Sixteen Beat '1 + a ' Rhythmic Variation

In this lesson you will learning another variation on the 16 Beat Groove that involves altering the rhythm like in our 16 Beat 1e+ groove lesson. Again, this will create a very different feel and can be used as a stand alone groove or a nice variation when playing a lot of straight 16 beat. To create this new part all you will do is remove any notes that fell on an 'e' count, creating This Rhythm.

Remember that for this style of groove the snare tends to be notated in voice 1 to clarify the single stroke roll played on the hands. Below is an example of what the hands will play for this pattern when played in common time. Note that as in the previous version of this groove the back beat snares are played with the right hand.

The hands for the common time version of this groove

The hi hats here can be either open or closed but closed hi hats give a more precise, clear sound that allow the rhythm to be heard. You can also apply the rhythm to the Ride And Hi Hat and Tom orchestrations of the straight 16 beat. The rhythm is also very easy to apply to half time versions of the groove and that would look like this:

The hands for the half time version of this groove

Below I have provide several examples of bass drums applied under this hand pattern to create some grooves. I have tried to throw in quite a few 'curve balls' here by combining the rhythm with other concepts, remember you can always jump back to our Level 0 Grooves List to find some more straight forward kick parts. One of these curve balls is the addition of offbeat kicks and snares. I always like the way these fall with this rhythm as they go in the 'gap', on the 'e' count.


Example 1

A 16 beat groove using an alternate rhythm


Example 2

A 16 beat groove using an alternate rhythm


Example 3

A 16 beat groove using an alternate rhythm


Example 4

A 16 beat groove using an alternate rhythm


Example 5

A 16 beat groove using an alternate rhythm


Example 6

A 16 beat groove using an alternate rhythm


Example 7

A 16 beat groove using an alternate rhythm


Example 8

A 16 beat groove using an alternate rhythm


TASKS

  • Learn the grooves above up to a tempo of at least 120bpm.
  • Create some 4 bar phrases using these grooves.
  • Try moving the hands to other parts of the kit to create more grooves.

Lessons

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