In Level 1 of The Art of Groove, we discussed ear training in the area of relative pitch. We’ll now turn our focus to developing our ear in terms of rhythm.

The ability to hear, identify and spontaneously respond to rhythmic elements in the ensemble “on the fly” is certainly one of the most important aspects of musicianship for a bassist to bring to a rhythm section. As it relates to the critical drum/bass relationship, it stands to reason that the better we are at hearing and identifying rhythmic elements of a drum groove, the better equipped we will be to come up with complementary and effective bass parts.

To develop our ear for rhythmic analysis of drum grooves, let’s begin by taking a moment to identify the various individual elements within a drum kit (if you’re already experienced playing with a drummer, feel free to skip forward to the next section).

Audio Example 1

Try to identify the individual voices, then compare with the following list (in sequential order):

1. kick
2. snare
3. cross stick (drum stick lying flat across the snare drum & striking the rim)
4. floor tom
5. rack tom
6. closed hi-hat (hit with stick)
7. open hi-hat (hit with stick)
8. open hi-hat hit immediately followed with closed hi-hat pedal
9. hi-hat “clap” (by closing pedal, not hit with stick)
10. crash cymbal
11. ride cymbal
12. bell of ride cymbal
13. brush hit on snare
14. brush sweeps on snare
15. brushes on snare (“stirring the soup”, jazz style)

Once you’re comfortable in being able to distinguish between the different voices within the drum kit, it’s time to move on to working with drum grooves.

Let’s evaluate this groove...

Audio Example 2

 

The first thing to establish is a point of reference (“where’s ONE?”). As obvious as this may seem, it is absolutely critical: having that point of reference gives context from which to evaluate the beat placement of the various elements of the drum kit.

A simple but generally effective method involves tapping your foot along with the groove and letting your ear guide you as to how the feel of the groove leads you to count along, “1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4...” (for a groove in 4/4, or “1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3...” for 3/4 time, etc.).

Once you’ve found beat 1, identify the beat placement of the other parts of the drum kit (keep your foot tapping on those quarter notes, “1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4...”).

How about the hi-hat? You’ll notice that it is hitting twice as fast as the quarter notes that your foot is tapping (2 hits per quarter note). That means that the hi-hat is playing 8th-notes (“1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and...”).

How about the snare drum? It is hitting on every other tap of your foot. If you’re counting along, you’ll find that it’s occurring on beats 2 and 4, which is a very typical beat placement for the snare drum in pop or rock settings.

What is the kick drum doing? It isn’t too difficult to hear that it is hitting on beats 1 and 3...however, you’ll notice that it is also occurring immediately before beat 3. If you count along in 8th-notes (“1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and...”), you’ll find that it is also hitting on the 8th note immediately before beat 3 (the “and” of beat 2).Here’s the drum groove in notation:

FIGURE 1

 

EXERCISE 1

Here’s a modified version of the previous drum groove.

Audio Exercise 1

 

Evaluate the beat placement of the hi-hat, snare and kick drum, then compare your conclusion with the written groove in Figure 2.

FIGURE 2

 

The differences in beat placement between the two drum grooves is that the hi-hat is now playing quarter notes, and the kick drum changed from hitting the “and” of beat 2 to the “and” of beat 3.

EXERCISE 2

Evaluate the following drum groove for beat placement.

Audio Exercise 2

 

Compare with the written groove in Figure 3.

FIGURE 3

 

The hi-hat is now playing 16th-notes (“1-ee-and-a-2-ee-and-a...”). The kick drum is still hitting beats 1 and 3, but is now hitting the 16th-note immediate before beat 3 (the “a” of beat 2).
Over-achievers among you will also have noticed that an open hi-hat hit on the “and” of beat 3 occurs every other bar!

TIPS

1. Get in the habit of tapping your foot (generally on the quarter notes) when listening to grooves. This will help you to internalize the time, provides a clear and visual means of identifying the downbeats, and will help you get used to keeping your foot tapping consistent regardless of whatever rhythmic syncopation is being played and/or heard (which will prove very helpful for both grooving playing and rhythmic analysis).

2. I’ve found it helpful to employ a visual method of counting (using fingers) for evaluating complex rhythmic material. I encourage you to devise some form of a counting method that allows you to visually count along with the various subdivisions (all of the increments between the quarter notes, e.g., 8th-notes, 16th-notes, triplets, etc.). Many players have their own individual preferred methods; I don’t think it’s as important to emulate a certain method as it is to simply stick with one that works for you...so that you can employ it intuitively when analyzing highly syncopated rhythms.

3. It should be stated that this is a highly condensed discussion of a topic that could easily be a separate course on its own: if you feel the need for a more comprehensive look at rhythmic ear training, please refer to Volume 3 (“The Art of Groove”) of my instructional DVD series.