The feel of the kick and snare in an RnB groove
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Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use the kick and snare drum when creating a typical groove used in R'n'B music.
Key learning points
- R‘n’B (rhythm and blues) grooves in the late 20th century are built around the interaction of the kick and snare.
- Two features of these grooves are the snare playing a backbeat and quaver and semiquaver upbeats on the kick
Keywords
R'n'B - R'n'B stands for rhythm and blues; it covers a range of music made mostly by Black Americans in the last 70 years
Semiquaver - a note lasting for a quarter of a beat
Metronome - a device that clicks/ticks a beat to keep a player in time
Playhead - a vertical line that shows which part of the track is being played
Upbeat - a note that precedes a strong beat
Common misconception
Any note that precedes a strong beat is an upbeat.
An upbeat sounds like it musically belongs to the strong beat. Find a good non-example in a melody or drum groove to show how an upbeat both precedes the strong beat and also creates emphasis, often due to following a rest.
Teacher tip
Pupils need to feel the semiquaver subdivision so make this explicit by playing semiquavers out loud before they try to hear them internally.
Equipment
A DAW or other suitable compositional tool or instrument
Files needed for this lesson
RnB drum track 791.91 KB (MP3)
RnB template 11.71 MB (ZIP)
RnB backing track 820.94 KB (MP3)
Download these files to use in the lesson.
Licence
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