# Grooves by style

From the Rhythm room: Grooves of the world, Swing and feel (/sangeet-yatra/rhythm/).

Same four limbs, same jobs. What changes is where the kick sits, how the beat is
divided, and how loud the soft notes are.

## Rock / pop (eighths on the hat)

Your first groove builds this one limb at a time. Here it is the style you come back to.

1. BPM 70. Kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4. No hat.
2. Hat on every eighth: "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &".
3. Second groove: kick on every beat. Only the kick changed.
4. Raise the click by ten once both stay even. If the hat rushes, drop back ten.

    hat    x x x x x x x x
    snare  - - o - - - o -
    kick   o - - - o - - -      (or o - o - o - o - for four on the floor)

## Half-time (snare on 3)

1. Play the rock beat once, snare on 2 and 4.
2. Move the snare to 3 only.
3. Hat is now four notes to a beat. Say "1 e & a" and keep them quiet.
4. The click did not slow down. The long feeling is the half-time.

    hat    x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -
    snare  - - - - - - - - o - - - - - - -
    kick   o - - - - - o - - - - - - - - -

## Triplets (three even notes in one beat)

The rock beat was two notes to a beat. A triplet is three, each the same length.
Say "tri-pe-let" so "tri" lands on the click. The grid labels the three columns
1 & a. That "&" is the middle of the three, not the halfway "&" of an eighth.

Right hand on the hat, left foot holding it shut. Kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2
and 4. BPM 70.

    hat    x x x  x x x  x x x  x x x
    snare  - - -  o - -  - - -  o - -
    kick   o - -  - - -  o - -  - - -

The shuffle is this bar with the middle note left out.

## Shuffle (three per beat, play the first and last)

The triplet above, without the middle note.

1. BPM 70. Count "1 & a" and clap the 1 and the "a". Leave the "&" out.
2. Play that long-short on the hat. Snare on 2 and 4, kick on 1 and 3.
3. Even notes mean you slipped back to straight eighths.
4. Raise the click only once the limp is obvious.

    hat    x - x  x - x  x - x  x - x
    snare  - - -  o - -  - - -  o - -
    kick   o - -  - - -  o - -  - - -

## 6/8

1. Count 1 to 6 and clap on 1 and 4.
2. Hat on 1, 3, 4 and 6. Kick on 1. Snare on 4.
3. Say "1 2 3, 4 5 6". Keep 2 and 5 empty in the feet.
4. Speed up until it feels like two swings, not six clicks.

    hat    x - x  x - x
    snare  - - -  o - -
    kick   o - -  - - -

## Waltz (3/4)

Kick on the strong beat, snare on the two weak ones, hat on all three. Count 1 2 3.

1. Count 1 2 3 and stop. Do not add a 4.
2. Kick on 1, snare on 2 and 3, hat on all three.
3. Say the 1 louder than 2 and 3.
4. At 90 you should still walk three beats. Two beats means one dropped.

    hat    x x x
    snare  - o o
    kick   o - -

## Funk

    hat    x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -
    snare  - - g - O - - g - - g - O - g -
    kick   o - - o - - o - - - o - o - - -

Not harder to read than rock — harder to play softly enough, which is the style.

1. BPM 60. Kick, and only the loud snares on 2 and 4.
2. Hat on the eighths, quieter than the backbeat.
3. Add the ghost snares. They stay quieter than the hat.
4. A minute at 60, then add five clicks. Not ten.

## Gallop

Long, rest, short, short on every beat (the Rhythm room's Gallop). Snare plays it; hat on the beat, kick on 1 and 3.

1. On the snare only: "1, & a" of each beat. The "e" is a rest.
2. Let the two short notes bounce.
3. Add the hat on the beat and the kick on 1 and 3.
4. Raise the click only while that rest stays empty.

    hat    x - - - x - - - x - - - x - - -
    snare  o - o o o - o o o - o o o - o o
    kick   o - - - - - - - o - - - - - - -

## Shuffle on the ride

Same long-short as the hat shuffle, moved to the ride. The bell is the diamond; the x after it is the bow, the ordinary face of the cymbal. Bell on the beat, bow on the short note. Let it ring. When the bell disappears, the bow is too loud.

## Nine-eight (aksak): 2+2+2+3, nine clicks, each an eighth

    hat    x x x x x x x x x
    snare  o - o - o - o - -
    kick   o - - - o - - - -

Count 1 to 9, then group it: snare on 1, 3, 5 and 7, kick on 1 and 5. Three short groups, then one long one. Fast, it is quick quick quick slow.

The three can sit anywhere. Same hat. These three keep the kick on 1, and the snare moves to each group start:

    3+2+2+2
    hat    x x x x x x x x x
    snare  o - - o - o - o -
    kick   o - - - - - - - -

    2+3+2+2
    hat    x x x x x x x x x
    snare  o - o - - o - o -
    kick   o - - - - - - - -

    2+2+3+2
    hat    x x x x x x x x x
    snare  o - o - o - - o -
    kick   o - - - - - - - -

Keep BPM at 90. Hat and kick stay put. Snare on 1, 4, 6, 8 for 3+2+2+2; on 1, 3, 6, 8 for 2+3+2+2; on 1, 3, 5, 8 for 2+2+3+2. Switch groupings without stopping the hat.

## Scotch snap (short note first, then a long one)

    ride   b b - - b b - - b b - - b b - -
    hat    - - - - x - - - - - - - x - - -
    kick   o - - - - - - - o - - - - - - -

Count "1-e-and-a" and play 1 and e. Let the second one ring.

Learn one per week. A groove you can play for three minutes without thinking beats
six you can start.