Talking Technique: Groove Creation Workout

Want a formula to create grooves over a chord progression? We’ve got you covered in this lesson with an exercise that bolsters our technique while building grooves with triads.

We’ll tackle a I-vi-IV-V chord progression using a formula that has two main ingredients: triad notes and rhythm. The triad notes are already laid out for us, but we can pick what order we play them. For rhythm you can either come up with something and keep it consistent or you can write something out, but I recommend coming up with a formula that stays consistent because it gives the groove a repetitive feel, a flow, and it has some logic to it.

Once you get comfortable, you can add more ingredients like phrasing, dynamics, articulation, variation, tone, playing techniques, and more. We have a handy PDF with examples for you to follow along.

Austrian-gone-Californian Ariane Cap is a bassist, educator, blogger and author. In her book Music Theory for the Bass Player and corresponding 20-week online course, she teaches music theory, bass technique, bass line creation and fretboard fitness in a systematic, practical and experiential way. She just released a brand new course on ear training for the bass player: Ear Confidence - 6 Paths to Fearless Ears. Contact her via her blog or website.

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  1. Tzalaran

    These video’s brighten up my Mondays. Thanks for the exercises!

  2. Love the “Rythym Section” extremely helpful… Especially to those that can’t read music (YET), but wish to learn to do so…