Re: [Harp-L] Re: Blues Grooves

[Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rob Paparozzi wrote:
> Excellent post on the "Groove" and their creator's!!,-)
>
> I agree Memphis Drummer Al Jackson was just "amazing"!!!....How about his 
> beat on Otis Redding's version of 'Try a little Tenderness' OMG it is pure 
> genius! Steve Cropper told me many stories about how the MG's and Al would 
> watch the kids dancing at local dances in Memphis and the next day at Stax 
> they would try and come up with a GROOVE to fit the dances they saw. He 
> said THAT is how 'Green Onions' was concieved !!
>
> Yes, I've been blessed to able to make Music with legendary Groovemaster 
> Bernard "Pretty" Purdie over the years and we are also best friends.

Thanks Rob.  Your own playing has some of the best groove work I've ever 
heard by a harp player.

Some more things younger players should think about vis-a-vis grooves:

When you hear a really good example of a specific groove on a recording, 
it's good to try to play it with your band, then go back and see how close 
you really came to making that groove.  Lots of these grooves sound simpler 
than they really are, and all of them require serious practice before you 
can really give them the power that makes them standards in the first place.

But once you can really - really really - get an audience going with some 
of these grooves it is time to get brave and invent your own grooves.

I'm a huge fan of the group Chic.  They invented groove after groove, and 
made a zillion hits, for themselves and for other artists.  How did they 
invent all these amazing grooves?  The two producer/composers, Nile Rodgers 
and Bernard Edwards played guitar and bass respectively.  They were highly 
skilled young guys.  Their drummer, Tony Thompson was also a great 
musician.  The three musicians would sit together in the studio and 
INVENT.  If one guy had an idea the other two were right there trying to 
find the best ways to lock with the idea.  (Locking means playing parts 
that fit into the holes of the groove in such a way as to make the groove 
even stronger and more engaging.)

Then the guy with the original idea would perfect what he was doing in 
relation to what the other guys were doing.  I suspect that sometimes they 
found something amazing in under two minutes.  Sometimes they might have 
worked for two days until they hit on something that had The Thing.  Once 
they hit on an incredible groove they'd start writing changes and they'd 
pull in the keyboard guy and other players and boom - another amazing track.

But they started each track by perfecting a three-man groove.  They sweated it.

Get your band together for groove-making sessions.  If you're fairly new to 
the game, you will learn SO much from this, and even if you're not so new, 
you and your band will get stronger and stronger by using lots of your 
get-togethers JUST learning how to develop grooves together.  (That's part 
of the secret: you won't be that good at this at first, but if the band 
members are willing to work hard at groove-building you'll develop a 
working style that will be incredibly productive.)

Here's the thing.  Very, very few harp players really learn how to find a 
part in a groove.  The job is to listen for the "holes", the places where 
nobody else is participating in the rhythm.  Once you can fill a few holes 
you can start finding better and better WAYS to fill them.  The idea is to 
lock in with the other parts.  Importantly, you'll start building your own 
solos around those holes.

You can practice this by playing along to records that have highly defined 
grooves.  Chic, in fact, would be a great place to start.  Don't play the 
same rhythm that the band is playing, FIND THE HOLES.  At first it'll be 
awkward and not very hip at all, but then suddenly you'll find a few holes 
that make up a part that is totally amazing.

By the way, Nile Rodgers produced David Bowie's "Let's Dance" album, which 
introduced Steve Ray Vaughan to the musical world outside Texas.  Stevie 
Ray could play some dangerous grooves and locks.