Posted: November 30 2004 at 1:30am | IP Logged

hey man,

welcome to the site and the forums!

I think Vic's got some lesson type stuff on his site, but here's my favorite way to craft a groove:

get some rehearsal time alone when you can make a lot of noise and not bug anyone (at least not badly). get thoroughly warmed up and play really mindless exercises until you don't have a thought in your head. then just start messing around. play things you think will be cool and things that are goofy. don't have any plan aside from trying to play something that will make your body move.

this sounds jive, but read on.

whatever you come up with, make sure you can play it for 10 minutes without getting bored. then start messing around with it more. add space. drop in tuplet figures. reharmonize the line. change keys. go from major to minor or minor to major.

if you can move in and out of the figure, if you can play it for ages and not get bored, then you're on your way to crafting some serious grooves.

remember, the key to great funk is that it doesn't come from your head. it comes from someplace deeper. it's all about soul and heart and feel. it's the stuff that happens when guitar players and sax cats are thinking about what to play that sounds cool. it's the actual cool stuff.

I'd also recommend listening to everything that Bernard Odum played with James Brown. the first two albums that Herbie Hancock did with the Headhunters have some viscious grooving. listen to Parliament, Slave, the Brothers Johnson, Level 42, Defunkt, the Isley Brothers, Billy Preston, the Toweer of Power...

check out the grooves of things around you: trains. baby carriages. breathing. the ocean. laughter. conversation. look at painting without thinking -- feel where there's space in them. poetry (Richard Braughtigan's great for his rhythm).

as someone once said, 'Free your mind and your ass will follow!'

that was George Clinton. believe it!

from the lows,

Stew

Posted: November 30 2004 at 3:23am | IP Logged

of course there are "stock" grooves, but why play something that's going to bore you and a crowd? instead of picking up lines that a million cats have played a billion times, why not pick up a drum machine and set it to a standard 2-and-4 pattern so you can turn the rhythm into a groove!

I will, for the sake of doing it, give you a list of a few killer grooves to check out:

"Chicken" (written by Pee Wee Ellis) - Jaco's version from the Invitation album

"Chameleon" by Herbie Hancock - in the original, the bass doesn't play the bass line

"Palm Grease" by Herbie - a study in funk

"What is Hip" by the Tower of Power

"Brick House" by the Commodores

"Thank You )fallettinme be mice elf agin) by Sly and the Family Stone

"Stomp" by the Brothers Johnson

the entire Mothership Connection album by Parliament

Gary Grainger's bass line to "Pick Hits" by John Scofield

"Run for Cover" by Marcus Miller

"Elvis at the Hop" by Tribal Tech

"Face First" by Tribal Tech

"Oakland Stroke" by the Tower of Power

"Credit" and "Funk the Dumb Stuff" by TOP

"I'm Your Man" by Schascle (hard to find but a wild Patitucci upright part!)

and that should get you on your way to funkin' it right!

from the lows,

Stew

Posted: November 30 2004 at 1:10pm | IP Logged

hey Kyle,

it's my pleasure if I can offer anything useful, man. did you know that my bass tech (a local luthier) is named Kyley? kind of cool!

from the lows,

Stew

Posted: November 30 2004 at 2:49pm | IP Logged

hey Kyle,

your post has spurred me to finish a piece I started writing a while ago. it's all about groove. I'm only planning on posting it here, but if you'd like I'll send you a copy when it's finished. just send me an email so I have a place to send it:

[email protected]

cool?

from the lows,

Stew