Creating the Groove
Chapter 6: Creating the Groove
6. Enjoy playing your groove
You read correctly. Have fun! Whatever groove you come up with, make it meaningful. Jamming isn’t work — it’s play!
On Track 30 you can listen to the steps necessary when creating a dominant groove. First you hear the D7 chord played on the keyboard, with the bass playing just the root. Then you hear the bass playing different groove skel- etons on the root of the chord. Next is the sound of the Mixolydian mode, the correct scale for D7. Finally you hear a simple groove in D7, followed by a complex groove in D7. As you listen, follow the process in Figures 6-4 and 6-5.
The minor groove
You’re playing with the band, jamming on a dominant groove . . . but wait . . . what if the guy in charge yells, very enthusiastically, “Let’s jam in D minor!”?
Uh, oh . . . a minor adjustment is in order. Relax. Figure 6-6 shows you the process.
1. Determine the root of the chord.
In this case, the chord is D minor (Dm or Dm7), so the root of the chord is D (see Figure 6-6a).
128 Part III: Making the Moves, Creating the Grooves
Figure 6-6:
Creating a groove for D minor.
R = Root 2 = Second ı3 = Flat Third 3 = Third 4 = Fourth 5 = Fifth 6 = Sixth ı7 = Flat Seventh 7 = Seventh 6
R 4 ı7
2 ı3
5 R
1 = index finger 2 = middle finger 3 = ring finger 4 = pinkie 1
1 1 2
3 4
3 4
? œ œ Ó œ ‰ Jœ Ó
3
œ‰œŒ Ó
Groove Skeleton Choices
? œœ‰ Œ Ó œ œ Œ Ó .œ œŒ Ó
b)
Structure c)
Fingering d)
? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
R 2 ı3 4 5 6 ı7 R
4 5 7
5 7
5 7 8
? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
1 3 4 1 3 1 2 4
4 5 7
5 7
5 7 8
a)
? w
Rootc
Dm (Chord)
-
TRACK 31, 0:00
TRACK 31, 0:09
TRACK 31, 0:28
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Chapter 6: Creating the Groove
2. Decide what kind of groove skeleton you want to play.
I show you the basic choices in Figure 6-6b. My choice is the dotted eighth note and the sixteenth note as the groove skeleton, but you can experiment with the other possibilities.
3. Choose the appropriate scale for the chord.
For the D-minor chord in this example, the proper scale is D Dorian (see Figure 6-6c). For more info about the D-Dorian scale, see Chapter 5.
To play the D-Dorian scale, start the scale on the 5th fret of the A string and end it on the 7th fret of the G string. Choose the notes for your groove from this scale. You can pick the choice notes from the intervals marked in Figure 6-6c. My choice is the root, 5, and %7 for the simple groove, and the root, %3, 4, 5, and %7 for the complex groove (see Figure 6-7).
Figure 6-7:
A simple and a complex groove for D minor.
1 1
3 3
1
4
1 1
3 3
1 = index finger 2 = middle finger 3 = ring finger 4 = pinkie
Fingering
Complex Groove
? .œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
7 5
7 7 5 7
5 5 8
Simple Groove
? .œ œ ‰ Jœ œ œ œ
7 5
7 7
5 5
TRACK 31, 0:36
TRACK 31, 1:02
4. Position your left hand.
You want to avoid any unnecessary shifts with your left hand. The D-Dorian scale requires one (itty, bitty) shift, however. So it’s best to begin the D-Dorian scale with the index finger of your left hand on the root D (5th fret of the A string). You can reach all the notes of the scale
130 Part III: Making the Moves, Creating the Grooves
from this position until you get to the G string. At that point, you need to shift your hand toward the nut by one fret to reach the remaining three notes. Check out Figure 6-6d on how to finger this scale.
5. Determine how mobile your groove needs to be.
Your groove has to be mobile if the tune has different chords. In this case, be sure to create a groove that’s simple. Choose only a few notes that are easy to play. Even though the D-Dorian scale requires you to shift your hand, you don’t have to play every single note in that scale.
You may decide to choose only the notes of the scale that you can reach from one position (without shifting).
If you stay on one chord for a while (which is the likely scenario if some- one wants to jam in D minor), you can make your groove a bit more com- plex to keep it interesting. Figure 6-7 shows both a simple and a complex version of the same groove. Notice that neither of the two grooves requires any shifting with the left hand.
On Track 31, check out the steps necessary when creating a minor groove.
First, the D minor chord is played on the keyboard with the bass adding the root. Next, different groove skeletons are played on the root of the chord.
Then you can hear the sound of the Dorian mode, the correct scale for D minor. Finally, you can listen to a simple groove in D minor, followed by a complex groove in D minor. Follow this process along in Figures 6-6 and 6-7.
The major groove
Say you’re jamming away with the band on a minor groove, when all of a sudden the guy in charge yells (with uninhibited enthusiasm), “Let’s jam in D major!” Hmmm, does he really mean major? Here’s the way to respond to that enthusiasm. Figure 6-8 shows you the process.
1. Determine the root of the chord.
In this case, the chord is D major (D Maj or D Maj7), so the root of the chord is D (see Figure 6-8a).
2. Decide what kind of groove skeleton you want to play.
Figure 6-8b shows the basic choices. I’m choosing the two sixteenth notes as the groove skeleton, but you can experiment with the other possibilities as well.
3. Choose the appropriate scale for the chord.
For the D-major chord in this example, the proper scale is D Ionian (see Figure 6-8c). You can find more info on the Ionian scale in Chapter 5.
To play the D-Ionian scale, you start the scale on the 5th fret of the A string and end it on the 7th fret of the G string. Choose the notes for your groove from this scale. You can pick the choice notes from the inter- vals marked in Figure 6-8c. My choice is the root, 5, and 6 for the simple groove, and the root, 3, 4, 5, and 6 for the complex groove (see Figure 6-9).
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Chapter 6: Creating the Groove
Figure 6-8:
Creating a groove for D major.
TRACK 32, 0:08
TRACK 32, 0:00
TRACK 50
TRACK 32, 0:28
R = Root 2 = Second
3 = Flat Third 3 = Third 4 = Fourth 5 = Fifth 6 = Sixth
7 = Flat Seventh 7 = Seventh 6
R 4
3
2 5
7 R
1 = index finger 2 = middle finger 3 = ring finger 4 = pinkie 1
2 2
1
4 4
3 4
? œ œ Ó œ ‰ Jœ Ó
3
œ‰œŒ Ó
Groove Skeleton Choices
? œœ‰ Œ Ó œ œ Œ Ó .œ œŒ Ó
b)
Structure
Fingering
c)
? œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ# œ
R 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
4 6 7
4 5 7
5 7
d)
? œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ# œ
2 4 1 2 4 1 3 4
4 6 7
4 5 7
5 7
a)
? w
Rootc
D Maj7 (Chord)
b
b
132 Part III: Making the Moves, Creating the Grooves
Figure 6-9:
A simple and a complex groove for D major.
2
1
4 4
1
2 2
1
4 4
Simple Groove
Complex Groove
1 = index finger 2 = middle finger 3 = ring finger 4 = pinkie
Fingering
? œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ
7 4
7 7 4 5 7
5 5
? œ œ ‰ ‰ Jœ œ œ œ
7 4
7 7
5 5
TRACK 32, 0:36
TRACK 32, 1:02
4. Position your left hand.
You want to avoid any unnecessary shifting with your left hand. So start the D-Ionian scale with the middle finger of your left hand on the D (5th fret of the A string), which is the root. You can reach all the notes of the scale from this position without moving your left hand. You can refer to Figure 6-8d for the fingering for this scale.