For this 12/8 groove lesson you will be taking the idea of keeping a count with the left foot and applying it to grooves in the time signature of 12/8 by counting dotted crotchets. This lesson should be fairly straight forward as you are just adding in a slow left foot count to existing patterns but you may need to spend some time playing the parts slowly to get the co ordination between the two feet working. Similar lessons have been covered in other time signatures and these are linked at the bottom of the page. If you find yourself struggling with the parts have a look through some of these lessons.
Listed below are various 12/8 grooves with a left foot dotted crotchet count. Note that when the right hand is playing as a dotted crotchet the left foot will be matching its rhythm.
Groove 1
Groove 2
Groove 3
Groove 4
Groove 5
TASKS
- Using the 2 minute rule, get all grooves up to a tempo of at least 120bpm.
- Create your own variations on these patterns. Write as many down as possible.
- Use these patterns as part of a Structured Pattern.