It's All In The Groove - Part 2

In my most recent post, I talked about two of the three components that are needed to find the groove.

1)   Meter

2)   A Feeling

3)   The Subdivided Beat

Today, we’ll talk about what it means to subdivide a beat.

You already know that the meter is the consistent beat that we count (example 1 – 2 – 3 – 4).  The subdivided beat is the rhythm in between the meter. 

Try this:

Step 1 – 

Walk around the room to a steady beat (meter) and count to 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 on each step.

Repeat this process until you get comfortable with feeling the meter.

Step 2 –

After you are comfortable with the meter, subdivide the beat by patting on your leg in 2’s. (The first pat will be on a number and the second pat will not be on a number).

Continue this process until you feel comfortable.

Step 3 –

Now that you have the patting 2’s down, subdivide the beat by patting your legs in 3’s.  (The first pat will be on a number.  The second and third pat will not be on a number)

Step 4 –

Did you feel the difference between patting in 2’s & 3’s?  Practice walking and interchanging the subdivided beat in 2’s & 3’s.  Make sure the feeling gets into your body.

Various genres of music tend to be subdivided in beats of 2’s or beats of 3’s.  When you are listening or participating in a musical performance, find the groove by listening for the meter, the beats that are being accented, and see if the subdivided beat is in groups of 2’s or 3’s. 

Here’s a clip of the Urbana09 International Student Track Worship Team in practice and a few performances playing songs in different grooves.  When we first started, there wasn’t one person that exhaustively knew how to play or sing every song in its proper way.  We had to learn from each other and we had to practice a lot to get close to sounding good for the genre we were performing. 

As you watch the video, try to find the grooves.  Let me know how it goes and what you think.

It's All In The Groove

Yesterday, I made a post for people that clap on beats 1&3 inappropriately.  My wife asked a really good question, “When is it not appropriate to clap on beats 2&4”?

Well the answer to that question is that it’s all in the groove.

I posted a clip of James Brown yesterday for two reasons.  First reason is because it was funny.  The second reason is because he is the king of knowing the “groove”.

A groove has three components:

1)   Meter

2)   A Feeling

3)   The subdivided beat (I’ll talk about that tomorrow)

Meter is a musical term that let’s us know how many beats we are going to count in a measure.  A measure is created when you count through all of the beats in the measure and start over (example: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 = 2 measures).  The most popular meter in Western Music is 4 beats per measure. 

Try the following experiment:

Count out loud 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 and repeat it a few times.

You can have any number of beats you want in a meter.  Experiment with meters of 2, 3, 5, 7, and whatever you imagine.

“A Feeling” is developed when you decide which beat you want to emphasis within the meter.  Try the following experiment:

Count out loud 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 and repeat a few times. 

a) Clap on the 1^st beat of each measure.

b) Clap on beats 2 & 4

c) Clap on beats 1 & 3

d) Clap on beats 1 – 2 – 3 – 4

Did you notice how the feeling of the meter changed based on which beat you emphasized?

Many people think only music that has come from Africa has a groove to it, but that is simply not true.  Every genre of music with a meter has its own groove.   The groove in music that has been heavily influenced by Latin America or Asia grooves differently than music that has been heavily influenced by Europe and Africa. 

The practical answer to my wife’s question about the appropriateness of clapping is the following:

1. Learn to listen deeply for the groove.

2. Listen for what beat is being emphasized.

3. Clap in the groove.

Understanding the music of another culture is learnable.  Learning requires listening and practice.

My first two years of music school was difficult for me because I was playing an Afro-centric groove to all of my classical music.  My professors were not having it!  I had to learn how to listen deeply, know what to emphasis, and I began to play in the groove.  My educational process has not only helped me to understand the music, but the culture from which the music comes from.

Whether you clap on beats 1&3 or 2&4 for everything, I encourage you to become a student and learn the rhythm and beat of another person’s culture.  It’s a very enriching experience.

Photo Credit: Amanda M Hatfield

For all of the people that clap on beats 1&3

James Brown on the dance floor...
by foxysoul

For all of those that clap on beats 1&3 for African American music or for those that know how to clap, but want to step up their game.  Here is a lesson on how to dance from the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.

Urbana Day #6 - Communion w/ 20,000 people & Aradhna

One of the highlights of the Urbana week was having communion with about 20,000 people.  Particating of the Lord's supper with people of various traditions, ages, socioeconomic statuses, and races/ethnicities reminded me of two things.  First, that singing black gospel music with people that clap on beats 1 & 3 is painful to the trained ear.  (I wish someone would have stopped for a brief teaching moment!... to whom it may concern... next time... clap on beats 2 & 4.)

On a more spiritually serious note, I was reminded about the theology of food. 

From the Old Testiment to Revelation, God encourages His people to feast and eat together.  Part of the joy of heaven is that we are invited to eat a feast with our King.

Brenda Salter-McNeil expressed the point that when someone invites a person to their dinner table to eat, they are saying that you are special to me and worthy enough to be honored.  God encourages us to eat with people who we wouldn't normally invite to our table to eat with.  It was great to eat and drink with 20,000 people of various ages, economic status, races, and ethnicities.  We were all equals.  We all had a need to eat and drink of Christ's provision.  Many of us know that we are equal in our heads, but we don't often get opportunities practice it because we are often with people that are like us.

I enjoyed the time of singing songs of different cultures and languages.  A band called Aradhna played worship songs in an Indian style and language.  It was awesome!  I was totally digging it.

I got a chance to hear and hang with Aradhna guys the previous day.  Their hearts and personality are as awesome as the music.

I'll share more about them later.  Meanwhile check out their site, by clicking on the following link.  Let me know what you think about the significance of eating and Aradhna's music.

Urbana Day #5 - Robin Harris of ICE

I met a lot of great people being at Urbana.  My friend Kenny Wallace and I at dinner with Robin Harris, the CEO of International Council for Ethnodoxoligist (ICE).  Robin is a really cool lady.

Ethnodoxology is the study of how people from different cultures worship.  To find out more about Ethnodoxology, click on the following link.

I found out about ICE a few months ago when I was doing research for the book I'm writing about music, cultural diversity, and Chrisitan communities.  ICE is a network that exists to help Christ followers to express themselves musically and with arts in their own cultural expression.  What's unique about ICE is that they bring ethnomusicology, missiology, worship studies, and the arts all together.  It's pretty cool.

We had a great conversation of how ICE and Making a Melody could partner in the future.  We mutually are looking forward to growing the relationship.  You will hear more about details in the future. 

Check out their site and leave me some comments about what you think.