Musician Articles

When it comes to production, it’s important to establish a song’s groove. From a writer’s perspective, groove refers to the style, genre, or type of beat used for a song. From a production standpoint, groove also means the “pocket” or feel laid down by the rhythm section and/or the playing styles employed by various schools of musicians. Knowing the ins and outs of various grooves is one of the things that can help a producer “make” a song.

Genre Grooves
A genre groove has the feeling of a specific type of music. The Garth Brooks country hits “Ain’t Goin’ Down ‘Til the Sun Comes Up” and “Papa Loved Mama” are both fast rock shuffle grooves. Brooks’s cover of the Little Feat song “Dixie Chicken” is a Cajun shuffle groove used predominantly in zydeco music; his mega-hit “The Dance” uses a groove common to modern folk music. Because of the production and the musical identity of the recording artist, these songs are all considered to be country. Properly used, genre grooves can add the moods, flavors, and prosodic elements of other styles to a production.

Geographic Grooves
Some grooves are geographic in nature; you may hear someone refer to a Detroit, LA, Bakersfield, Nashville, or London groove. This means that the feel is similar to one used by the studio players from that area. Detroit players may push the beat a little for a high-energy feel. London players usually play right on top for a very steady feel. Chicago musicians will often pull the beat for a smoky, lazy feeling, and New Orleans players may push or pull, depending on the moment and the song.

Sometimes the feel of these grooves is caused by tension between various instruments within the group rather than between the ensemble and the “true” beat. This is especially true of the relationship between the bass and drums and between those two instruments and the others. Spend some time talking with studio bassists and drummers. They can be great sources for groove history and information.

Group Grooves
Certain artists or groups have become so associated with a particular kind of groove that the mention of their names communicates the desired feel for a song. This kind of groove information is very specific and, if all parties involved are familiar with the reference, can really help to zero in on the right feel. You might spend half an hour writing out or discussing the theory behind one of the different grooves in the Dixie Chicks song “Goodbye Earl,” when just saying, “It’s a Buddy Holly thing” might be all you need to do.

Certain songs can also make for easy references to particular grooves. If you say “Blueberry Hill,” you don’t have to explain what a triplet feel is or how New Orleans musicians apply a “swing” to that feel. Mention “Moondance” and you might save a whole afternoon of re-explaining the groove in a different way for each musician. Referring to a particular artist or song helps the mind to hear a part instead of imagining it as an abstract concept.

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