Christian Musician NovDec16 | Page 12

BASSIC COMMUNICATION
[ GROOVE TWEAKING (PART 2) | Norm Stockton ]
Welcome back to our groove tweaking

kick, which we’ll once again assume is similarly

the drums straight to avoid going all the way

explorations! I hope you’ve been having fun with

hitting beats 1, 3 and the “and” of 3). Both of

there. The 2-bar phrase helps the part straddle

these adaptation exercises as we continue to

our tweaked grooves today are nods to iconic

the line between bossa nova and the original

broaden our musical vocabulary and versatility.

Latin grooves, while not abandoning the original

pop or rock groove.

part.
Our “untweaked” groove reprises one of the

By the way, the accent on beat 3 (and

straight 8 -note grooves in A minor from last

The bass part in bar 3 is a very common bossa

corresponding lack of emphasis on beat 1) is

time. Again, I want to emphasize that there’s

nova line (or samba, if it’s uptempo). You’ll note

an idiom of the genre; it can be emphasized

nothing wrong with the untweaked version; it

that the bass line sustains through the 8 note

or d e-emphasized depending upon how far

might be the best thing to play based upon

after beat 3, missing that kick drum hit. It’s not

toward Latin you want to take it! :^)

a variety of factors (song tempo, rhythmic

necessary to hit every single kick drum beat,

cadence of the vocal melody, etc.).

particularly since we already hit beats 1 and 3

The 2nd tweaked version implies an Afro-Cuban

with it. However, you’ll note that the figure in bar

tumbao groove, particularly in the first half

The tweaked versions are simply examples

4 jumps down to catch both 8 notes of beat

of each measure. The hits on beat 3 of both

of what could be done if we were asked to

3. This adaptation could work well in a situation

measures 4 and 5 serves to keep us rooted in

inject the line with another genre feel while still

where the arranger or producer wants to very

the original groove and kick drum placement.

working with the drum pattern (particularly the

subtly imply a bossa nova vibe while keeping

The half-note tied to beat 1 of bar 6 is a stretch

th

th

th

toward the tumbao’s characteristic lack of
downbeats.

Bassic Communication
Groove Tweaking (Part 2)

As I mentioned last time, tweaking grooves

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by implying different genres requires

Norm Stockton

Groove #1
Untweaked

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familiarity with the harmonic, rhythmic,

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the tweaked versions employ the Latin

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and sonic idioms of those styles. This
series assumes that knowledge (note that
we didn’t spend any time discussing how
harmonic idiom of primarily utilizing the root
and 5th), so please track down resources if

Groove #1
3 Tweaked (Bossa-esque)

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© 2016 Stocktones Music
12

3 of my Grooving for Heaven instructional
DVD series, as well as my ArtOfGroove.
com instructional website, cover musical
genres in detail.
Set a drum machine to 90-100 bpm and
work through both the untweaked and

Groove #1
5 Tweaked (Tumbao-esque)

° ?°.
. œ.

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you need to brush up. Both Volumes 2 and

Nov  Dec 2016

ChristianMusician.com

tweaked versions. Happy woodshedding
till next time!
Blessings- Norm
(Adapted from curriculum at ArtOfGroove.
com)