What exactally is groove?

[rfclef]

Ah, Grasshopper....

What is the sound of one hand playing paradiddles...

If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around, will Scott still be able to make a wild walnut Cortobass out of it? What if it is a birch?

If you can snap your A string and knock a fly from the air, then you shall know the answers...

Therein shall you find "Groove..."

Confusedus

 

[Krisfield]

Well - there are many "classical" pieces that were written as dance music and many that were not!

Debussy's music often has no defined rhythm and is known for its ethereal floating quality.

Whereas Beethoven's 7th was called the apothesois of the dance by Wagner and his 5th definitely has a groove!

Stravinsky's ballets have some great groove music and I always want to tap my feet in the "infernal dance"!

I not convinced. Fact being, is that there is no symbol for Groove or Pocket in standard music notation, Groove and Pocket can not be measured in notation, and there is no clear definition by any standards authority.

There only people who seem to be concerned with these two terms, are bass players who probably only make up about 9% of the entire population of musicians around the world. To sum it up:

This music Grooves = I like this music

This music does not Groove = I don't like this music

 

[Vengoropatubus]

I think groove and the pocket concern percussionists as well, and rhythm guitarists. I know for certain that more than a couple choirs could benefit from teaching the singers a little something about the pocket.

 

[Tired_Thumb]

This is a pretty good groove:


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...in all seriousness, it is synergy within a group of performers or a solo performer with his own music. Beyond that, there is no credible objectivity to what "groove" is.

 

[Altitude]

I will venture this - it occurred to me as I drove home tonight listening to a [groovy] Aquarium Rescue Unit CD: groove music is characterized by a non-complex chordal structure, with the music focusing mainly upon repetition of a short, strongly identifiable musical pattern, primarily reinforced by the bass and drums, with ornamentation and/or soloing from other melodic instruments.

Definitely not a recognized definition, but what do you think?

As for the pocket - I do believe that it is generally recognized as playing right on the beat, not in front of it or behind it. In reggae music, in contrast, we almost always play behind the beat, and that is decidedly not in the pocket.

 

[steve66]

Wikipedia's definition:

Groove: marks an understanding of rhythmic patterning that underlies its role in producing the characteristic rhythmic 'feel' of a piece, a feel created by a repeating framework within which variation can then take place."

My Definition: a catchy musical phrase that makes you want to move

 

[Altitude]

Wikipedia's definition:

Groove: marks an understanding of rhythmic patterning that underlies its role in producing the characteristic rhythmic 'feel' of a piece, a feel created by a repeating framework within which variation can then take place."

Hey, I was pretty close!

 

[Tslicebass]

Groove is what happens when you play your fretless too much with roundwound strings

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

This music Grooves = I like this music

This music does not Groove = I don't like this music

No - that's not what I was saying at all.

So - I really like a lot of Debussy's music - but "Nuages" for example, does not groove - it is ethereal and floating!

I might accept that other music has a groove - but that does not mean I necessarily like it - Fieldy for example!!