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ISSUE #16___\__\__\__\__\__________/__/__/__/__/ APRIL, 1998

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                        TABLE OF CONTENTS
                     What is in this issue?
             Contents:
               1. Feature Article: Feeling The Backbeat
               2. Bass Player Joke


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LEARNING TO HEAR AND FEEL
 THE BACKBEAT-FLOW:

The BACKBEAT-FLOW is the key to everything rhythmic in
music! My experience with thousands of young beginning
drummers has taught me one thing. Some students seem to
possess a natural feel for the REPEATING backbeats while 
others must be trained to feel it.

It is the 'key' ingredient to what we tend to label as
'NATURAL' rhythmic talent.  

VERY IMPORTANT!
The ability to feel this rhythmic-flow within a song is crucial
to becoming a drummer. If you feel the backbeats strongly
enough, it is possible to become a drummer without formal
instructions and lessons. Without a special sensitivity for
the backbeat-flow in a song, you may never become a drummer,
no matter how many lessons you may take, or how long you
study.


If you already know what I am talking about, and if you possess
this feel for the recurring-backbeats already, then this lesson 
may not be for you.

This very special lesson is for those of you who do not
know what I am talking about.  I want to plant 'The Seed
of ALL Rhythm' within you right now!  Who knows how great
and tall it may grow?

FIRST: WHAT IS THE 'BACKBEAT-FLOW'?
The backbeat-flow in a song is usually the dominant repeating
snare sound that flows through the music. 

In all forms of 4/4 (common music) the backbeats are on the 
counts of 2 & 4 in each bar, (ie; measure of music, written 
or played).  It's that repeating 'SNAP' sound we hear in 
nearly every song (98% of ALL music) as the drummer 
repeatedly 'smacks' the snare drum, twice in every bar 
of a 4/4 song.

The secret to 'feeling' the backbeat-flow is in developing 
PATIENT LISTENING HABITS . . .

LEARN TO LISTEN DEEPLY FOR 
THAT 'REPEATING' SNARE . . .

. . . THEN, 'CLAP' IN-TIME OR 
IN-SYNC, ALONG WITH IT.  

This is the thing that sets the rhythmic-wheels 
(ie; imagination) into gear.  This is the thing that 
makes people want to dance, and pound on the 
furniture.  It is 'The Seed of All rhythm'.

Form the habit of clapping in-time with that repeating
snare as you listen to recording after recording.  If you
can remain in-sync with the drummer, and 'FEEL' this 
backbeat flow consistently, it means you are a NATURAL
CANDIDATE to become a drummer (especially), but 
any other instrument as well.  

All musicians must 'feel' this repeating-flow, as they 
play, jam and improvise within the music.  Without 
it . . . our music is spineless . . . without feeling . . . 
and it probably will fall apart, like the irritating 
noise of 100 car-horns honking, in a 5:00 o'clock 
traffic jam.


DO THIS, NOW . . .
Learn to 'feel' the backbeat-flow . . .
PLANT THAT 'RHYTHMIC SEED'!


ˇ 1. Let a 4/4 tune play on your sound-system or radio.
(Almost every song you may hear will be in some form of 4/4.)
Find something with a moderate (medium) tempo.  Select 
a song with a solid but simple drum part . . . at a medium-tempo 
(not too fast and not too slow.)

..........................................................
NOTE:
ABOUT 98% OF ALL THE MUSIC PLAYING RIGHT NOW
ON YOUR RADIO IS IN SOME FORM OF 4/4 . . .
..........................................................

ˇ 2. Get one ear into the speaker system or headphones.
ˇ 3. Pick out the dominant, repeating, accented snare sound
in the music. (In some complex songs, you may hear additional
snare notes that are falling around the backbeat. Ignore those!)

Just listen for the strongest, loudest accented snare notes.
Now repeatedly CLAP YOUR HANDS, in-time with these 'BACKBEATS' 
as the drummer plays the ENTIRE song. 

YOU HAVE FOUND IT! 
Virtually every song you'll hear will be held together by 
those 'flowing', 'repeating' backbeats. The other musicians in the 
group tend to rely on the drummer's backbeat-flow, to get their 
own tempo-and-timing musically perfect.

The drummer's job (when we do it correctly) is to maintain 
this 'backbeat-flow' with 'swiss-watch' precision. If we can't 
hold it steady . . . the band usually disintegrates. We get a 
thumbs-down, (BIG Raspberry), haha. (BAD DRUMMER!)


BUT,  if we can hold a ROCK-SOLID backbeat through-out ALL 
songs . . . we are considered a WINNER, and a candidate for 
MUCH praise & worship, haha.  It's the key (or seed) of all 
rhythm, and eventually ALL musical talent.

REMEMBER THIS, ALWAYS!
It really doesn't matter to the other band-members how
FANCY we play! They usually don't give a hoot about that.
They want us to HELP THEM 'FEEL' THE BACKBEATS, while THEY
impress and 'wow' the world with their own ingenious
and masterful musical techniques. ;>)

So . . . the DRUMMER IN DEMAND is the one who can lay
that CONSISTENT backbeat-flow in there with no 
mistake . . . through-out EVERY piece of music.

HOW TO 'FEEL' THE BACKBEAT . . .
How do we acquire this indisputable perfection with our
time measurement and 'feel' for the backbeat?

Practice, Practice, Practice (with recorded music)!
IT GROWS LIKE CANCER, TO A POINT WHERE IT
BECOMES AN OBSESSION!  The more we play, the
STRONGER we feel it!  The stronger we 'FEEL' it,
the more we become OBSESSED with jamming and
PLAYing our instrument . . . FOR THE FUN OF IT!

WHAT'S YOUR NEXT STEP TOWARDS 
GROWING 'RHYTHMIC-TALENT'?
	
Memorize ALL the BASIC 4/4 Dancebeats first (see below), 
then Jam with every conceivable type of recorded
song. Listen for the recorded drummer, ALWAYS. Strive to
acquire an indisputable 'feel' for tempo and a solid 'backbeat',
no matter how softly we may be required to play. This can
prove to be a contradiction at times, with 'some' forms of soft,
laid-back, music.

Anyway, the secret to ALL drumming is buried in this backbeat
concept. The 'backbeat-flow' IS the quintessential 'BACKBONE' of
the music . . . ALL MUSIC. If we feel the backbeats strongly,
and learn to lay it in there dominantly . . . we can BECOME THE
BEST!

EVERYTHING . . . and I mean EVERYTHING in music is based
around that backbeat flow of the song . . . This includes our
fancy fills, riffs, complex syncopations and all of the intricate
jazz techniques that a drummer (or any musician) might play. 
Those other incidental intricacies just CAN'T HAPPEN until 
the backbeat has been established in a commanding way,
usually by the drummer . . .


. . . But, * NOT ONLY * The Drummer!
The other (rhythm) instruments in the band are normally
working as a team WITH the drummer, to help establish a
solid backbeat flow.

The rhythm guitarist will usually play a 'chucking' rhythm
sound on the backbeats . . . Pianists and keyboard players
will usually compliment the backbeats throughout a song with
repetitious notes/chords (normally played in the higher register)
on the counts of 2 & 4, in 4/4 time . . . ACCENTING
the repetitious 'backbeats'.

NOTE:
*  3/4 time usually consists of 2 backbeats per bar on the
counts of 2 & 3.

*  5/4 and other odd time signatures usually
contain 3 or more backbeats per bar. These 'lop-sided' signatures
are only used rarely in jazz and other complex music styles . . .

It is best to stick with common 4/4 music styles in the beginning,
until that unique 'feel' for the backbeat-flow has been developed, then
move into 3/4 grooves, before progressing on to the really complex
signatures.



            ............................................

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    |__________________HUMOROUS STORY________________________|
                      Bass Player Joke

Near-Death Experience
     A bass player had a near death experience that has
changed life his forever.
     The other day, he went horseback riding. Everything
was going fine until the horse started bouncing out of control.
He tried with all his might to hang on, but was thrown off.

     Just when things could not possibly get worse, his foot
got caught in the stirrup. When this happened, he fell head
first to the ground. His head continued to bounce harder as
the horse did not stop or even slow down.

     Just as he was giving up hope and losing consciousness,
the Wal-Mart manager came out and unplugged it.

        ..........................................

     Thanks, Keith (of Keith's Korner).

   Your future career may LITERALLY depend on  THIS IDEA.

  
               END OF TEMPO DISPATCH #16  APRIL, 1998 







 





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