves. One way to look at 12/8 is by dividing the measure into four beats of three eighth notes each. Play this three-against four pattern and you’re doing a blues shuffle. Remove the middle eighth note in each set of three, and you’re swinging jazz. To get a sense of the 12/8, start by listening to a 1950s song like Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill,” where the meter is very straightforward. The rhythm is more difficult to feel in a fast 12/8 like Stevie Wonder’s “Part Time Lover” or in Whitney Houston’s “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” which is packed with
accents, but if you focus, you should be able to find the groove. When you’re ready to play, start with the simplest version. Set your metronome to eighth-note triplets, and play a note on each “click,” counting “One-and-uh, two-and-uh, three-and-uh, four-and-uh.” All instruments should try playing the bass line, which leaves out certain beats. Melody instruments and singers might try playing the Bf and F chords as eighth note arpeggios using this pattern. The trick for playing 12/8 tightly together with a rhythm section will be internal-izing the meter so that you don’t get thrown off even when rests and more complicated phrases appear.
1 BO DIDDLEY’S BIG BEAT
Borrowing from Afro-Cuban rhythms, this early rock beat has
found its way into a range of pop styles.
THE 12/8 GROOVE
Tracing its roots to West Africa, this rhythm is
considered to be the “mother beat” of American music. 2
OUR MASTER CLASS INSTRUCTOR ZORO IS AN AWARD-WINNING drummer, educator, speaker and author of The Big Gig: Big-Picture Thinking For Success and The Commandments of R&B Drumming series (Alfred Music Publications). He has toured and recorded with Lenny Kravitz, Bobby Brown, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, The New Edition, Jody Watley, Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire, and many more. TheBigGigBook.com, Zorothedrummer.com
26 [ DECEMBER 2012 ] INTUNEMONTHLY.COM
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Four threes: Try counting 1-2-3-4 while clapping the eighth notes shown left. Accent 1, 4, 7, and 10 to outline the four beats. Then try giving all 12 eighths equal weight, and notice how the feel changes while the timing stays the same.
IN THE 1950S, SONGWRITERS IN New York and Miami got excited about the rhythms coming out of places like Puerto Rico and Cuba, and they began incorporating these elements into American popular music. You can hear this highly syncopated influence in so many different places, from “Unchain My Heart” by Ray Charles to “ABC” by the Jackson 5 to “Devil in Disguise” by Elvis Presley and Stevie Wonder’s interpretation of the jazz standard “The Shadow of Your Smile.” You can learn a lot about Latin grooves by listening to these recordings and to the work of original Latin bandleaders like Xavier Cugat and Machito. Every rhythm
section member needs to study the way in which the bass lines, keyboard riffs, guitar, and melody parts interlock with the percussion in Latin-type grooves. This might involve “unlearning” habits that are actually correct in other styles. For example, a bass player coming from a rock background must sometimes refrain from playing on beat 1 in a Latin setting. Therefore, it pays to spend some time studying these Latin grooves on your own. Start by counting each of the rhythms shown here, subdividing if needed, and then learn to play them accurately on your instrument before playing them together with the rest of the rhythm section.
LEANING TO LATIN
Playing these rhythms correctly can involve breaking some well-
established habits.3
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TECHNIQUES GROOVE MASTER CLASS
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SYNCOPATED FUNK OWES A LOT to James Brown’s band, which created a rhythmic mosaic of independent but interlocking parts at a time when most pop musicians played in rhythmic unison. Check out tracks like “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” “Cold Sweat,” and “Get on the Good Foot” to hear this groove in action. Later, Herbie Hancock and other fusion artists adapted the style to expand the rhythmic vocabulary of jazz. Speaking of which, here’s a secret: Funk is jazz with a half-time feel! Both are triplet-based and highly synco-
pated. In this example, guitar, bass, and drums play different but complementary rhythms; learn them all regardless of your instrument. The rests in the bass and guitar parts prevent the music from getting cluttered; the guitar part (which works well on horns too) only has two notes, demon-strating that less is often more. As in the other exercises, listen before you pick up your instrument, because you can’t play what you can’t conceive. Or, to paraphrase Louis Armstrong, “If you ain’t got it in you, you can’t blow it out.”
BEFORE THE MOTOWN LABEL was founded in 1959, the groove in popular music usually had snare accents on beats 2 and 4. But when Motown’s house drum-mer, Benny Benjamin, began playing a snare on all four beats, he created a driving pulse that generated a lot of excitement. The intricate low-end parts by bassist James Jamerson added even more energy to the Motown sound, which you can hear on such 1960s hits as “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “It’s the Same Old Song,” “Uptight (Everything’s
Alright),” and so many others. To master the Motown groove, listen to how bass complements the driving snare pulse. Like a rhythmic puzzle, each part fits together. A general rule of thumb is that faster tempos call for the guitar, keys, and bass to play eighth-note patterns around the drum groove. Slower tempos allow for 16ths. Play this example at a faster tempo. Guitarists and melodic instruments can try doubling the bass an octave higher or create an independent eighth-note line, being sure to lock in tight with the groove.
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GET IN A FUNK
A Good funk rhythm section knows how
to fit interlocking individual parts into a
grooving whole.
FOUR SNARE
The Motown groove generates energy by putting the all-impor-tant snare accent on
all four beats.
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