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

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.

Urbana Day #4 - I didn't know that God spoke Mandarin

Yesterday, I heard a great story about a Chinese student that attended the worship session for the international students. 

The young lady came to faith in Jesus here in the United States while pursing her education.  She has learned about Jesus in a North American English speaking context. 

One of the songs in our set was in Mandarin.  While singing the song, the young lady started weeping.  When someone asked her why was she weeping, she said,

“I didn’t know that God spoke Mandarin.”

The young lady was overwhelmed that God loves her so much that He would speak to her in her own language.

It’s important for us to be mindful of our Christian community's culture because our culture teaches people something about God.  It’s a good practice for us to ask ourselves questions about what are we teaching about God consciously and subconsciously.

This young lady’s life is changed because of the questions and decisions the leaders of Urbana made about the conference.

What is your community teaching consciously and subconsciously?  Have a conversation with someone and let me know what your thoughts are.

Photo Credit: Inno'vision

Urbana Day #3 - Playing for 79 Different Countries

My job here in Urbana is to play on the worship team for the international students.  It’s been really cool!  The students are from 79 different countries.  As soon as we started playing they were ready to sing with all their heart.  It was awesome! 

We’ve been singing songs in Korean, Creole, Spanish, Swahili, French, Mohawk, Hebrew, Hindi, and all kinds of other languages.  I’m not bi-lingual by any mean (as a matter of fact, I’m still working on my English), but it’s been good for me stretch my mind to learn another persons tongue, so that I can honor them while I sing to God with my heart.

Our worship team is ethnically diverse:

1 Korean

1 Korean American

1 Haitian Canadian

1 Brazilian American

2 European Americans

2 African Americans

It’s been a great experience getting to know one another personally and culturally.

I enjoy playing at events like this, because we really get chance to get a glimpse of heaven where war will cease and divisions will no longer exist.  People of every nation, tribe, and tongue will one day be singing about God forever. 

Going through the process of stretching in someone else’s culture puts heaven more in our hearts.  I experienced this on the first day when we went through the list of all the countries that were represented in the track.  The students would stand up and everyone would cheer when their country was called.  When Afghanistan was called one sister stood up.  I celebrated with her while my heart was filled with compassion because of the devastation that America and the Taliban are causing for the citizens of her country. 

I think I received a piece of God’s heart in that moment.  God loves and celebrates us as His creation and part of His family, while at the same time His heart is broken by the devastation His children can cause to one another.

When we are together singing, enjoying God and each other, this activity brings a piece of heaven on earth to that moment.   Participating in welcoming and honoring all of the people from these 79 different countries is a tremendous joy.  I want to encourage you to do the same and share about your thoughts and experiences in the comment section of this post.

Photo credit: Blogroden