Fun With Odd Groupings, Part 1 By Ted Warren
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n this article we will look at playing p laying odd groupings effectively. By odd grouping, I mean a string of equidistant consecutive notes that are not two, three, or four notes long. Groupings such as quintuplets, septuplets etc. are used extensively in fusion, jazz, and world music. Working with odd groupings will enable one to stretch stretch the time while hearing “normal” time playing in a deeper and more mo re accurate way. So, let’s get started! We will start with the quintuplet because it is the shortest odd grouping we will encounter. I started working on this by taking a fam iliar rhythm that is close to a grouping groupi ng of five equidistant notes. In this case, an eighth-note triplet and two eighth notes. In a bar of 4/4, this would be played two times. o o get the other lim bs involved and to h elp us hear how the groupings work in relation to the quarter note, we’ll keep time with the bass drum on all four beats and the hi-hat on 2 and 4. Play this at a medium tempo (mm=100–120). In all these examples, playing with a m etronome is a must .
Now do the same thing as before (stretch out the sixteenths and compress the triplet) to make all the notes evenly spaced. Now we’re we’re playing septuplets!
Now let’s look at groupings groupings of nine. Tere are two ways we we can start start this. One is by playing one of our newly learned quintuplets and four eighth notes (for the purposes of tempo we are now going to play only one grouping per bar).
After you get used to playing the example accurately, accurately, try to slow the the triplet down and speed the 8ths up slightly, until until all notes in the bar are the same distance apart.
Another way of approaching nine is to play a half-note triplet, then tripling each of these notes in turn.
In your bar of 4/4, 4/4, beats 1 and 3 will line up with the grouping. Also notice that I have wr itten alternate strokes for this example. Tis means that your second group of five will start on your left hand if you begin beat 1 with your right. r ight. You You can also accent each group of five at the beginning to help keep your place. Don’t Don’t be concerned if you have difficulty keeping the time accurately at first. A big part of this is being able to hear the the grouping more than playing it. Let’s do the the same thing with seven. In this case the introductory rhythm will be four sixteenths and one eighth-note triplet.
Tat may seem confusing, but just keep in mind we’re ultimately looking for nine equal notes in the bar.
In the March issue of Notes we will look at ways of applying the odd groupings we worked on this time. Ted Warren is a
composer, bandleader, and drummer in Canada’s jazz scene. He teaches at Humber and Mohawk College in their Jazz Studies programs and fronts his own quartet, ed’s Warren Commission, who released their second CD, Songs For Doug (Doctor’s Orders) in 2008. He is also a member of the Mike Murley, Mike Downes, Kieran Overs, and ed Quinlan groups. He was the drummer for the Boss Brass and can be heard on six of their CDs. ed studied music at McGill and received a certificate in Jazz Studies from St. Francis Xavier University. He has worked with Slide Hampton, Bob Newhart, Maynard Ferguson, Lew Soloff, Chuck Mangione, Jeff Healey, Norma Winstone, Sheila Jordan, Howard Johnson, Nick Brignola, Kenny W heeler, and Gerry Bergonzi. He has written articles for Modern Drummer , Canadian Musician, and Percussive Notes . PN
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