What is groove? [LAUGH] I think we need to talk a little bit about the different ways that people use that word. >> Even when we started this class we had slightly different definitions of that word. >> We kept saying the word and we were referring to different things. >> Right. >> So I think at Berkeley it generally tends to mean, time feel. >> Right. >> So that's kind of like the way that a particular player or group of players plea the beat. The way that their unique way of interpreting the beat works together. And a great example of that is on the D'Angelo record where you have Questlove on drums, and he's back. >> Way back. >> Way back and then Pino Palladino who's like on point, right? >> Pushing a little bit. >> And that gives you this tension that that really makes the groove feel really, wiry. >> Right. >> Which I think is a great example of idiosyncratic group groove. >> Absolutely. And groove can also mean just the style that you're looking at, when you're talking to a drummer you might be like, let's try a Latin groove, or let's try a swing groove on this. And that could be what you mean by groove, but it is the style itself. But in terms of style and looking at the beat and how people mess with the beat in different ways. If you think of the beat as sort of this this central location, it's a grid, right? We're talking about mark and time, then you have these different sort of approaches stylistically to that. Then a lot of times, if you're over here ahead of the beat, you might be more on the genre of bluegrass or heavy metal. And as you sort of get closer to the to the center of the beat, you're still ahead of it. You might be in like folk and country land. And then when you get right on top of the beat, it's super pop, commercial pop. And then you start moving behind the beat, you get into things like Funk, R&B, soul, hip-hop. And then all the way over here somewhere is reggae. So whether you're ahead of the beat or behind the beat could be what you mean. >> And quantizing which is what we, when we're arranging by ourselves, we're kind of usually quantizing everything. And that's one of the places where it could be hard to make it feel groovy. >> Right. >> Even though everything's perfect and most pop is quantized. >> Right. >> But it doesn't have that interesting kind of cool feel that- >> Human thing about- >> Real musicians have when they play a groove in their own particular way. >> Right, and then if you are quantizing, you also have to have an innate understanding of what kind of subdivision of beat you're working with. >> Yeah, and that's another way to use the word groove. >> Exactly. >> Like what is the beat subdivision? >> For example, you might be on a straight eighth feel, one and two, and three, and four, and nothing in the song is playing in between those beats. Or you might be on a swing eighth, one and two, and three, and four, and. Or you could be on a straight 16th, one E and a two E, and a three E, and a four E, and not to be confused with the shuffle or swing 16th- >> Back swing. >> Such a different feel if you really zero in on what's happening in the groove. One E and a two E, and a three E, and a four. There's a feeling of a latency of the second every other 16th. And then there's the triplet or three-eighth notes group together. >> Compound meter. >> Compound meter of six-eighth and nine-eighth, and twelve-eighth, one, two, three, four, five six, one two, three, four, five, six. So you could be speaking to a drummer or other players in the band and saying, this is a straight 16th groove, and that could be what you mean. >> Yeah, exactly. So for our purposes, let's say that when we use the word groove, we're going to be talking about the way that all the parts fit together to create a whole rhythmic texture. >> Right. >> That is groovy. [LAUGH]
