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Developing Compas Feel
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seanm
Posts: 169
Joined: Apr. 5 2005
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Developing Compas Feel
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Hi everyone, I know this is a topic drummers are familiar with but I thought I'd see if anyone has thoughts on this with regard to compas. Basically, I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts, appoaches or experiences on going beyond playing in strict compas and finding the 'groove' or swing within each style (like bulerias or solea por bulerias). I feel that this is what is most lacking in my playing right now. I'm assuming stuff like listen to tons of recordings, doing palmas, learn to play the cajon, play along with CD's, practise with the compas recordings and, of course, 'forget it ... you have to be born with it' are common suggestions. But has anyone seen this aspect of their playing improve over time and if so what do you feel helped that happen. Thanks in advance! Sean
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Date May 19 2006 17:57:34
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Ricardo
Posts: 14971
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
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RE: Developing Compas Feel (in reply to seanm)
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First, tempo is king. Once you have the concept that tempo stays the same, you have to get the groove by learning how to control the subdivision. The subdivision may or may not "swing" or whatever, but it has to be precise either way. Once you can deal with the subdivisions with the same perfection as basic tempo, you can get to the heart of what you are talking about, which is the synchopation and dynamics that occur that bring out the "feel" overall. You have to control the synchopation and dynamics despite the steady tempo. It is not easy. There are common mistakes that can be worked out with rudiments, that is what drummers do. Trying to do certain awkward synchopations that force most people to rush or drag depending. I like to set up a loop of a certain rhythmic passage and play it over and over at the proper tempo, to the foot tap also, until it feels natural and easy. Then getting into and out of it in the context of the song, or compas or whatever. Eventually, both seemingly difficult rhythms AND the simpler rhythms feel like the same "difficulty" because the groove rules. Here is an excercise. Take a simple melody based on quaters, 8ths or 16th notes, and manipultate it against the time so it once begins on the beat, a 16th note off the beat, right in between the beats, a 16th note before the beat. Each time you change it, even though the notes and time values are the same, it should sound and feel like a completely different melody. Always use the metronome, and using your foot with the metronome helps. Ricardo
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Date May 19 2006 22:07:26
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Ricardo
Posts: 14971
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
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RE: Developing Compas Feel (in reply to duende)
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quote:
be carefull with syncopation though. People in general tend to push the tempo a bit... just slightly faster for every syncopation. Specialy in hard parts people stress. So it´s good to calm down and think about the mani beat. quarternotes. I try to be a bit l"aid back" if theres a lot of syncopation. Yep that is right. But it depends on which synchopation you do. I find there is also a problem with "dragging" with certain other synchopations. In general the accentuations that come a hair before the beat, people rush, or feel their sense of tempo beat coming sooner than it should, and accentuations that come right after the beat, tends to make them slow down. But it depends. When I play with a percussionist who I feel is pushing the time, I tell him to deliberately play "laid back" as you say, or "relax it". It almost always works just to say that. Same for palmeros who try to follow a synchopated falseta and start speeding up. If they are not just speeding up but all over the map, I say "don't listen to me, just concentrate on being EVEN". That usually works too. I do it myself when accompanying some crazy synchoptions for an improvising dancer. It is different when you have learned the same synchopations yourself, then you can listen and contribute to the tightness. quote:
The best medicine in my opinion to get the groove and spontaneity in your compas is, to play for dance. Yes excellent advice. This is the equivalant for flamenco players as the rudiments for drummers I talked about before. You get the flamenco specific "rudiments". Make sure that you work with GOOD dancers that have tempo and are not just making you learn and support their coreography. You should not have to be adjusting your tempo CONSTANTLY, which is what I find with some dancers that are not so advanced. But deliberately moving the tempo or changing gears, does happen alot in dance accomp. But don't fall into the trap that you don't need the metronome because you work with dancers and the moving tempo is important. People that understand how to hold the tempo understand subdivision too (whether intuitively or not) and it is the subdivision that holds things together when you speed up for example. The dancer often uses contras to speed up the tempo and the guitarist must not loose the base and speed up too. It is a big challenge at first because the dancers controls the time with the subdivision, not with the beat, and the guitarist has to keep it tight. There are different ways to build up, but I find with the contras specifically, the folks who have steady tempo generally (be it palmas guitar, dance, percussion), do a better job at keeping the build ups tight. Ricardo
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date May 20 2006 13:56:14
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