14 Feb
2017
14 Feb
'17
5:07 p.m.
Hi fellow musicians. :)
Up here in Ottawa, we just had a great workshop with David Kaynor and
George Wilson.... .... it was all about non-melody for melody players.
One of the ideas we talked about was playing rhythm - something very
familiar to me as a contra piano player.
The challenge we've had with our community band (10 people) is how to get
everyone on the same 1-2 rhythms/grooves. When we do non-melody, it's
everyone doing something different which sounds like a wall of sound.
Do any of you have tricks for sharing rhythms?
In particular, I liked the idea proposed by David in terms of having
sentences that remind you of certain rhythms. But what I'd love is a chart
showing names for different rhythms and related, where to emphasize beats
or drop beats.
Thoughts?? ??? ????
So much of what we do is intuitive but with a large group, there's only 2-3
of us working as a team right now.
With thanks,
Emily in Ottawa
14 Feb
14 Feb
5:18 p.m.
I generally avoid charts, signs and other extra visual aids because they can confuse more
than they help and think a leader can conduct it by making space for the change in rhythm.
A trick we use in our open band is for the leader to pare down the sound to a soloist or
small section and one rhythm player who sets the groove. Then the leader adds in other
players indicating that they should play the same rhythm or groove. Most people figure out
how to join in once the pattern has been established. We generally don’t do it on the
first tune of a set because the caller is still calling. It’s a good variation for the
middle or last tune of the set.
Sarah
On Feb 14, 2017, at 12:07 PM, Emily Addison via
Musicians <musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi fellow musicians. :)
Up here in Ottawa, we just had a great workshop with David Kaynor and George Wilson....
.... it was all about non-melody for melody players.
One of the ideas we talked about was playing rhythm - something very familiar to me as a
contra piano player.
The challenge we've had with our community band (10 people) is how to get everyone on
the same 1-2 rhythms/grooves. When we do non-melody, it's everyone doing something
different which sounds like a wall of sound.
Do any of you have tricks for sharing rhythms?
In particular, I liked the idea proposed by David in terms of having sentences that
remind you of certain rhythms. But what I'd love is a chart showing names for
different rhythms and related, where to emphasize beats or drop beats.
Thoughts?? ??? ????
So much of what we do is intuitive but with a large group, there's only 2-3 of us
working as a team right now.
With thanks,
Emily in Ottawa
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16 Feb
16 Feb
4:25 a.m.
I tend to work mostly in a trio or quartet, and we don't use written music.
We also have terrible memories. So we tend to limit ourselves to one
"thing" - rhythmic variation, etc. - per tune or set, and everyone knows
what it is and we've practiced it so if someone calls "thing!" it happens
pretty much together. But that's the benefit of working in a smaller group,
I think. It's a lot easier to make grooves up on the fly when it's only
four people.
The times I've been involved with a large band arrangement (dance camp,
etc.) with 15-20 people on stage, we did make handwritten signs and it was
someone's job to make decisions about when different things were going to
happen, hold up the sign and cue the group. It worked fine, but it's
inelegant conducting, imo. And it was someone's full-time occupation to
drive the bus, so to speak.
I like Sarah's idea - it seems to make a lot of sense and be workable, and
you don't have to worry about someone not happening to see a sign that the
leader held up, etc. Thinking back to when I played a lot of percussion and
did a lot of hand drumming, that was kind of how things worked in drum
circles.
I hope some of this is helpful?
Meg
On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 11:18 AM Sarah Gowan via Musicians <
musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I generally avoid charts, signs and other extra visual
aids because they
can confuse more than they help and think a leader can conduct it by making
space for the change in rhythm. A trick we use in our open band is for the
leader to pare down the sound to a soloist or small section and one rhythm
player who sets the groove. Then the leader adds in other players
indicating that they should play the same rhythm or groove. Most people
figure out how to join in once the pattern has been established. We
generally don’t do it on the first tune of a set because the caller is
still calling. It’s a good variation for the middle or last tune of the set.
Sarah
On Feb 14, 2017, at 12:07 PM, Emily Addison via Musicians <
musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi fellow musicians. :)
Up here in Ottawa, we just had a great workshop with David Kaynor and
George Wilson.... .... it was all about non-melody for melody players.
One of the ideas we talked about was playing rhythm - something very
familiar to me as a contra piano player.
The challenge we've had with our community band (10 people) is how to get
everyone on the same 1-2 rhythms/grooves. When we do non-melody, it's
everyone doing something different which sounds like a wall of sound.
Do any of you have tricks for sharing rhythms?
In particular, I liked the idea proposed by David in terms of having
sentences that remind you of certain rhythms. But what I'd love is a chart
showing names for different rhythms and related, where to emphasize beats
or drop beats.
Thoughts?? ??? ????
So much of what we do is intuitive but with a large group, there's only
2-3 of us working as a team right now.
With thanks,
Emily in Ottawa
_______________________________________________
Musicians mailing list
Musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Musicians mailing list
Musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net
24 Feb
24 Feb
4:41 a.m.
One small trick for me is referencing popular music or world music. 3
Examples:
- The "Tequila" Rhythm
- Cream's Sunshine of Your Love
- Klezmer rhythm (123-123-12)
Max
On 2/14/2017 12:07 PM, Emily Addison via Musicians wrote:
Do any of you have tricks for sharing rhythms?
8:31 a.m.
Hi Max & All,
Interesting that you learned the 3-3-2 rhythm as Klezmer.
- Klezmer rhythm (123-123-12)
So many of the people I've studied from say the 3-3-2 came from Africa. It has invaded
many other genres. When I first learned about it (other than the clave), it came at me
three times in one year:
* A bunch of fiddle bowings used in Old-Time Appalachian tunes (highly slave
influenced)
* A doumbek rhythm (an Arabic drum)
* In hamboning--body rhythm with African roots, from when slaves had their drums taken
away.
__
Erik Hoffman
Oakland, CA
9:51 a.m.
Erik,
I agree one could see that Klezmer Bulgar Rhythm showing up by a lot of
other names. Cool too see some others. It's a catchy one. :)
Max
On 2/24/2017 3:31 AM, Erik Hoffman wrote:
Hi Max & All,
Interesting that you learned the 3-3-2 rhythm as Klezmer.
- Klezmer rhythm (123-123-12)
So many of the people I've studied from say the 3-3-2 came from Africa. It has
invaded many other genres. When I first learned about it (other than the clave), it came
at me three times in one year:
* A bunch of fiddle bowings used in Old-Time Appalachian tunes (highly slave
influenced)
* A doumbek rhythm (an Arabic drum)
* In hamboning--body rhythm with African roots, from when slaves had their drums
taken away.
__
Erik Hoffman
Oakland, CA
2827
days inactive
2837
days old
musicians@lists.sharedweight.net
5 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
Emily Addison via Musicians -
Erik Hoffman via Musicians
-
Max Newman via Musicians
-
Meg Dedolph via Musicians
-
Sarah Gowan via Musicians