The mute button is in the lower right-hand corner of the Player. Use your computer's playback volume controls. Since most of you will be playing along to these, I'd recommend wearing headphones so you can really crank it up!
Click anywhere on the Player you're interested in. Then click on the play/pause button in the lower left-hand corner (has a white, right-pointing triangle on it). If the session is fully loaded, the horizontal bar to the right of the play/pause button will be completely grey - please be patient if it's not complete, but you should still be able to start playing it. You can slide the white, upward-pointing triangle to the left to fast-rewind or to the right to fast-forward, while either in play or pause mode.
Building a Groove from the bottom up - 3267
This introduction touches on the many aspects of building a solid foundation of essential skills needed to effectively make music with others. Here, we’re applying them to build a Drum Circle Groove, but you can take these principles and apply them to ANY music situation - ALL musicians can greatly benefit from these ideas.
Using a Binary rhythmic vocabulary, start at the bottom with a simple Pulsation (2 1/2-Notes or 4 1/4-Note Pulses) played with low Bass tones that stabilize the Tempo. If it gets jumbled, simplify for the sake of the band. Then, some people can Subdivide the 1/4-Note Counts (by playing 1/8-Notes) on higher pitches to contrast with the Pulse (e.g., using Slap or Open tones).
Starting out with a simple Groove leaves plenty of room for others to “peek” through - if initially too complex, there’s no room for others to shine! It also allows you some room to grow the Groove, from a simpler, more Open Texture to a more complex, Closed Texture.
The 2-Pulse Feel(Bass tones in the “1 & 3” slots) creates a “swaying” Feel to the music (forward/rightward on the Pulse, backward/leftward on the Backbeats in the “2 & 4” slots). The 4-Pulse Feel(Bass tones on “1 2 3 4”) stabilizes the Tempo, but use this sparingly because it tends to Buildup tension, driving the group forward to a higher level of energy. Don’t take them nowhere - that’s teasing!
Think of the Groove in terms of repetitive cycles - 1-Bar/Measure, 2-Bar, 4-Bar, or 8-Bar long Phrases. Signal to others that you are ending a Phrase by doing a Buildup towards the end. Start by Coasting along with a repetitive Groove (e.g., 1 _ 2 + 3 _ 4 _ ), then start a Buildup in the last Bar (e.g., 1 + 2 + 3 + 4e+a) that leads to a climactic Resolution (Downbeat “1,” often with a Crash Cymbal), and then immediately Release back down to Coast again (repeating the Groove or starting another). This is the roller coaster of music!
Website & all contents Copyrighted 2006: Students & teachers are encouraged to apply the principles & methods contained herein to the betterment of their music & education. However, any and all use including but not limited to: copying, editing, exchanging, lending, renting, selling, or any other broadcasting, exhibition or other distribution of the written material, online videos, DVD products, or an other aspect contained within or obtainable through this website requires the author's written permission. Unauthorized uses are an infringement of the U.S. Copyright Act, are investigated by the FBI, and constitute a felony with severe penalties.