From one of the better YouTube channels, for bassists, here’s a video on the subject of time, in which the guy works through practicing with a slow click— which I highly recommend, practicing with the […]
Category: groove
HOT TOPIC: beat displacement
Make them all go SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m about to finish my out of town project that has been consuming a lot of my time, so hopefully we’ll resume regular posting soon. …aaaand I just got a […]
Very occasional quote of the day: feel gotten with respect
From Vernon Reid’s Twitter feed: Funk ain’t easy. Many ASSUME that it is. Swing is complex, but it doesn’t grant carte blanche over other styles. Every idiom has its nuances that demand respect & attention […]
Latest views and practices on time
Rounding up my current views and practices on the subject rhythm and time, in teaching and practicing: knowing rhythm, holding a tempo in playing. This is mostly about beginner to intermediate level students. A lot […]
Grooving with a feathered bass drum
A couple of weeks ago I made some comments about hearing some younger drummers, and someone asked me to elaborate on this part of it: [I was hearing people] feathering the bass drum in a […]
Counting the grid
It’s a *mechanical* tool, from way back. I had a conversation with a student about counting subdivisions when you practice— “the grid.” It’s a common thing to do, that I don’t recommend— not all the […]
Listening: Art Blakey groove number
Let’s do some more guided listening. Here’s Art Blakey playing a little Quincy Jones groove arrangement with a nine piece ensemble: Plenty, Plenty Soul, from the Milt Jackson album of the same title. The form […]
Dealing with it: bad time
We’ll see if this becomes a regular feature: dealing with it. If anyone has thoughts, ideas, frustrations in real life playing situations, mention them in the comments, and maybe I can write something about it. […]
Microtiming jive
Microtiming is a term that gives me hives every time I hear musicians use it. To me it suggests misaligned priorities, a disappearance up one’s own rear end, and the resulting degraded musical abilities. The […]
Groove o’ the day: Bernard Purdie Bossa
Hey, this is kind of a hip variation on the stock Bossa Nova groove everyone plays— played by Bernard Purdie on his Soul Drums record, on the tune Soul Bossa Nova. From the intro: He […]
Playing funk effectively
Here are a few tips on playing funk and related music, focusing on how to project to the audience and facilitate groove among the musicians while playing live unmiked, at a moderate to moderately strong […]