In this lesson you will be learning a new groove construction concept that involves avoiding the eighth note counts in a bar of 4/4 with the kick and snare while the right hand maintains a simple eighth or quarter note rhythm. This could be thought of as a form of displacement but it is really only loosely related to the idea. At the bottom of the page you will find a list of links to lessons you may find useful when learning these parts.
The idea is quite simple, only play kicks or snares on 'e' or 'a' counts. It may take some getting used to not playing snares in the usual places and there will be some odd movements in the example patterns below. The idea is really useful as a simple variation on a main groove part but also works well as the main section of a phrase. I have shown full bar ideas below but try applying the idea to shorter or longer phrases.
I have given several examples of this idea below with both quarter and eighth note hands. Use these as a starting point to create your own groove parts based on this concept.
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Example 5
Example 6
Example 7
Example 8
TASKS
- Learn the grooves above up to a tempo of at least 130bpm.
- Create some 4 bar phrases where this concept is either applied as the groove, a variation on the groove or as a fill.
- Try adding in some other voices such as toms, also avoiding the quarter notes.
