It’s just not good enough to be a solid bass player with solid time. The ability to groove with another person’s music requires a developed concept and understanding of groove. Just because you can play to a metronome, that does not mean you understand how to manipulate your time feel and truly lock to any stranger that you are playing with.
This bass lesson introduces the two types of groove and the specific approaches for developing each type of groove. Master the nuances of the two types of groove and you should have no problem locking to any musician!
Introduction
There are two types of groove: Organic Groove and Inorganic Groove. Both are equally important and both require different types of perception in order to execute.
What is Organic Groove?
Organic Groove pertains to groove that has a strong feeling of breath. This type of groove is flexible and stretches. However, the groove does not rush or drag. Organic Groove is expansive!
Organic Groove is powerful and evokes a strong sense of emotion to the listener. Organic Groove can be described as rolling waves in an ocean.
This type of groove is the hardest to develop and the most abstract to perceive.
Experience Organic Groove
To experience Organic Groove, listen to the recommended music.
Jazz:
- Jeff “Tain” Watts
- Bill Evans
- John Coltrane (with Elvin Jones on drums)
Rock:
- Led Zepplin
- Faith No More
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Funk:
- Average White Band
- Headhunters (Herbie Hancock)
- Screaming Headless Torsos (with Gene Lake on drums)
- James Brown
Neo-Soul:
- Meshell Ndegeocello
General:
- African music
- Afro-cuban music
- Hatian music
To further grasp the concept of Organic Groove, take a look at Impressionist artwork. The brush strokes are not concise and crisp! Ideas are often implied. There a strong sense of emotion.
What is Inorganic Groove?
Inorganic Groove pertains to groove that has a tight pocket. Inorganic Groove is grid-like. Music that is grid-like can be easily subdivided with a metronome. All subdivisions are accurate like a sniper! Inorganic Groove is fierce.
Listeners tend to favor Inorganic Groove because it sounds clean and the type of dancing that fits with it looks clean to!
Inorganic Groove is the easiest to acquire!
Experience Inorganic Groove
To experience Inorganic Groove, listen to the recommended music.
Gospel:
- Fred Hammond
- Kirk Franklin
- Kim Burrell
Funk:
- Tower of Power
- Screaming Headless Torsos (with JoJo Mayer on the drums)
Jazz:
- Chick Corea (with Vinnie Calauta on the drums)
General:
- Programmed tracks
To further grasp the concept of Inorganic Groove, look at modern art! The art is clean, concise, and direct.
Achieve Organic Groove
To achieve Organic Groove, a syllable system can be used. Simply change the type of syllable you are locking to and your time feel automatically changes!
Understanding Groove is an excellent resource for understanding this concept. You can also take a look at South Indian Tabla bol systems.
Practicing Organic Groove to a metronome requires a different perception than most people are used to.
The reason Organic Groove succeeds in not rushing or dragging is because there is a strong grasp of resolution points (A.K.A. anchors) within the music.
For instance, in funk music, beat 1 is continually emphasized! In Latin music, the “and” of beat 2 and beat 4 are heavily emphasized! In jazz, the “and” of 4 is often emphasized more than other resolution points.
Consistent resolution points that are being emphasized often and solidly land in time, seem to fulfill the groove.
Notes that land within the resolution points seem to be less of importance!
That’s why the music breaths and the groove seems to evolve throughout the song!
In order to practice Organic Groove with a metronome, you must avoid having the metronome clicking to every subdivision. This is the secret!
The more beats you have your metronome click to, the more tight your feel will be.
On the contrary, the less beats you have your metronome click to, the more loose you can allow your time to feel!
Think about it.
If you are practicing 16th-note bass lines and the metronome is clicking on every 16th-note, then your playing will end up tight with the metronome.
If you have your metronome only click once within the measure, then your 16th-notes can breathe and will remain tight only on that particular resolution point.
Visualize an office work environment. More rules—–more tight. Less rules—more loose!
If only one resolution point is always solid, the groove will still be present.
Achieve Inorganic Groove
In order to achieve Inorganic Groove, always practice to a metronome. However, in contrast to Organic Groove, practice to the metronome clicking to many subdivisions in order to ensure that sniper-like accuracy when executing notes!
Each subdivision on the bass line should “bury” the metronome.
When done correctly, Inorganic Groove feels like a clock ticking. You can actually feel and hear “tick tock…tick tock!”
When you play a note exactly at the same time as a metronome click, you can no longer hear the click! The click becomes “buried”.
Keep An Open Mind!
Music has infinite interpretations of groove. Each interpretation is equally valid.
Too many musicians feel there is only one way to groove!
I often hear, “If it ain’t funky, then it don’t groove!”
Listen and learn to appreciate all styles of music.
Every country’s style of music grooves their own way, and people in that culture can still dance to their music!
