What are your favorite groove-building exercises?

[Bioflava]

Hi TBers,

Simple question: What are your favorite exercises for improving your rhythmic feel and plucking hand technique?

I do the basic stuff, such as practicing scales at different speeds using a metronome, and setting the click on just the 1 & 3 or 2 & 4. What else do you like to do? Is there a great Youtube video or other resource you recommend?

Thanks!

-nick

 

[Gorn]

I start with one note and take it from there. I try to create as much funk as possible before I play any other notes. I have no idea if this is an effective technique but I like it.

 

[Bioflava]

I start with one note and take it from there. I try to create as much funk as possible before I play any other notes. I have no idea if this is an effective technique but I like it.

Are you just playing free or playing to a click or drums?

 

[Gorn]

Are you just playing free or playing to a click or drums?

Drums. I use the app walkband on my android phone. It has a drum machine you can randomize and change the tempo. I try to keep it simple and avoid too many notes.

 

[JRA]

What are your favorite exercises for improving your rhythmic feel and plucking hand technique?

IMO: it depends on the genre somewhat as to what the "groove" could/should be. but i like what Gorn said: start with one note. to play really funky: that one note, with appropriate silence (rests) can groove until the cows come home...or until you have to change notes for the next chord change. some bass lines naturally "groove," but you can do a lot by 'not playing' = the rests/holes/spaces. groove on!

 

[Gorn]

to play really funky: that one note, with appropriate silence (rests) can groove until the cows come home..

 

[JRA]

what i'm talkin' 'bout......exactly!

 

[lz4005]

Simple question: What are your favorite exercises for improving your rhythmic feel and plucking hand technique?

Get a 3 hour, 4 night a week gig with a really good drummer that you depend on keeping to not be homeless.
Your feel and technique will be great by the end of the first month.

 

[Bodeanly]

I pick a song that I don't think I will ever be able to play, then learn it and the album that it rode in on. When I was a kid, I half-assed my way through too many cover bands, learning the roots and a few signature lines/ fills, but ignoring the majority of the groove. I consider it making up for lost time. But yeah, like @lz4005 said, playing with a solid drummer can change your freakin' life.

 

[Bioflava]

Well @lz4005 I DO play 2-hours a week with an excellent drummer -- but 4x is too much for me now! @Bodeanly Yeah, learning all the nuances is a great idea... But I'm looking for cool exercises that I can do as part of my practice regime. Any ideas?

 

[Bodeanly]

Well @lz4005 I DO play 2-hours a week with an excellent drummer -- but 4x is too much for me now! @Bodeanly Yeah, learning all the nuances is a great idea... But I'm looking for cool exercises that I can do as part of my practice regime. Any ideas?

It sounds like you might be talking more about writing grooves than playing grooves? I'm in a few cover bands, so, currently, most of my grooves tend to come from being OCD about learning the material. When I just wanna jammy jam on a diddly doo, I lay a few chords down on a looper and add a buncha stuff over the top to see what fits. If you don't have a looper, you could probably record some chords with a phone or something and play it through some decent speakers, then thumpy thump over the top.

 

[two fingers]

Become the house bass player for an open mic night for ten years.
Did wonders for my groove.

 

[chivsjawn]

I think that developing that groove comes in three ways:
1. Develop your sense of time. Metronome, drum machine, playing along with the album (I do this a lot when I'm developing my jazz solos)
2. Listening. Gotta listen to tons of music and get it into your soul. I once listened to Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" (and nothing else) for a week until I could sing along with all of the solos (except for Coltrane's, because seriously, that's a lot of notes to sing . . .)
3. Play with good musicians. No matter how much you do of 1 and 2, I don't think that the groove will ever fully take root in the essence of your playing until you can put it into practice with other musicians who are feeling the same groove.

Hope that helps.

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

I record some drum tracks of myself playing a basic James Brown beat for about 5 minutes, then I play a groovy bass part over it.
Then I add some chicken scratch guitar over that, then some Hammond organ chords.

Then I erase the bass part and just try and grove with myself.

 

[Nick von Nick]

I'm a huge fan of rhythmic displacement exercises - taking a simple figure and moving the first note in 16th note increments (effectively "displacing" the rhythm). I've included the sheet music for one of these exercises that I've been practicing lately!

Best,
~Nick "Klaus" G.

 

[monsterthompson]

I'm a huge fan of rhythmic displacement exercises - taking a simple figure and moving the first note in 16th note increments (effectively "displacing" the rhythm). I've included the sheet music for one of these exercises that I've been practicing lately!

View attachment 1035541
Best,
~Nick "Klaus" G.

 

[mexicanyella]

Bootsy even grooves when he's just talking. His speaking voice is somehow calming and amusing at the same time. It would be impossible for me to stay in a bad mood if I was around that guy for more than 15 seconds.

 

[JJR58]

Could be off base here, no pun intended.

JPJ.
Led Zeppelin, Mist Mountain Hop.

Solid, uncomplicated bass line.

 

[ba55i5t]

I feel like this is the case for bass as a supporting instrument (for the most part) - mediating the role between rhythm, harmony and melody. However, I have been practicing lead lines of popular songs quite a bit and am trying to incorporate a more "melodic" feel here. Both are 100% valid - but "groove" is context driven.

 

[FatStringer52]

I like to noodle around with chord progressions. With backing tracks, with a metronome or just bare. I find it helps develop my theory and improvisation skills immensely.