Transform Basic Rhythms Into Killer Grooves
Take a look at this rhythm:
Looks pretty basic, right? Just a bunch of straight eighth notes.
And if you play each of those eighth notes exactly the same, you’ll end up sounding like a cheesy machine gun sound effect.
Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha
Doesn’t really groove, does it?
So, how do we bring to life such an uninspiring rhythm?
Join me on this journey to a groove…
[cue theme music]
The first step is to inject some variation. We can’t have each note sound the same, so let’s start by accenting the downbeats in red.
Okay, that’s a lot better already. We’ve gone from the Cha Cha Cha Cha machine gun to a Cha guh Cha guh Cha guh Cha guh choo-choo train effect. (When you play this on your instrument, make sure to really exaggerate the difference between the accented Cha’s and the ghosted guh’s.)
But there’s more we can do with this…
Let’s now add some extra oomph to beats two and four aka the back beat.
It should sound something like Cha guh CHA guh Cha guh CHA guh.
Startin’ to groove now, right?
We’re not done, people!
Next up, we’re gonna extend this rhythm by a bar and add an additional accent to beat one of measure one, like this:
And I’ve got one more for ya…
Let’s duplicate everything again to get four measures, the last of which we can insert a crescendo that’ll bring us back around to the top of the loop.
BAM! Now that’s a groove. The secret sauce in this particular recipe is dynamics. All of these accents, ghost notes, and crescendos fall under the umbrella of dynamics, i.e. how loud you play.
Moral of the story? Please, please, please pay attention to phrasing when you listen to and play music. In order to get people to physically move to your music—whether it’s bobbing heads, tapping feet, or clapping hands—you’ve got to turn your rhythms into grooves.
Also, if you like breakdowns like the rhythm and phrasing analysis shown above, I know you’re gonna love the 25+ minute tutorial I released earlier this week in which I walk you through an entire solo I wrote over the chord progression to “Spain” by Chick Corea.
It’s packed with tips and strategies for improvising pro-level lines without needing to be a virtuoso on your instrument.
And best of all, I’m giving away the video training as a free bonus for anyone who purchases my etude book, Chord Tone Magic.
But wait there’s more…
In addition to the bonus breakdown of “Spain”, you can also save 25% this week by entering code MAGIC25 at checkout.
Just know the deal expires today (Friday, April 2), so click here to get Chord Tone Magic plus the "Spain" etude analysis video with the 25% discount.
Happy Shedding,
Jeff
P.S. Here’s just a taste of what you’ll learn in the bonus video training:
How to come up with chord tone lines that sound ridiculously hip and are easy to play
The secret to developing your ideas without sounding boring and repetitive
Why “melodic voice leading” is the shortcut to improvising lines that sound musical and sophisticated instead of noodly and random
The repetition/variation ratio that’s easy to apply and makes your solos more coherent and less scattered
The “salt” analogy that turns dull, boring solos into improvised compositions
Why and how you should be using syncopation to add interest to your lines
An easy-to-understand explanation of inversions that will unlock a door to arpeggios you never knew existed
How to keep it simple by only play with triads and still sound hip (no sevenths needed!)
How to improvise a climax for unforgettable solos
The “b7 withholding trick” for injecting energy and movement into lifeless solos
How to know where to rest within a chord progression so that your solos don’t sound cluttered and sloppy
The “Step-Skip” arpeggio that sounds a lot harder than it is to play
How to decode syncopation by analyzing emphasis and pickups
And so much more!