What does "in the pocket" mean, please?

[Fender32]

Not an easy one to Google, this! Easier to just ask the experts .

You don't generally hear that expression in Europe (at least, I haven't ).

So, how would you define it, please?

[Correlli]

pocket = space

If you've studied fine arts, you'll know what I mean.

[Fender32]

Originally Posted by Kiwi Kid

pocket = space

If you've studied fine arts, you'll know what I mean.

... and if I haven't studied fine arts?

Thanks for your post, but I'm still none the wiser really!

[bassist15]

I view "in the pocket" as playing with the groove . The bass and drums are locket in and provide a solid beat for the rest of the band.

[RWP]

Originally Posted by bassist15

I view "in the pocket" as playing with the groove . The bass and drums are locket in and provide a solid beat for the rest of the band.

+1 And, the drummer needs to be there too. If he is off you can not be in the pocket. To me being that tight is the one of the marks of true professionals.

[Fender32]

OK, thanks, that makes sense!

So it's just another way of saying, "in the groove", really ?

I thought that it referred to a sparseness, or economy of note usage, from one of the contexts that I'd seen it in.

Well, now I know .

Cheers guys!

[FretlessArt]

Originally Posted by Fender32

OK, thanks, that makes sense!

So it's just another way of saying, "in the groove", really ?

I thought that it referred to a sparseness, or economy of note usage, from one of the contexts that I'd seen it in.

Well, now I know .

Cheers guys!

Often what is required to be "in the Pocket" is less playing. Sometimes drummers and bass players can over play, preventing the groove from settling in. " The pocket" results from the "less is more" phenominon where the end result is greater then the sum of its parts.

[B-NoteCowboy]

Originally Posted by Fender32

OK, thanks, that makes sense!

So it's just another way of saying, "in the groove", really ?

I thought that it referred to a sparseness, or economy of note usage, from one of the contexts that I'd seen it in.

Well, now I know .

Cheers guys!

Yep. Pretty much. Overplaying can lead to getting out of the pocket, but you can still be in the pocket and play some highly creative against the melody lines. Great example is Entwhistle.

[Aaron Saunders]

Originally Posted by Kiwi Kid

pocket = space

If you've studied fine arts, you'll know what I mean.

This is the lamest response to a genuine question I've ever seen in the last 5 years on TalkBass, and considering this place, that's saying something.


You've pretty much got it now. Really grooving playing that locks the time in hard with the drummer. For further illustrations, please watch this video of James Jamerson playing bass on Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On." This is playing that is deeeeeeeeeeeeeeep in the pocket!

[Matt Till]

I know what the term means, but does anyone know where it came from? Why the groove is "the pocket."

[bassicinstinct]

Chuck Rainey + Bernard Purdie = "in the pocket".

See: Aja:Steely Dan etc.

[BassChuck]

Originally Posted by bassicinstinct

Chuck Rainey + Bernard Purdie = "in the pocket".

See: Aja:Steely Dan etc.

amen to that. There's a lifetime of knowledge in that album.

[Fender32]

Originally Posted by Aaron Saunders

This is the lamest response to a genuine question I've ever seen in the last 5 years on TalkBass, and considering this place, that's saying something.


You've pretty much got it now. Really grooving playing that locks the time in hard with the drummer. For further illustrations, please watch this video of James Jamerson playing bass on Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On." This is playing that is deeeeeeeeeeeeeeep in the pocket!

Thanks a lot Aaron! You know, I didn't want to appear ungrateful, but my sentiments about reply #1 were identical to yours !

As for the Jamerson clip, I've watched that more than just a couple of times. He's been listed as my Number 1 influence in my TB profile ever since I joined up and I've tried to study his work via the "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" DVD and songbook.

The term "in the pocket" has been applied to his work by so many different people, but when you're talking about a player with James' range of abilities, it could mean any one of 100 different positive things .

Anyway, thanks to (almost ) everyones' specific answers to my question, I think that I understand the term now.

From now on, I'm going to try and keep my basslines in my pockets!

( joking)

[invader3k]

Kind of the same thing as "locking in with the drummer."

[stedtale]

I tbhnk this is a good view of it:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=17487

[Fender32]

Originally Posted by stedtale

I tbhnk this is a good view of it:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=17487

Holy crap! That guy makes it sound more like a religion than something you do (or don't do) with your fingers . Of course, if you can do it, it probably is something like a religious experience, I suppose!?

I completely get it now anyway, thanks largely to that article.

I'm afraid to say though, that I can count the number of times that I've truly played "in the pocket" on the number of fingers that it took to achieve it (if you get my drift ).

Hmmm, I'm depressed now ... think I'll put my bass away and go and watch the TV instead .

[jumbosilverette]

In the pocket, means to me... a)playing the downbeat as naturally as breathing and b)playing in synch with the drummer and c)not breaking a sweat while doing it

[gdawg27]

I always interpreted "in the pocket" to mean establishing and staying in the intended groove.

Here's an "in the pocket" story. When I was in college, I was in this big band playing electric where the conductor was this jerk of a grad student who would just get on my case non-stop about my playing "in the pocket" (the dumbest thing he did was make me stand during rehearsals as if my playing was different standing than sitting). At one of the rehearsals, he singles me out for not playing "in the pocket" and proceeds to make me play my part solo. I was playing what was written (it was a quarter note walk and all the notes were written out) and he just kept saying, "you're not in the pocket". So after a few tries, I just added some grace notes and triplets to what was written and all of a sudden I was "in the pocket".

Ironically, the next semester I was put into a jazz combo with that same director (he played trumpet), a piano player, a sax player and a drummer and he never mentioned anything about me being "in the pocket".

[Barkless Dog]

I suggest you check out Ed Friedland's book called "Bass Grooves"

It is a great book that unlocks and teaches the ideas discussed here step by step

[Philbiker]

Wow nobody has written what my understanding is of the term. I thought that playing "in the pocket" meant specifically that the bass notes and the kick drum are in perfect synch.