Grooves

Not sure if I shared this here yet. Any questions let me know. Answers some questions I have been getting.

Grooves, Grooves, Grooves….

Shuffle: the most common groove in Blues. It’s derived and based on the Heartbeat. Examples are Bye Bye Bird, Easy and the Boogie. (There are many types of shuffle. Texas, jimmy reed, backwards)

Rhumba: is a South American based groove sometimes with a New Orleans flavor. Slightly different from a basic Mambo. Examples are Crosscut Saw, and Woke Up This Morning, Who’s Been Talking, and Early In The Morning.

Cha Cha: A groove that originated in Cuba and was used by Junior Wells’s in his 1957 song “Cha Cha Cha in Blue” and also Slim Harpo’s song “Buzzin.” South American based groove with more syncopation and stop time usually. An example is Walking Through the Park, Cha Cha Cha in Blue, the Boogie Cha Cha Blues, It’s Raining Blues.

Tramp: a straight eighth groove that has a very powerful feel. Remember the straight eighth (NOT a shuffle) groove most commonly known as the “Tramp” groove from the song “Tramp,” popularized by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas. Examples are Pawnshop Bound, and Soul Monster.

Hambone/ Clave: also known as a Bo Diddly groove, this is also a South American /African based groove. Examples and pre Pretty Thing, Monna, and Not Fade Away.

Old Timey: the Fox Chase/Lost John, Sonny Terry Style Chording, and some New Orleans/Cajun grooves all fall under this category. Most Country Blues can also be classified as old time music.

John Lee Hooker: a very syncopated, upbeat focused groove.

Delta/Mississippi: sometimes considered old time, but is much more driving and intense. A fantastic example is the Grind.

Jungle: sometimes called two bar. Good example is Wishing Blues and Wish You Would.

Boogaloo: Boogaloo groove, which got its name from the 1960s dance of the same name. Remember that this groove is not a shuffle or swing. It is a straight-eighth note groove, very similar to the “Tramp” groove. Think reverse tramp. Check out the George Harmonica Smith song, “Avalon Boogaloo.”

2beat: sometimes called 24 bar. An up-tempo, twenty-four bar blues, or two-beat songs like “Sloppy Drunk,” “Got My Mojo Working,” “It Ain’t Right,” and “Don’t Need No Horse”

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@davidkachalon Wow what a fantastic post. Looking forward to going and checking out all the songs that you’ve referenced for each groove! Thank you so much for sharing this.

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I saw your vid on this pretty cool

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Thank you @davidkachalon this is awesome. I have a question though. I don’t get the difference between the tramp groove and the reverse tramp groove/boogaloo. They sound the same to me: ta da da . . ta da da . .

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They are pretty much the same just the phrase is slightly reversed

It’s all about where the chord is played. Get me?

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@davidkachalon ahhh, I get it. The tramp the chords are played on the first 2 beats and the boogaloo it’s played on the last two…

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Yep that’s about right

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