A Rhythmic Vocabulary: A Musician's Guide to Understanding and Improvising with Rhythm

327 Pages·1997·12.52 MB·English

by  Alan Dworsky

by Alan Dworsky and Betsy Sansby
Illustrations by Robert Jackson
Cover Art by Marie Olofsdotter
Dancing Hands Music
'A goldmine" - DRUM Magazine
The book is masterfully written. It's like having a good friend sitting next to you,
guiding you through each lesson. It explains musical concepts in a way anyone
can easily understand. The sections on cross rhythms and polyrhythms should be
required reading for any musician!"
- Professor Michael Williams, Department of Music, Winthrop University
For Jerry Sansby, the first drummer in the family
,e would like to express our gratitude to all our teachers, especially
Marc Anderson, who generously shared his knowledge of Ghanaian rhythms
with love and reverence for the culture that created them. We'd also like to thank
those who have taught us through their books and videos, especially David
Locke (for his clear presentation and analysis of Ghanaian rhythms), Phil
Maturano (for his organization of patterns and his concept of "relayed time
shifting," which we adapted into our lesson on bending a pattern), Reinhard
Flatischler (whose Ta Ke Ti Na® method we adapted into rhythm walking), and
Gordy Knudtson (from whom we learned - both in his books and in private
lessons - a wide variety of cross-rhythms and other patterns, as well as the
method we call "say-it-and-play-it"). We are,also indebted to the creators of all
the other sources listed at the back of this book and to all the unknown creators
of the rhythms of the world.
Finally, we would like to thank Mamady Keita, who has taught us through his
recordings, and whose brilliant djembe playing has been an unending source of
inspiration and delight.
VARIATION TECHNIQUES
Create space 32
Change voicing 40
Fill space 44
Combine variations 48
Shift 54
Add dynamic accents 58
Add ghost notes 65
Adjust the volume 68
Displace one note 74
Substitute sixteenth notes 76
Attach a prefix 80
Attach a suffix 81
Compress 128
Accent with a flam 145
Isolate and repeat 150
Expand 151
Substitute a triplet 175
Camouflage 175
Swing 176
Play off marks 180
Bend 184
GETTING STARTED
1 Who this book is for and how it works 7
2 Understanding the charts and basic concepts 11
Pulses and subdivisions 12
Four and six 13
Timelines and cycles 14
3 Adapting the patterns to your instrument 17
Hand drums 18
Drumset 18
Guitar, bass, and other string instruments 18
Piano and other keyboard instruments 18
Sax and other wind instruments 19
Voice 19
4 A method for learning any new pattern applied to the timelines on the CD 21
Say-it-and-play-it 22
The timeline in four 22
The timeline in six 24
5 Triple-weave practicing 27
PATTERNS, CONCEPTS, AND TECHNIQUES
6 The pulse and parallel figures 31
Lesson 1: Playing the pulse on your instrument 32
Lesson 2: The pulse and the beat before 36
Lesson 3: The two beats before the pulse 39
Lesson 4: The pulse and the beat after 44
Lesson 5: The two beats after the pulse 47
Lesson 6: Three-note figures 51
7 Pathways through the grid in four 57
Lesson 7: Consecutive eighth notes 58
Lesson 8: Numbered beats and upbeats 61
Lesson 9: Offbeats 64
Lesson 10: Singles and pairs 68
Lesson 11: Backbeats 72
Lesson 12: Sixteenth notes 75
Lesson 13: The offbeats before or after the pulse 78
Lesson 14: Timelines 82
8 Pathways through the grid in six 87
Lesson 15: Consecutive eighth notes 88
Lesson 16: The odd-numbered beats - the 6-pulse and 3 over 2 91
Lesson 17: The odd-numbered beats - patterns 95
Lesson 18: The even-numbered beats 99
Lesson 19: Backbeats 102
Lesson 20: The offbeats before or after the pulse 106
Lesson 21: Singles and pairs and timelines 110
9 Three not-quite-equal groups of beats in four 117
Lesson 22: One-bar clave patterns 118
Lesson 23: Shifted one-bar clave patterns 122
Lesson 24: 5/5/6 patterns 125
Lesson 25: Shifted 5/5/6 patterns 129
10 Three groups of four beats in six 133
Lesson 26: The 3-pulse and 3 over 4 134
Lesson 27: Set 1 138
Lesson 28: Set 2 141
Lesson 29: Set 3 144
Lesson 30: Set 4 148
11 Cross-rhythms 153
Lesson 31: 3-beat cross-rhythms in four 154
Lesson 32: 6-beat cross-rhythms in four 157
Lesson 33: 8-beat cross-rhythms in six 162
Lesson 34: 5-beat and 7-beat cross-rhythms 167
12 Polyrhythms with uneven grids 173
Lesson 35: 3 over 2 eighth notes in four and six 174
Lesson 36: Subdividing the pulse in four into 3 178
Lesson 37: Subdividing the pulse in six into 2 or 4 181
Lesson 38: Bending a pattern between four and six 185
13 Glossary 191
FOR FURTHER STUDY AND ENJOYMENT
14 Rhythm walking 195
Blank charts 201
Sources: books, videos, CDs, and audiotapes 203
Also available from Dancing Hands Music 205
RHYTHMIC CONCEPTS
The tendency of the largest gap 33
The flexibility created by the unaccented pulse 37
The power of a limited number of voices 40
The trance effect of repetition 47
The circular effect of overlapping ONE 59
The disorienting effect of obscuring the pulse 79
The stabilizing effect of ending on ONE 90
The diffusing effect of ending on the beat after ONE 91
The suspended effect of ending on the beat before ONE 91
The tendency to group notes in the same voice together 106