opinions

[Marc Piane]

So a buddy of mine and I got into a discussion yesterday about the phrase...

"a groove so wide you could drive a truck through"

I'll let you in on some of our discussion but first...

What does that phrase mean to you?

[Uncletoad]

Boy needs to stop watching porn and get laid.

[Marc Piane]

Very funny. That's what I like about you Phil. Mind always in the gutter just like mine.

We have both heard that turn of phrase to describe laying down a 'good' groove but we had slightly different ideas as to the meaning.

[CTbass613]

Well a groove can be seen as like a Rut or hole in something...so by saying its so wide you could drive a truck through it, i take that as its a fat, thick, huge groove, so it would be compliment i would think.

[Bruce Lindfield]

I think it's the sort of thing that non-musicians say, to make it sound as if they know what they are talking about!!

[Marc Piane]

Yep Bruce. One of the examples we came up with was in a John Patitucci video.

[Marcus Johnson]

In my hometown in Wisconsin, that would describe our driveway.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I don't think it has to have a particular meaning beyond a groove that is strong and solid. I've heard it used to describe the "bass on top, drums behind and nobody budges" Elvin kind of groove, but to me, the term just means a groove that is relentlessly strong and buoyant. Y'know, kinda like when Eddy Fu plays with any drummer who owns a pair of ears.

[Treyzer]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

I think it's the sort of thing that non-musicians say, to make it sound as if they know what they are talking about!!

In L.A., session musicians would typically say something similar to this to indicate a track that had a great feel where the time was undeniable and something special had been laid down.

In Hawaii, it would be a grove so wide you could get one truck down to da beach brah!

[M Ramsey]

I fell into a groove like that at the IBMA trade show last fall (Internation Bluegrass Music Association).

I had Clay Hess playing guitar, Sierra Hull on mandolin, Ron Block on banjo and Justin Moses on fiddle. Those names may mean nothing to most of you but then look at these credentials.

Hess played lead and rhythm guitar for Ricky Skaggs for about 3 years, Ron Block has been the banjo man for Alison Krauss for the past 18 years or so, Sierra Hull is an 18 year old phenom on the mandolin (who got her start via guest appearances with Alison Krauss) and Justin Moses is a mulit-instrumentalist who toured for the past 1.5 years with Dan Tyminski (again Dan is the voice of George Clooney in Oh Brother, and Alison's bandmember since the early 1990's).

With the timing groove they were helping to hold, we couldn't fall out of the groove if we had wanted to.

[Marcus Johnson]

I hate to keep going back to the same recordings (on my desert island list).... but Ray Brown, on the duo recordings with Jimmy Rowles, is pretty much driving that truck all by himself.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by Treyzer

In L.A., session musicians would typically say something similar to this to indicate a track that had a great feel where the time was undeniable and something special had been laid down.

In Hawaii, it would be a grove so wide you could get one truck down to da beach brah!

Well I've never been to those places - but in England we would call that kind of language : "posey"

[bribass]

I've heard it w/ "vibrato" instead of "groove" used to describe the voice of some singers.

Or "vibrato so wide you could swing a cat through it"

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by bribass

I've heard it w/ "vibrato" instead of "groove" used to describe the voice of some singers.

Or "vibrato so wide you could swing a cat through it"

That last phrase would say to me - "..couldn't hit the right note (pitch) to save their life"!!!

[Treyzer]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

Well I've never been to those places - but in England we would call that kind of language : "posey"

I've toured and stayed in England many times. If you're saying that the first phrase is someone acting or pretending to be something he or she is not, I would remind you that this was a phrase that pros used to describe to one another typically about recording dates in L.A. studios. I was and am a pro. How about you?

The second phrase was a bit of silliness intended as levity. Try some once in awhile, you might find it invigorating!