I think "pushing" becomes "rushing" when the majority of the players in the group don't want to push.
Facundo1 wrote:
After about the third rehearsal it was clear to him that I did not understand what he was talking about. So he pulled me aside to the blackboard and drew a series of quarter notes on the musical staff. He then drew a line down from end of the ball of the note and said " this is where you are playing". That he said was behind the beat. He drew another line down from the middle of the note and said "that was on the beat". He then drew a line at the very beginning of the quarter note and said " that was on top of the beat. That there existed these three gradations in time keeping was a real revelation to me. I went back to the practice hall and tried to hear these with a metronome. What I then learned was that when you are truly hitting on top of the beat the click of the metronome can not be heard if the click is not too loud. Over time I was able to master not just playing on top of the beat but on the beat and behind the beat at any given tempo.
Facundo
Back to jazz drumming, is it not possible for the kit drummer to set a steady beat with
his feet for example and then play before or after the beat with his hands doing fills,
etc?
How is it done for the kit player to be before or after the beat when they are the beat?
Thomas Altmann wrote:How is it done for the kit player to be before or after the beat when they are the beat?
The beat is not the stroke (sorry for telling you what you already know). So the beat is in reality the felt metric pulse that may be installed by the guy who counts you off and is set forth until the tune is over (sometimes you hardly get rid of it afterwards). Basically everybody in the band is working off that felt pulse, while playing together at the same time, thus creating a very specific time feel. Some people think that the drummer is there to keep time for the other guys, like an expesive metronome. That's a misconception and the lowest common denominator that you can relate to. The drummer is there to make music, just like everybody else in the band. What would happen, if I wouldn't play melody and form, if I wouldn't sing a song on my instrument, and tell the other musicians that's their business?
Well, Thomas, please forgive me, my misconception was the drummer's left and right feet were the expensive metronome and that his hands were the musician making the music.
Thomas Altmann wrote:In Cuban music, if I compare Rumba ensembles for instance, the members of each band are playing their individual physical time feel. Naturally, the more they play together, the more they find ways how to "click" together, how to merge the various individual types of physical motorics and time concepts. I wouldn't believe they are intentionally playing on top of, or behind the beat. I can imagine that they try to produce the best foundation for the dancers. And each group is making it in a different way. I couldn't judge that any one band is better than the other.
-snip-
I find that, if you have a direction and you have intentionality, then you probably don't have to worry about dragging. If you are able to enjoy life, you are likely to take it easy and let the rhythm groove without rushing. If you have finesse, then you can go a step further and check out mean little tricks of micro-timing, way ahead of mere note values, and suggest or comment on an organic body motion - or create a "new animal" with another way to move and to breathe. Now, being able to combine all these components and thus provide any type of energy at any time is what to me is implied in the claim of being a professional artist.
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