A RHYTHMIC VOCABULARY ALAN DWORSKY BOOK & CD

A RHYTHMIC VOCABULARY. Understanding and improvising with rhythm. ALAN DWORSKY. libro con CD.

LIBRO DI MUSICA CON CD

Manuale sul ritmo per chi fa musica e vuole evitare le note sul pentagramma. 208 pagine. CD

For Jerry Sansby the first drummer in the family

We would like to express our gratitude to all our teachers, especially Marc Anderson, who generously shared his knowledge of Ghanaian rhythms with love and reverence for the culture that created them. We’d also like to thank those who have taught us through their books and videos, especially David Locke (for his clear presentation and analysis of Ghanaian rhythms), Phil Maturano (for his organization of patterns and his concept of “relayed time shifting,” which we adapted into our lesson on bending a pattern), Reinhard Flatischler (whose Ta Ke Ti Na® method we adapted into rhythm walking), and Gordy Knudtson (from whom we learned – both in his books and in private lessons – a wide variety of cross-rhythms and other patterns, as well as the method we call “say-it-and-play-it”). We are also indebted to the creators of all the other sources listed at the back of this book and to all the unknown creators of the rhythms of the world.

Finally, we would like to thank Mamady Keita, who has taught us through his recordings, and whose brilliant djembe playing has been an unending source of inspiration and delight.

VARIATION TECHNIQUES

Create space

Change voicing

Fill space

Combine variations

Shift

Add dynamic accents

Add ghost notes

Adjust the volume

Displace one note

Substitute sixteenth notes

Attach a prefix

Attach a suffix

Compress

Accent with a flam

Isolate and re peat

Expand

Substitute a triplet

Camouflage

Swing

Play off marks

Bend

GETTING STARTED

1 Who this book is for and how it works

2 Understanding the charts and basic concepts

Pulses and subdivisions

Four and six

Timelines and cycles

3 Adapting the patterns to your instrument

Hand drums

Drumset

Guitar, bass, and other string instruments

Piano and other keyboard instruments

Sax and other wind instruments

Voice

4 A method for learning any new pattern applied to the timelines on the CD

Say-it-and-play-it

The timeline in four

The timeline in six

5 Triple-weave practicing

PATTERNS, CONCEPTS, AND TECHNIQUES

6 The pulse and parallel figures

Lesson 1: Playing the pulse on your instrument

Lesson 2: The pulse and the beat before

Lesson 3: The two beats before the pulse

Lesson 4: The pulse and the beat after

Lesson 5: The two beats after the pulse

Lesson 6: Three-note figures

7 Pathways through the grid in four

Lesson 7: Consecutive eighth notes

Lesson 8: Numbered beats and upbeats

Lesson 9: Offbeats

Lesson 10: Singles and pairs

Lesson 11: Backbeats

Lesson 12: Sixteenth notes

Lesson 13: The offbeats before or after the pulse

Lesson 14: Timelines

8 Pathways through the grid in six

Lesson 15: Consecutive eighth notes

Lesson 16: The odd-numbered beats – the 6-pulse and 3 over 2

Lesson 17: The odd-numbered beats – patterns

Lesson 18: The even-numbered beats

Lesson 19: Backbeats

Lesson 20: The offbeats before or after the pulse

Lesson 21: Singles and pairs and timelines

9 Three not-quite-equal groups of beats in four

Lesson 22: One-bar clave patterns

Lesson 23: Shifted one-bar clave patterns

Lesson 24: 5/⅚ patterns

Lesson 25: Shifted 5/⅚ patterns

10 Three groups of four beats in six

Lesson 26: The 3-pulse and 3 over 4

Lesson 27: Set 1

Lesson 28: Set 2

Lesson 29: Set 3

Lesson 30: Set 4

11 Cross-rhythms

Lesson 31: 3-beat cross-rhythms in four

Lesson 32: 6-beat cross-rhythms in four

Lesson 33: 8-beat cross-rhythms in six

Lesson 34: 5-beat and 7-beat cross-rhythms

12 Polyrhythms with uneven grids

Lesson 35: 3 over 2 eighth notes in four and six

Lesson 36: Subdividing the pulse in four into 3

Lesson 37: Subdividing the pulse in six into 2 or 4

Lesson 38: Bending a pattern between four and six

13 Glossary

FOR FURTHER STUDY AND ENJOYMENT

14 Rhythm walking

Blank charts

Sources: books, videos, CDs, and audiotapes

Also available from Dancing Hands Music

RHYTHMIC CONCEPTS

The tendency of the largest gap

The flexibility created by the unaccented pulse

The power of a limited number of voices

The tra nce effect of repetition

The circular effect of overlapping ONE

The disorienting effect of obscuring the pulse

The stabilizing effect of ending on ONE

The diffusing effect of ending on the beat after ONE

The suspended effect of ending on the beat before ONE

The tendency to group notes in the same voice together

This book is a roadmap to rhythm for any musician. It’s for guitar players intrigued by the rhythms of world music. It’s for keyboard players who’ve studied scales and chords and now want to study rhythm in a systematic way. It’s for drummers, bass players, and sax players who want to groove and solo with a deeper understanding of rhythmic structure. Whatever your instrument, if you want to play funkier and don’t mind using your head to do it, this book is for you.

The patterns in this book come from African and Afro-Cuban rhythms, the source for the groove in most contemporary music. But our purpose here is not to teach any specific style of drumming. Our purpose is to illuminate the subject of rhythm in general so you’ll be able to navigate comfortably in any rhythmic territory.

To do that, we’ve organized representative patterns according to their structure, arranged them roughly in order of difficulty, and presented them in bite-sized lessons. While we present the patterns, we also present rhythmic concepts and techniques you can use to create patterns of your own. And we include plenty of examples of how patterns can be varied and combined when you improvise or solo.

We’ve tried to make this book as user-friendly as possible. For example, we use big, easy-to-read charts that are so simple even non-musicians can understand them. Any time we introduce a new concept or technique, we highlight it in the margin for easy reference. Any time we introduce a new term, we put it in bold letters, define it on the spot, and add it to the glossary at the back of the book. We’ve also included some blank charts you can photocopy and use to write down patterns of your own. We’ve even used a special binding that makes the book stay open without the help of a shoe.

This book is a roadmap to rhythm for any musician. It’s for guitar players intrigued by the rhythms of world music. It’s for keyboard players who’ve studied scales and chords and now want to study rhythm in a systematic way. It’s for drummers, bass players, and sax players who want to groove and solo with a deeper understanding of rhythmic structure. Whatever your instrument, if you want to play funkier and don’t mind using your head to do it, this book is for you.

The patterns in this book come from African and Afro-Cuban rhythms, the source for the groove in most contemporary music. But our purpose here is not to teach any specific style of drumming. Our purpose is to illuminate the subject of rhythm in general so you’ll be able to navigate comfortably in any rhythmic territory.

To do that, we’ve organized representative patterns according to their structure, arranged them roughly in order of difficulty, and presented them in bite-sized lessons. While we present the patterns, we also present rhythmic concepts and techniques you can use to create patterns of your own. And we include plenty of examples of how patterns can be varied and combined when you improvise or solo.

We’ve tried to make this book as user-friendly as possible. For example, we use big, easy-to-read charts that are so simple even non-musicians can understand them. Any time we introduce a new concept or technique, we highlight it in the margin for easy reference. Any time we introduce a new term, we put it in bold letters, define it on the spot, and add it to the glossary at the back of the book. We’ve also included some blank charts you can photocopy and use to write down patterns of your own. We’ve even used a special binding that makes the book stay open without the help of a shoe.

The CD that comes with this book helps create a realistic, three-dimensional rhythmic context for you to play in right from the start. It contains two reference rhythms you’ll be playing with while you practice. Each of those rhythms is recorded for about five minutes at each of seven different speeds so you can practice at your own level. And as soon as you feel like putting your instrument aside and using your whole body to learn the patterns, check out the chapter on rhythm walking.

From time to time, we tell you that a pattern comes from a particular African or Afro-Cuban rhythm. We do this to acknowledge our sources where we know the name of a rhythm and as a reminder that the patterns in this book aren’t just mathematical abstractions. But just because we say a pattern can be found in a particular rhythm, it doesn’t mean the pattern can be found only there. Most of the patterns in this book are found in many rhythmic traditions around the world and many can be heard in rock, funk, jazz, and other contemporary styles.

We hope this book will help you express yourself better in the language of rhythm and inspire you to delve deeper into the world of African and Afro-Cuban rhythms. At the back of the book, we’ve included a list of sources for further study and a list of CDs of great drumming from around the world. But don’t stop there. Look for opportunities to experience the real thing by going to concerts, taking lessons, or joining an ensemble. There’s no substitute for the direct experience of these magnificent rhythms.

In this chapter, while we explain how to read the charts we’ll also be explaining the basic concepts you need to know to start working your way through this book. If any of the concepts seem confusing at first, don’t worry. They’ll all become clearer as you begin using them in the coming lessons.

Because we’re mainly interested in teaching the fundamentals of rhythmic structure, we’re going to focus on just two variables of rhythm: 1) when sounds occur, and 2) what the sounds are. To notate these two variables, we use box charts instead of standard music notation because for our purposes they’re simpler and clearer.

Here’s what an empty chart looks like:

Pulses and subdivisions

The main function of the top row on a chart is to show how we’re counting. But we also use the count row to show the pulse, which is indicated by shaded boxes (1 and 3 on the chart above). By “the pulse,” we mean the underlying metronomic rhythm people feel in their bodies when music is played. Like your own pulse, it’s made up of a series of regularly-spaced kinesthetic events called individual pulses. But unlike your own pulse, the pulse of a rhythm is a culturally-influenced, subjective phenomenon.

In African and Afro-Cuban music, the pulse is sometimes played on a drum or other percussion instrument. But often the pulse is silent, and – like a heartbeat – holds everything together without ever being heard. Because the pulse is so fundamental to rhythm, we present all the