bassland - Words, Syncopations and Cartoons

WORDS, SYNCOPATIONS AND CARTOONS
By huskybones

Hello there music lovers! I want to introduce you to an idea that I came up with for practicing syncopated rhythms and forcing the hands to do new thing's.

I'm going to start with an explanation of note divisions and syncopation so if you know it, skip to the next paragraph.

Ok, to count l6th notes, tap your foot slowly and count each tap (up to four then start again). These are the quarter notes and the basic pulse of the music. The sixteenth note divides each of these into four even beats (4x4=16). They are usually counted I-e-and- a-2-e-and-a. I'm going to use "&" instead of "and" though. Tap again and say the phrase I-e-&-a 2-e-&-a etc.. The numbers should happen when your foot is down and the "&" should be when your foot is up. All four beats should be evenly spaced. Got it? OK.

When we combine a steady stream of l6th notes and a spoken sentence together we get unusual rhythms. We need to first interpret where the words fall and kind of fit them into one of the 16 slots. That gives you what I'll call the "accent". Then we play the 16th notes all the way through and add the accents wherever they fall. It's the "wherever" part that makes this a useful practice tool. The way I'm doing this on the bass is that I play the 16th notes (le&a2e&a) on the low string and the accents (the words) on the higher ones. Good string crossing exercise too!

Anyway, on to the task at hand. Example 1 is from that funky old mo##$%#%f&#%ker Abe Lincoln. Must have been the hat. Ex. 2 is obviously the famous moon landing quote. Can you say Mothership Connection? Example 3 is written the way I've been practicing it but I realized once I typed it in that it's actually; "Ask not what your country can do for you..." It might have been the way I was feeling at the time though. Feel free to play it "correctly".

You will, of course, recognize the Flintstones theme in example 4 and note that it comes from a song and not a famous quote. Hawever I found it to be quite difficult so I included it for your enjoyment. You can see that the possible combinations are endless so have fun and see ya next time.

Wiiiiiilllmmmaaaa!!!!
-hb

	huskybones2@yahoo.com

	WORDS, SYNCOPATIONS AND CARTOONS By huskybones Hello there music lovers! I want to introduce you to an idea that I came up with for practicing syncopated rhythms and forcing the hands to do new thing's. I'm going to start with an explanation of note divisions and syncopation so if you know it, skip to the next paragraph. Ok, to count l6th notes, tap your foot slowly and count each tap (up to four then start again). These are the quarter notes and the basic pulse of the music. The sixteenth note divides each of these into four even beats (4x4=16). They are usually counted I-e-and- a-2-e-and-a. I'm going to use "&" instead of "and" though. Tap again and say the phrase I-e-&-a 2-e-&-a etc.. The numbers should happen when your foot is down and the "&" should be when your foot is up. All four beats should be evenly spaced. Got it? OK. When we combine a steady stream of l6th notes and a spoken sentence together we get unusual rhythms. We need to first interpret where the words fall and kind of fit them into one of the 16 slots. That gives you what I'll call the "accent". Then we play the 16th notes all the way through and add the accents wherever they fall. It's the "wherever" part that makes this a useful practice tool. The way I'm doing this on the bass is that I play the 16th notes (le&a2e&a) on the low string and the accents (the words) on the higher ones. Good string crossing exercise too! Anyway, on to the task at hand. Example 1 is from that funky old mo##$%#%f&#%ker Abe Lincoln. Must have been the hat. Ex. 2 is obviously the famous moon landing quote. Can you say Mothership Connection? Example 3 is written the way I've been practicing it but I realized once I typed it in that it's actually; "Ask not what your country can do for you..." It might have been the way I was feeling at the time though. Feel free to play it "correctly". You will, of course, recognize the Flintstones theme in example 4 and note that it comes from a song and not a famous quote. Hawever I found it to be quite difficult so I included it for your enjoyment. You can see that the possible combinations are endless so have fun and see ya next time. Wiiiiiilllmmmaaaa!!!! -hb