RE: [Harp-L] AFTER YOU'VE GONE-- shtreim

[J Compton <jofjltn4@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I wonder how much of this is because of how your live playing compares to that of the "band".  In other words, is it possible your timing/groove is still there, but that relative to the precision of the drum machine, it *seems* off?

Eh, maybe...but probably not.  (Just a thought I had in parallel with the recurring "tone" discussion...that relative tone, either to the other instruments or even to your own playing earlier in the song/set, can be a very powerful dynamic...but that's another topic.  What was this topic again?  Oh yeah, we were critiquing someone's playing style, critiquing the critiquers, and critiquing the critiquer's critics.)

I've noticed the same thing in my playing with live and non-live accompaniment, but there are a few things on the other side of the equation.  My playing style can cause problems with the (open mic, mostly amateur) live musicians because I frequently play ahead of the beat in a way that pushes the tempo.  If they stay rooted in the groove of the band, it works...but if they don't, we'll go from 0-60...er, okay, from 60-80.  I also tend to swing around the chord changes sometimes.  Again, not a problem if it's a solid ensemble.  So far, I have yet to affect the tempo or chord changes of the non-live accompaniment.

To me, engagement of the audience is the biggest component of the "groove" equation.  That and some thing called "mojo" that is unpredictably there or not, no matter the other variables.

Jonathan

> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> From: hvyj@xxxxxxx
> Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 12:13:36 -0500
> Subject: [Harp-L] AFTER YOU'VE GONE-- shtreim
> 
> IMHO, it is much more difficult to maintain a good or proper groove  
> while playing along with backup tracks, recordings or an electric  
> drum machine than when playing live music with a real (human) drummer.
> 	JP
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