This excerpt is taken from the complete article that appears in the March 2016 issue, which is available here.

Rock ‘N’ Jazz Clinic

Hidden Rhythms

Part 2: Odd Groupings

Last month we explored the endless rhythmic and textural ideas hiding inside a measure of 16th notes, including clave and cascara patterns, partido alto phrases, and more. This time we’re looking for hidden groupings within our measure of 16th notes. Most often a bar of 16th notes in 4/4 is felt as four groupings of four notes. However, it doesn’t have to be felt that way. The subdivision can remain intact while you accent other groupings. We have sixteen total notes to group however we’d like. For example, you can play two groups of three notes and two groups of five notes in any order, and they will always take up the space of sixteen 16th notes. The same is true for any combination of four groups of three and one group of four. Let’s try it out.

Start with a 3-3-3-3-4 grouping. First, accent the first note of each grouping while playing alternating strokes on the snare.

Check out a video demo below.

Mike Johnston
 
For the complete lesson with transcriptions, check out the March 2016 issue, which is available here.