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Drum Blog

Original drum exercises, excerpts from my methods, educational thoughts, and memories from my musical journey.
A blog to learn, reflect… and explore.


Soul with a Capital "S" - part 1

In this article written in 1997 for Batteur Magazine, and adapted for this blog, I used a Tower of Power song as a pretext to present a popular and interesting groove pattern.

Example 1

This pattern can be heard in the studio version of Soul with a Capital "S", a song by Tower of Power, and it can also be heard in many other songs.

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NB: This lesson applies to the original studio version of the song played by Russ McKinnon. In the more recent live versions, David Garibaldi who took over his seat, has slightly changed the pattern.

Example 2

Here's a variation of the same pattern:
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Example 3

Another variation of the same pattern
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Example 4

This is to show the analogy with a 3-2 son-clave pattern
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Example 5

This is to show the analogy with a traditional Bossa-Nova pattern.
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16-bar Groove Exercise

This is a 16-bar groove workout to help integrate the pattern seen in Example 3. Each measure is played twice.
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This exercise can be worked on with my Pattern Morphing concept.

16 patterns can become 256 patterns of 2 measures.

Musical examples are granted for your personal use only.
© 1997 Alain Rieder - all rights reserved

NB - The previous exercise isn't part of my Time Manipulation Drum Book

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CD : Tower of Power - T.O.P.
Drummer : Russ McKinnon
Track 01 : Soul With A Capital "S"
Here are two short excerpts from the song:
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