One thing most people will agree on is the fact that well written lyrics play a huge part in the success of a song. A great melody and hook-line (a melodic “chunk” that is repeated throughout the whole song) are certainly considered key ingredients to a successful song on the pop charts. But at the end of the day the phenomenon known as ‘the groove’ will ultimately decide the fate of most popular songs (just ask any bass player or drummer).

Wikipedia defines groove as “… is the sense of propulsive rhythmic “feel” or sense of “swing” created by the interaction of the music played by a band’s rhythm section (drums, electric bass or double bass, guitar, and keyboards). The term is mainly used in the context of genres outside of Western art music, such as funk, rock music, power groove, fusion, and soul.

While some musicians have called the concept of “groove” a subjective and elusive notion, they acknowledge that the concept is well-understood by experienced musicians at a practical, intuitive level. Funk and Latin musicians refer to “groove” as the sense of being “in the pocket”, and jazz players refer to groove as the sense that a jam session is really “cooking” or “swinging.”

Musicologists and other scholars began to analyse the concept of “groove” in the 1990s. They have argued that a “groove” is an “understanding of rhythmic patterning” or “feel” and “an intuitive sense” of “a cycle in motion” that emerges from “carefully aligned concurrent rhythmic patterns” that sets in motion dancing or foot-tapping on the part of listeners. “ (Copyright by Wikipedia / excerpt from Wikipedia.com)

Although groove is very hard to explain, it is fairly easy to ‘feel’ whenever a band’s rhythm section is in it. A groove happens when the drummer and bass player , along with the rhythm guitar player and keyboard player (being the other two pieces of a typical popular band’s rhythm section) fall into rhythmic patterns that add up to one ‘undeniable feel’ that will make most audiences want to move (i.e. dance, snap their fingers, bop their heads, etc.).  Although groove has been described as something individuals feel differently, the effect of a solid groove can be experienced when watching the audience’s reaction and movements at any good band’s performance.

Consider this: when you get closer to the stage of any open-air venue, what is the first thing that captures your attention? From a distance it is usually hard for anybody to make out the vocals or intricate facets of the lead players’ lines, but you will be able to hear the drums and bass hopefully creating the ‘groove’ that will draw your attention to the music. Coincidence? I don’t think so

A good groove can make the difference between between a hit record and a regular song – just look at the liner notes in your record collection and you will find out that there are certain rhythm sections that could be considered ‘hit machines’ because of their undeniable grooves: in country music you can make the case for drummer Eddie Bayers Jr. and bassist Michael Rhodes being the No.1 team; reggae music featured Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar as their predominant groove machine; Motown music was heavily influenced by geniuses such as James Jamerson and Uriel Jones (The Funk Brothers); the Beatles were certainly blessed with the exceptional talents of bassist Paul McCartney and drummer Ringo Starr; rock music owes a lot to groove masters such as Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham or Toto’s Jeff Porcaro; popular music was heavily influenced by rhythm sections like Sting and Stewart Copeland; the Muscle Shoals Rhythm section has achieved worldwide recognition for their outstanding work – case in point, an awful lot of a song’s potential to be a hit is related to its potential to ‘groove’ or ‘swing’ and record producers all over the world have been paying close attention to this fact throughout the history of popular music.

The next time you listen to your favorite music, try to pay some attention to the rhythm section work to ‘detect’ the groove – it is a lot of fun and might give you a whole new appreciation for your favorite artist’s work.

Until next time, keep groovin’ -
Robert DiBlanco