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06-16-2010, 08:31 PM
| | | | What is "groove"?
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Does anyone have a definition of what groove is or is that subjective? When I think groove I think of the bassline from "Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent but I'm not sure if there is an objective opinion on the matter.
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06-16-2010, 08:41 PM
|  | Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Austin TX | | | I can't recall who said it but...
"If you have to ask what groove is, you'll never find it." (Just kidding, Lotus.)
I'm pretty certain the expression comes from the days of vinyl records. The needle had to be in the groove for the music to sound good.
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06-16-2010, 08:49 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: San Diego, CA | | | Beat me too it, HH
If you have to ask... |
06-16-2010, 08:54 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area | | | Groove is when you stay in the pocket, and don't fall out. |
06-16-2010, 08:57 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brooklyn Park, MN. | | Quote:
Originally Posted by blackbass54 Groove is when you stay in the pocket, and don't fall out. | If I do that, does it make me Groovy?  
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06-16-2010, 09:00 PM
| | Banned | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Maine/Vermont | | | You know the difference between a good lay and a bad one?
Its like that. |
06-16-2010, 09:03 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Leeds, England | | | I think it's quite subjective within a margin. I can't really describe it myself, but I have an idea of what it is.
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06-16-2010, 09:04 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: San Diego, CA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by somegeezer I think it's quite subjective within a margin. I can't really describe it myself, but I have an idea of what it is. | yeah, words don't do it.
I used to tell students "Groove is a good feel with the beat" - it takes years to develop good groove (unless you're a mutant). Kinda like soul. |
06-16-2010, 09:07 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Leeds, England | | Quote:
Originally Posted by BigOldHarry yeah, words don't do it.
I used to tell students "Groove is a good feel with the beat" - it takes years to develop good groove (unless you're a mutant). Kinda like soul. | Yeah, I think you'll know when you have it. Just keep working on playing and it should come to you.
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06-16-2010, 09:29 PM
|  | TalkBass' resident Bongo + Cowbell player | | Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Bucaramanga, Colombia, South A | | A groovy player can make you tap your foot and/or snap your fingers (In other words: Feel like dancing) just with his/her playing. Groove isn't about playing the right notes. It's about transmitting feelings when playing them. Here's a couple examples (that work for me, at least): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M2yib3ecjo&fmt=18 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X1fhVLVF_4&fmt=18 |
06-16-2010, 09:41 PM
| | | | There is this guy I heard of named James...uh...uh Brown. He's not very popular and kinda of underground,but if you look him up, he's pretty good at the so called 'groove'... |
06-16-2010, 10:03 PM
| | | | GROOVE...
What is it?
It is primitive in my opinion.
Some have it and some will never feel it.
One of the most simple examples (without any technical explanation) is a song that Billy Cobham and George Duke play together called 'Stratus".
As a bass player, try to keep up and stay with Billy.
Another is Eddie Harris's "Listen Here". Very simple bass line but if you aren't able to "feel" the primitive movement through the tune then you ain't "in the groove". Almost hypnotic with the timing and interaction.
IMHO the "groove" is what pulls a person into another zone.
I love playing with a drummer that makes us do it. Priceless. |
06-16-2010, 10:10 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Deep East Texas Piney Woods | | The groove develops when you let go and move with the music. By move - physically moving, your head, your body, you can not stand still. If you are not moving your not grooving. http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/ |
06-17-2010, 01:05 AM
| | Registered User
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Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A. A groovy player can make you tap your foot and/or snap your fingers (In other words: Feel like dancing) just with his/her playing. Groove isn't about playing the right notes. It's about transmitting feelings when playing them. Here's a couple examples (that work for me, at least):
| That's how I see it as well. You can get two guys with different feels to play exactly the same thing and one might move you whereas the other may do absolutely nothing for you. A lot of people associate groove with funkier music but for me it's about doing what's right for the moment which is why I consider Cliff Williams from AC/DC to have a groove in the context of the music.
Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" is one of those songs which has me tapping my feet whenever I hear it, for reasons I can't explain. Simple four on the floor from the rhythm section but they're doing something right. Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Underfoot" has the same affect which could have something to do with it being similar to the Stevie Wonder song. Both have solid quarter note grove from the rhythm section while the clavinova fills in the gaps which makes the whole band groove.
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Last edited by Eminentbass : 06-17-2010 at 01:16 AM.
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06-18-2010, 07:35 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Florida | | | I'm going to get shot for this, but....
GROOVE IS IN THE HEART!!!
*ducks*
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06-18-2010, 03:08 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Seattle | | | Groove is a vague, relative, imprecise term and conveys no useful information to somebody trying to actually learn how to play bass.
We are better off thinking about specifics: rhythm, tempo, pitch, dynamics, articulation, etc...
It is the way in which the specific aspects combine and the ears of the listener that determines if it is or isn't a "groove" |
06-18-2010, 03:18 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: St. Louis // St. Charles, MO | | | groove is as groove does
It's when band members come together on feel and execution in a way that proves that time is indeed mutable and malleable and that only real musicians can bend it without breaking it.
That meter is only the parameters that define where one bar ends and another begins - but how you proceed through them is a constantly evolving as the music demands.
It's the intangible, but universally perceptible vibe that, when properly created, has the power to make babies.
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On Groove Duty
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06-18-2010, 03:19 PM
|  | Registered User
Midtown Guitars | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 810, Michigan | | | a groove is like sex, youlll know it when you feel it. |
06-18-2010, 03:21 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Seattle | | Quote:
Originally Posted by LotusCarsLtd52 Does anyone have a definition of what groove is or is that subjective? When I think groove I think of the bassline from "Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent but I'm not sure if there is an objective opinion on the matter. | "Groove" is often cited as an excuse to not have to learn to read standard notation or become educated in the art of music. See also: "Feel" |
06-18-2010, 03:28 PM
|  | Registered User | | | | This is one of those key phrases players use all the time. Every experienced player has a reasonable concept of what it means, but it is never articulated AFAIK.
The best I can give you is playing with a rhythmic figure and feel which effectively "kicks the 'rhythmic' can down the road.
As an example, get a recording of Jaco's Opus Pocus, and listen to the rhythmic figure starting at about the 2:00 mark. That is for me about 100% pure groove.
Hope that helps.
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