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Is it possible to teach "Groove"?

Is it possible to teach "Groove"?

  • No, groove is unteachable and undefinable, you either have it or you don't.

    Votes: 43 33.1%

  • Yes, groove can be usefully defined, analyzed and communicated constructively.

    Votes: 87 66.9%
  • Total voters
    130
#42
Frenchy-Lefty said:
Yes it is possible to teach it. Even if people may not completely "feel the groove", good skills allow to "fake it".

I played with a few borderline-autistic guys, I am not sure they "felt the groove" but their precise knowledge of music allowed them to play super groovy stuff like salsa music or Afrobeat in a totally legit way. A little bit like a very well programmed beat on Protools.
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I find this interesting because I also know a few people that could fit that description.

However, I feel that it begs the question, two actually - first, assuming they fake the groove, what difference does it make from a purely pragmatic standpoint? If it sounds good, it is good, I feel. And secondly, if there are people that can fake it solely based on their intimate knowledge of music without feeling it, there must be a way to approach and teach/learn groove in an intellectual manner that is apart from the purely emotional or aural immersion.

But as others have said, groove is a nebulous concept so far. Treating it as merely "stylistically appropriate rhythmic awareness" may be doing it injustice.
 
#44
I have met or played with some great orchestral players for whom "groove" and "swing" were not intuitive, but they could produce passable results after they notated the sheet music and played through it twice. Honestly, not their thing.
 
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#46
bholder said:
...which I could watch a million times and still have none of... ...of course it can be taught, some folks may not be capable of learning it regardless of the teacher (in my experience at least). I mean, I suck less than I once did, but my groove powers are still mucho weak sauce...
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For me the groove is dependent on the material you are playing. There are certain genres that I'm just not going groove well, like Reggae for instance. I can groove on Motown, to The Who, to KC and the Sunshine Band..put me on to some reggae, and I'll suck.
 
#48
Depends on what you mean by "teach."

Can you teach it to a very young child who is still developing his or her sense of rhythm, by exposing him or her to "groovy" music? Yes.

Can you "teach" it to a grown-ass man, whose musical foundations are already formed? No way. At least not without completely brainwashing him and starting from scratch.

It's not an intellectual thing, therefore cannot be "taught" in the traditional sense. It has to be absorbed via exposure – and the younger the "patient," the more likely, and the faster, it will be.
 
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#50
AFRO said:
it takes time to internalize, so yes I had to put the work in. but my "Teachers" were not in a class lecturing me on how to 'groove'. my "Teachers" were tons of Columbia House and BMG compact disks and mix tapes/disks that I collected over the years.

the people/groups/bands/styles of music one is influenced by, indirectly, are the Teachers of Groove, at least that is how I see it based off of my experience with music.
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^This^
I am a most unfunky white boy, but I've been listening to all kinds of music all my life. When I was four I was going to sleep listening to my dad playing his records and from there on I've done my best to stay immersed in music as much as possible. It need not be hi-fi quality sound and I may not be overly fond of the song, but every song has a groove if you give it a chance to show itself, and the more I hear them the better I become at imitating them.
 
#51
I wonder if someone has the same issues that I have. I can't define rather I ''groove" or not, cause there are some songs in which I do, I feel so free and happy and there are also another ones where I kind of don't figure out how to keep the groove going and feeling lost.
 
#55
Lots of people with mad instrument and music skills who couldnt teach their way out of a wet paper bag say no. So many aspects of art are left vaguely defined simply because we dont know how to describe or teach it.
 
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#56
arbiterusa said:
Absolutely not. I have tried. Many times, many students. People either hear it and feel it, or don't.

My wife teaches dance and is in full agreement. You either have it or don't.
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If you watch a toddler dancing or playing drums, they usually have decent time (although it can stray here and there - they have no notion of what they're supposed to be doing), and they have a reasonable idea of how to move their bodies to a beat.

Cut to the elementary school years when they're first taking lessons on a musical instrument. It's rare that any of them will have much of a groove. It's one of the many, many skills that you forget as you grow. But most people can get it back.

But everyone had their own groove too, like the drummers who play behind the beat, on the beat, push the beat, etc. For every drummer who's the perfect drummer with an ingrained groove, there after ten who do ok for themselves and make decent music. And then there are one or two who kinda suck. Same with everyone else who plays an instrument.
 
#57
Groove is a combination of rhythm, timing, and style/articulation (staccatos, accents, etc), all of which can be taught by a competent instructor. Of course, how well someone LEARNS groove is entirely up to them. Groove - like any musical skill - must be practiced. But, to say groove (or any other skill) cannot be taught is ignorant.
 
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