grooverider

Riddim 101


Today we will learn how to play one of the strongest rhythms in the world.

Well- actually, it's not really a rhythm- it's more a 'Clave' ('Klah-v') which means: 'key'

I wont get into the subject in depth- that will take a few hours of typing. suffice to say that this 'key' - is the skeleton for most African based music, Cuban, Brazilian, Blues, Funk, House, Breakbeat, traditional Japanese beats (oh yeah- I checked...), Arabic, some Indian, the list goes on...



Ready? ok-


1. R= Right hand
L=Left

2. Just for practice- tap your hands on your knees and count aloud:


R L R L R L R L
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Repeat it a few times- Don't stop the flow- a new '1' follows the '8' and so on...

3. Ok- now we change the order a bit-

R L L R L L R L

Counting will go-

R L L R L L R L
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2

(Again- keep going. All notes are of equal distance from one another- they should sound like the first excercise for now- RLRLRLRL....)

4. Now try to play R strong, and L soft:


R (L) (L) R (L) (L) R(L)

5. Now do it repeatedly-

R (L) (L) R (L) (L) R (L)
R (L) (L) R (L) (L) R (L)
R (L) (L) R (L) (L) R (L)...


If you listen to your right hand- you'll here a sort of a 'Dance Hall' reggae beat- better known as a 'Cuban Triplet'.


That's it- that is the key to most of what I play. Almost 20 years of accumulating knowledge, and it all comes down to this!



BTW- the 2nd 'R' is what makes it all happen. When you play that note right- it makes people dance.

Well- that's what I'll be aiming for tonight!

Hope you had fun- now tell me what you intend to do this weekend.


G.



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For the rhythmically challanged-

Here's a Dance Hall beat that's based on this line.
The Jamaicans call this beat 'Punani'.

Does anyone know what else is called Punani?

Click: 'Love Wizard'

It goes-

Bass--Bass-Snare!-Bass--Bass-Snare!




BigUp-
NattyG.