{"id":18765,"date":"2023-01-09T11:00:42","date_gmt":"2023-01-09T16:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/?p=18765"},"modified":"2025-11-19T11:37:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:37:51","slug":"singers-heres-how-to-talk-to-your-band-about-grooves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/singers-heres-how-to-talk-to-your-band-about-grooves\/","title":{"rendered":"Singers, Here\u2019s How to Talk to Your Band about Grooves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The following information on how singers can communicate with their bands is excerpted from the Berklee Online course Music Career Essentials for the Professional Singer<\/a><\/em>, written by Ashlee Varner<\/a>, and currently enrolling.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

How Singers Can Use Groove Vocabulary to Communicate Rhythm and Feel with Their Band<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a band leader or singer with professional ambitions, you\u2019ll need to work with other musicians, and what is most essential for communicating and collaborating is that you expand your vocabulary to describe the sounds we hear in music. Here we\u2019ll focus on the vocabulary used to describe specific rhythmic elements that make up a particular groove. We\u2019ll identify and demonstrate the pulse, meter, and subdivision of a song and how these relate to genre classification. Then we\u2019ll apply your aural transcription skills to create written notation for what you\u2019re hearing. This is an important skill for singers to develop, not only to expand your transcriptionist skill set, but also to have a more efficient way of communicating to your rhythm section or producer what you want to hear. From an educational perspective, this type of transcription and analysis will also provide you with a better understanding of what has been done in music historically, what elements are common within and across various genres, and may also provide creative inspiration for your own writing and arranging. So let\u2019s get into it!
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Duple\/Quadruple Straight Eighth and Straight Sixteenth Grooves<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We find duple and quadruple straight eighth and straight sixteenth grooves in many genres. Although the subdivision stays the same, the way that the rhythms are dispersed throughout the instruments of the rhythm section may differ, depending on the genre. You may also find that some music is not so easily distinguishable and may need to be described by specific instrument rhythms. As you listen, you will start to differentiate between specific performances of styles and grooves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quadruple Straight Eighth Grooves<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Quadruple straight eighth grooves refers to music with a repeated four-beat pulse. The pulse is represented by a quarter note, with rhythms that may be subdivided evenly into straight eighth notes. Listen to the following excerpt:
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\u201cShivers\u201d by Ed Sheeran (Pop) \ufeff<\/strong>
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