Eighth Note Grooves Avoiding The Quarter Notes

In this lesson you will be learning a new groove construction concept that involves avoiding the main quarter note counts in a bar of 4/4 with the kick and snare while the right hand maintains its usual rhythm. This could be thought of as a form of displacement but it is really on 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 '+' counts. It may take some getting used to not playing snares on the usual 2 and 4 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 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

A an eighth note kick snare pattern avoiding the quarter notes


Example 2

A an eighth note kick snare pattern avoiding the quarter notes


Example 3

A an eighth note kick snare pattern avoiding the quarter notes


Example 4

A an eighth note kick snare pattern avoiding the quarter notes


Example 5

A an eighth note kick snare pattern avoiding the quarter notes


Example 6

A an eighth note kick snare pattern avoiding the quarter notes


Example 7

A an eighth note kick snare pattern avoiding the quarter notes


Example 8

A an eighth note kick snare pattern avoiding the quarter notes


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.

Lessons

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