studying drum patterns ??

[blakelock]

hey all,
i've been following my own program of study through Scott's bass lessons, focusing primarily on timing and rhythm (feeling 16ths, accentuating/playing only certain 16ths, then incorporate into a bassline). i thought an interesting way to practice groove development would be to find awesome drummers and beats and try to and use them to define a bassline (going a little further than simply following the bass drum).

anyone else do this?
which drummers?

 

[mambo4]

The specifics of locking in, having a good interplay between drum and bass , will vary by style.

Great drummer are great because they have a large rhythmic vocabulary and know many styles and specific rhythms.
I suggest studying of specific rhythms and the bass and drum patterns in specific rhythmic styles rather than focusing on individual drummers.

a good rule of thumb when studying rhythms is: If it has a name, learn it.
If a rhythmic figure has been created and passed around enough that people named it, It might be valuable to know.
Shuffle, swing, Big four, Second line, Clave, Tresillo, Bembe, Maqsum, ...when you get to afro cuban and african stuff, the catalog gets very large indeed.

Also practice reading rhtyhm

All of this feeds into the effort to understand exactly what the drummer is doing, so you can interlock nicely. The single best piece of advice for locking in to a groove I have seen on TB: make room for the snare.

 

[JRA]

 

[Joe Nerve]

I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're stating, but I think I do that all the time anyhow .

A while back I stumbled upon my own exercise that I found challenging and helpful. Get your hands on a beat box or app of some sort. The kind that has lots of different feels and rhythms. Then take a song you know well, pick any rhythm, and play along. Switch randomly to another rhythm, and do the same. Work at being able to do this as quickly and efficiently as possible, with the goal being hearing a 4 bar drum intro and then locking right in with the drums.

And in an aside... I've seen a few posts recently on methods of working on rhythm. I know we're all different and what works for one might not work for another - but I can't help but to believe that putting too much thought into this can be counter productive. I never believed rhythm to be a brain or thinking thing, but rather a feel thing. IMO, the best way to develop rhythm is to just practice along with a metronome and play along with as many beats and drummers as one possibly can. As soon as there is crossover between the brain and the gut I think rhythm gets put into grave danger . Just my opinion.