| The Pocket
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Sorry, this is going to be a very long post. I'll try to be clear, eloquent and punctuate to minimize the blow. But this touches on what I think is a very important subject for musicians. Feel free to prove me wrong or just shoot me down.
Recently, a very very experienced drummer pointed out that I need to learn to play in the pocket. Now, this drummer has been playing everywhere from New Orleans to Chicago to Detroit since the 60's. I feel blessed to call him a friend and accept his word without question. He really is just that good. And he really is just trying to help. I figure, if he didn't care, he wouldn't say anything and just stop showing up to jam. He does NOT need us. He plays with the BEST there is out there, yet he still shows up at our gigs to sit in and jam and hang out and give us pointers.
Here's my problem though; no one has ever given a straight answer as to what "playing in the pocket" means. It's always "you have to feel it", "if you don't know, you won't", play in front, play behind, groove, breath, stop thinking, do this, do that. I'm sorry, but none of that helps. I've been frustrated to the point of almost quitting. It's like trying to find the "sweet spot" on a girl. All you ever get is "nope, not yet". And if I'm not doing it right, why should I bother? I do not want to be just another oblivious one-trick rockhead (which apparently I'm in danger of becoming).
So I've been thinking, reading, listening and banging my head against this brick wall a lot. I think I've got some small glimpse of the "pocket" now, but I'm getting pretty desperate and my confidence is waning. This is why I'm making this post. I'll explain the "pocket" as I understand it in the hope that those of you who "know" and don't mind a wall of text can give me a "oh yeah" or a "nope, not yet".
Here goes:
One does not actually play in a pocket, one defines it. When you hear someone playing with a nice big pocket, it means you can hear the line or rhythm around which the musician is playing even if he/she isn't playing the actual basic rhythm. A talented musician with a strong pocket will make you understand if a beat has a strong 2 (one TWO three four), or a triplet has a strong 4 (one two three ONE two three), or all kinds of other rhythmic stuff that's beyond me. A player with a strong pocket can dance around the rhythm, adding to it, underplaying it, or even drive it while leaving it crystal clear where the rhythm is going. The best analogy I can come up with is a band playing to the chugging of a train. No one in the band can stop hearing the train yet none of them land their notes exactly on the train chugs. Even if the audience doesn't hear the train, they can chug along to it by just listening to the band. That is because the rhythm is ingrained so deep into the band, they don't have to telegraph it to the audience and it'll still come through. Of course this could apply to much smoother rhythms with swing, or groove, but the end result would be the same. A crystal clear sense of where the rhythm is going at all times without focusing on the main elements of the rhythm.
There is a certain element of confidence to it as well. When you listen to a song, you can tap your foot to it. Some songs have complex parts that can make you loose your place. Often you have to wait a few beats to find the rhythm and start taping your foot again. This can happen to a musician while playing, even if only for a fraction of a second. The musician might not even notice it him/herself (I only noticed recently). But if the rhythm is not second nature to the musician, then there is no pocket. I use Boosty Collins as an example for this, even when he talks, with no music to be heard, you can tell he still hears music. He never has to look for the beat, it's just there for him.
Does this make any sense to anyone in the know? Am I way off or close enough to use this as a starting point? Is this a "nope, not yet"?
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