Improving the Groove

[Kurt R]

Well I'm been playing around with this David Garibaldi book and I recorded some of the grooves and I just don't got any feel. I'm playing to a metronome in time but it just feel like a groove at all. What are some good ways to get the groove? I need something to do this weekend [img]cool.gif[/img]

[Pocketime]

Many times what I do is just spend some time listening to the grooves that I'm working on. While I'm listening I tap out straight meter on my legs with my hands. Right hand=hi-hat, left hand=snare. This helps me to get the feel of the groove physically and psychologically into me and then I transfer that to the kit by just playing, feeling and concentrating on just time, dynamics,attack, grip and so forth. I know this may sound rather obscure but it really does work for me. Also, I the particular groove straight with no fills. PT.

[BennyAndTheSkins]

Like Steve Smith says in his DVD, alot of American Music (Jazz, Blues, even Funk) has at least some component of the swing pulse in it. Steve demonstrates this pulse playing to James Brown's "Sex Machine". Alot of the syncopation in funk has a swing component to it. That helps me if I keep that in mind as I'm playing. Good Luck!

[Lee Collins]

The thing about garibaldi's stuff is, you've got to get the dynamics right for it to sound and feel good. Like, he does a lot of ghosting, a lot of really low down quiet notes on the snare between the main backbeats. Basic example, if you were to do a paradiddle beat between hihat and snare, it'll only have that garibaldi groove if you play the quieter notes really subtly,( like about half an inch from the head), and give the right amount of attack on the louder notes. Listen carefully to the way he plays it and the way he attacks the drums, not just the pattern he plays.

EDIT: just to add to that, good groove also comes from evenness of the individual strokes. If the eveness isn't quite there, it can make a groove sound lumpy.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 05, 2004 09:54 PM: Message edited by: Rudy_Ment ]</font>

[matricks]

Is it the 'funky beat' book?

[Timbata]

"Repetition is the mother of learning. You practice things over and over until you are sick of them, then you do it some more!"

David Garabaldi

[FuseU1]

Originally posted by TImbata:
"Repetition is the mother of learning. You practice things over and over until you are sick of them, then you do it some more!"

David Garabaldi

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Bingo.

[BTW...Virgil must've OD'd on this concept several times over]... [img]wink.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 06, 2004 03:22 PM: Message edited by: fuseU1 ]</font>

[matricks]

It's better than OD'ing on crack [img]wink.gif[/img]

[funkydrummer]

Originally posted by Rudy_Ment:
The thing about garibaldi's stuff is, you've got to get the dynamics right for it to sound and feel good. Like, he does a lot of ghosting, a lot of really low down quiet notes on the snare between the main backbeats. Basic example, if you were to do a paradiddle beat between hihat and snare, it'll only have that garibaldi groove if you play the quieter notes really subtly,( like about half an inch from the head), and give the right amount of attack on the louder notes. Listen carefully to the way he plays it and the way he attacks the drums, not just the pattern he plays.

EDIT: just to add to that, good groove also comes from evenness of the individual strokes. If the eveness isn't quite there, it can make a groove sound lumpy.

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ November 05, 2004 09:54 PM: Message edited by: Rudy_Ment ]</font></font>

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">said perfectly. the dynamics of garibaldi's groove are what make it so good. he is a master at those ghost notes. nobody plays them like he does.

[funkydrummer]

Originally posted by TImbata:
"Repetition is the mother of learning. You practice things over and over until you are sick of them, then you do it some more!"

David Garabaldi

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">[img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] great quote