masterclass rock academy 2007

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The next lines are a reminder of a master class I taught during Rock Academy 2007 for Beauvillearts.
During one of these sessions we worked around the lack of originality for the rhythms the young students choose during the creative process, exept these two patterns (exercise 1 & 2) :

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 1 -- -- -- --

Tempo : 120bpm

headphones
ra2007-ex01

|1+2+3+4+|
HH |xxxxxxxx|
SD |--o---o-|
BD |o--oo---|

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 2 -- -- -- --

Tempo : 120bpm

headphones
ra2007-ex02

|1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-|
HH |x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-|
SD |----o--o-o--o---|
BD |o-------o-o-----|

There's many reasons : a lack of rhythmic maturity, poorness of the rhythms in the music they listen, no risk. Few students choose to play 8th note triplet rhythms (blues, shuffle) or, if they do, they quickly feel uncomfortable with it. For this master class I choose to educate their rhythmic feel. I tried to strengthen their pulse and make them understand they can play around the pulse than rather play just the pulse.
First we played :

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 3 -- -- -- --

Tempo : 100bpm

headphones
ra2007-ex03

|1+2+3+4+|
HH |xxxxxxxx|
SD |--o---o-|
BD |o---o---|

I asked them to feel this rhythm inside their body and to make a relation with the way they walk. As a matter of fact the bass drum - snare drum motion is the same as when you walk : right foot left foot ; I asked them to rely on this during all the master class. Next they played rhythms with bass drum and snare drum not played as before but offset, playing these patterns without disrupting the balance of the previous pattern and the walking. And hope they can experiment new patterns in their band without loosing themselves and their bandmates. Next follows some of these patterns :

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 4 -- -- -- --

|1+2+3+4+|
HH |xxxxxxxx|
SD |--o---o-|
BD |o--o----|

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 5 -- -- -- --

|1+2+3+4+|
HH |xxxxxxxx|
SD |--o---o-|
BD |o----o--|

Tempo : 120bpm

AUDIO : EXERCISES 3-4-5
Audio structure : Ex3 X4 | Ex4 X4 | Ex3 X4 | Ex5 X4 | Ex3 X4 ||
headphones

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 6 -- -- -- --

|1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-|
HH |xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx|
SD |----o-------o---|
BD |o-------o-------|

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 7 -- -- -- --

|1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-|
HH |xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx|
SD |----o-------o---|
BD |o------o--------|

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 8 -- -- -- --

|1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-|
HH |xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx|
SD |----o-------o---|
BD |o--------o------|

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 9 -- -- -- --

|1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-|
HH |xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx|
SD |---o------------|
BD |o-------o-------|

Tempo : 80bpm

AUDIO : EXERCISE 6-7-8-9
Audio Structure : Ex6 X4 | Ex7 X4 | Ex6 X4 | Ex8 X4 | Ex6 X4 | Ex9 X4 | Ex6 X4 ||
headphones

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 10 -- -- -- --

|1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-|
HH |x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-|
SD |----o-------o---|
BD |o------o--------|

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 11 -- -- -- --

|1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-|
HH |x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-|
SD |----o-------o---|
BD |o--------o------|

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 12 -- -- -- --

|1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-|
HH |x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-|
SD |---o--------o---|
BD |o-------o-------|

Tempo : 100bpm

AUDIO : EXERCISES 10-11-12
Audio structure : Ex3 X4 | Ex10 X4 | Ex3 X4 | Ex11 X4 | Ex3 X4 | Ex12 X4 | Ex3 X4 ||
headphones

To make them more confused I asked them to play some 7/8 rhythms. This time signature means you play 7 8th note for one bar :

-- -- -- -- EXERCISE 13 -- -- -- --

|1234567|
HH |xxxxxxx|
SD |-------|
BD |-------|

A 4/4 bar needs 8 8th note to complete if clear one 8th note you get a 7/8 bar. This is the way we worked : choosing a well known 4/4 and make it a 7/8 by clearing the last 8th note. The patterns really feel strange and we loose ourself, it's impossible to walk on this kind of rhythms.
One way to improve is to never loose the first beat, really focus on it and strongly feel when we play it. Another way is to count all the 8th note from 1 to 7, or to use an Indian Bol such like Ta Ki Te Na Ge Tu Na, which is more exaotic and as efficient as just counting. End of this reminder. Hope I see some of you during the nexts Rock Academy sessions.