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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > The 4 over 3 Rhythm Riff
The 4 over 3 Rhythm Riff
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Jim Rumbaugh
963 posts
Mar 07, 2014
3:06 PM
This is something I gleamed from a Joe Filisko lesson. I have been working on it and want to share my study.

I call it the 4 over 3 lick, because it's 4 notes played over a 3 note triplet. If you know of another name for this pattern, please share it. What I like is that you can apply this to different groups of 4 notes. In my Youtube sample, I use 2 different groups. A more detailed explanation is posted below.




The 4 Over 3 Rhythm Lick

This is really a rhythm lick that can be used with many (all?) 4 note licks that use 3 notes. Sounds confusing doesn’t it ? Let’s say it another way, a 4 note lick that uses 3 pitches.

If the lick notes are X,Y, and Z, a typical 4 note riff may be X, Y, Z , Y

Now play the notes as triplets over and over. The pattern becomes:
X, Y, Z
Y, X, Y
Z, Y, X
Y, Z, Y

Here’s an example using the three harmonica tab notes 4D, 4B, and 3D.

A common lick is 4D 4B 3D 4B repeated over and over.
Now try the same thing, but do it as triplets so that your pattern repeats after 4 beats.

4D 4B 3D
4B 4D 4B
3D 4B 4D
4B 3D 4B

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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
Greg Heumann
2632 posts
Mar 07, 2014
7:01 PM
I know you're talking about the rhythm here and that's a good one to know. But I have to say that the 4D 4B 3D pattern above is absolutely not bluesy. The blues equivalent is:

4D' 4B 3D'
4B 4D' 4B
3D' 4B 4D'
4B 3D' 4B

(and therefore a bit more challenging to play with good intonation - but it works well in blues. RJ Mischo loves that lick.)

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Rick Davis
3039 posts
Mar 07, 2014
7:09 PM
Greg, yes he does.

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-Little Rick Davis
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MindTheGap
328 posts
Mar 08, 2014
12:50 AM
Jim - Thank you for this. I stumbled across this a while ago when listening to a demo of that bendometer thing. At about 10s the four notes are I think are...

4D 4D' 3D' 4B

...in your triplet pattern. Starting on the 4D allows a nice little scoop up. But I do like Greg's one starting on the 4D', does sound more bluesy.



I looked around for others e.g. at the top end:

9B 9D 8D 9D again with a scoop on the 9B

and

8B 8D 7D 8D

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MTG
Jim Rumbaugh
964 posts
Mar 08, 2014
7:37 AM
--@Greg. I agree that those notes do not sound like blues. You made a good recomendation. (same for MTG)

I chose those as a simple example.

The Filisko lesson uses 4D' 4B 3D 4B
I like the to use the Jon Gindick lick 4D' 4D 5D 4D
There is more than one way to use this rhythm pattern, and it's not limited to blues.
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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)

Last Edited by Jim Rumbaugh on Mar 08, 2014 7:39 AM
MindTheGap
332 posts
Mar 08, 2014
9:13 AM
Jim, yes that's a nice one. Thanks for bringing this up it's a good sounding idiom and also I have say handy for filling in some space for those of us who are struggle to...fill in all the space!
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MTG
harp-er
536 posts
Mar 08, 2014
9:54 AM
Wouldn't it more accurately be called a 3(triplet) over 4(time signature) rhythm? Basic rhythm being 4/4, with these triplets played over that.
SuperBee
1738 posts
Mar 08, 2014
2:23 PM
I guess I should watch the videos.


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