I run this monthly jam, and I have a great idea to make it more chaotic.
I will make up a spinning wheel, with different grooves on it. Jammers have to spin the wheel and play the designated groove. If they can't play it, they have to put into the tip bucket.
The wheel has 12 sections. I'm looking for your suggestions on what grooves to include. So far, I have:
slow blues flat tire Jimmy Reed shuffle T-Bone shuffle tramp rhumba rock beat two beat swing non-12 bar box
And, for the 12th section, I was thinking of adding a specific song, like Eddie Money "Two Tickets to Paradise Pack Your Bags We'll Leave Tonight." Do you know this song? It's a good song but it NEVER gets played at jams.
Anyway, in conclusion, do you see any grooves that I am missing, or any that I should take off? ---------- Marc Graci YouTube Channel
The crew I run into don't know names of grooves. I got Jimmi Lee's "Every Groove a Bluesman Needs to Know", but when I call out a groove at our blues society jam, I get a lot of blank looks back at me from clueless jammers.
I hope you have a better group than I do. ---------- theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
Jim, I find that jammers might not know the grooves by name, but you can usually reference a song and they'll get it. And it's especially good if you can play the bassline on harmonica (or show/explain the parts for the other instruments, even).
I also live in San Jose, which puts me at the center of the Dave Barrett School of the Blues maelstrom. So folks generally have some sense of these things. ---------- Marc Graci YouTube Channel
Last Edited by Mirco on Oct 04, 2017 10:54 AM
Just looked on line, every groove a bluesman needs to know there's a 2 CD set of backing tracts with that title for 29.95, is that what you have, and if so is it worth thirty bucks, it looks interesting.
@Flbl Yes, the online, 2 CD set is what I got. I say it's worth the $30. It's a good lesson, and fun jam tracks. To me, the important lesson is learning the lingo, so when you get with knowledgeable players, you can all be on the same page.
It may even help you get out of the rut of "here's another shuffle and they all sound alike", which is what Micro is trying to cure. It's fun to take a song you know and play it to a different groove.
I like the CDs and backing tracks for the different grooves. However, I asked a couple of the better drummers in our area about some of the grooves using Jimi's names, and they only recognized some and hadn't heard of others. If I named the song or songs with that groove, they knew what groove I meant. Maybe the labels are not all universally recognized by those names, but the song names are known? ----------
Yeah, the name's can be regional. The best example is how a flat tire is also a backwards shuffle or a Texas swing. The best musicians can actually describe the groove and what the instruments are doing. ---------- Marc Graci YouTube Channel
Where & when is your next jam? Much as I appreciate the "Wheel-a-Deal" idea you're usually lucky at a jam to get five people playing the same groove. Go outside a 12-bar framework and it's anyone's guess how the song will end up.
My experience, using common music terminology, is that a vast majority of drummers in the area can't differentiate a flat tire or Chicago shuffle from a Purdie or double shuffle. If I call the song "T-Bone shuffle" it will probably be a flat tire. If I ask for a rhumba I might get a mambo or samba beat. The old joke about the drummer who complains, "We aren't going to play ANOTHER shuffle, are we?" And the guitarist responds, "We? You haven't played one all night!"
Since you need both drummer and bass on the same page for your Wheel, I think maybe your labels should call for a Green Onions bass line; Tramp groove; a B.B. or T-Bone style swing; slow shuffle; medium shuffle; up- tempo shuffle; rhumba (??); or a 2-5-1 medium jazz swing. Keep it simple.
Two Tickets to Paradise at a (blues) jam? Oh, Marc!?! ---------- BnT
The idea of naming grooves is a new one for me, while i have heard some of the terms being used, never new there was a standard terminology, always thought it was just someone trying to use the best reference they could think of to explain an idea, and i bet a lot of other people think the same. This is some really useful info.
@Jim thanks, looks like I have something new to put on my shopping list.
somthing in minor--work song--thrill is gone---summertime--i shot the sheriff--unchain my heart-
also u need some version of 'u gotta help me' or 'green onions' zzz top has a ;[I bIII IV] thing, I think
With some specific songs that are known by most, the player can 1] follow the 'melody' in 1st or 2nd pos or 3rd if appropriate 2] do a lead and or melody 3] do a lead
but its a nice option for players to be able to choose the melody line or jam a lead on a familiar song
The final version has 12 sections, set up like a clock. The grooves:
slow blues flat tire Jimmy Reed shuffle T-Bone shuffle tramp rhumba rock beat two beat swing non-12 bar box green onions
Thanks for the suggestions. Not adventurous enough to dare putting a minor on there, but people could certainly make any of the above grooves in minor if they felt appropriate. The section for non-standard changes could include 12 bars like "The Thrill is Gone" or "Stormy Monday", but it could also include things like 8 bar blues ("Key to the Highway" or "Sitting on Top of the World"), 15 bar (Muddy's "Rock Me Baby"), 16 bar ("Big Boss Man") or one chord John Lee Hooker type grooves ("Hip Shake").
To learn the standard terminology on grooves, I would consult with the Jimi Lee CD and with Dave Barrett's bluesharmonica.com. (He's got a lesson on Performance Training, where he plays the different grooves with a pro band.)
That's a funny joke, Kevin. While I certainly realize that some jammers will be unable to play the grooves correctly, I think that merely exposing people to the different possibilities is the first step in educating the masses and raising the overall level of musicianship. It will also inject some needed creativity and improvisation into jams that have become repetitive. I regularly see the same people playing the same songs... at the very least, they'll now be playing the same songs but forced into different grooves. Awareness of a limitation is the first step to overcoming it.
I'm currently one of two band leaders running Dave Barrett's School of the Blues student jam at the Poor House Bistro. Last Sunday of the month, in the afternoon. A School of the Blues student jam is the right place to educate people on these grooves. Stop by, Kevin (or anyone else in the San Jose area), if you're in the neighborhood. I can't promise playing time (you'd make us all look bad), but we would benefit from your mere presence and your stories. ---------- Marc Graci YouTube Channel
Why would you want the goal of your jam to be chaotic? Shouldn’t the goal to be to make the best music possible and for everyone to have fun? If these people are beginners who aren’t familiar with all of these grooves, it’s guaranteed to be a disaster.
I actually designed this for my band-- the house band-- to keep us working and to keep us improving. It will add some variety and fun to our set, which sometimes becomes too predictable.
It'll be there as an option, for jammers, but just its presence will raise awareness of different grooves. People will see it, people will hear the house band playing different grooves, and then they will go out and learn these grooves.
By the way, I just spun for you. Next time I see you play, you've got to do a Tramp in F#. ---------- Marc Graci YouTube Channel
