As mentioned in last week’s post, timing is defined as the rate of speed in which the ensemble is performing. Note that individual musicians can be ahead or behind the beat and still be performing the song at the same speed. Think about the concept of a timing light when tuning up a (very ancient) car. The spark can be placed when the piston is at TDC (top dead center), behind TDC or ahead of TDC. The engine is going at the same speed (RPM) in all three cases.
Similarly with music, notes can be placed on the beat, ahead of the beat or behind the beat without changing the speed of the song – and with dramatically different consequences. Generally speaking, placing one’s notes at TDC is a sure-fire way to a great groove and is to be encouraged. When you are practicing your solos, make sure that each note lies directly on top of the metronome “click” and chill bumps will arise on your spine. Oh, you don’t have a metronome? Unless you are one in a million of us that has an atomic clock buried somewhere deep in your hypothalamus, you probably should get one. But I digress.
Placing everything exactly at TDC, just like Earl did with every single note he ever played, can lead to great bluegrass music. However, this is not the only way to nirvana. Consistently and deliberately placing notes ahead of the beat can build tension and excitement in a solo. Bill Monroe used this to great effect in some of his mandolin breaks. A word of caution: if leading the beat is done inappropriately or to excess, it can sound like the soloist is rushing or pushing time and can ruin any sense of groove. Further, and perhaps more importantly, if the rhythm section (read: bass player) gives in to the tension and starts chasing the notes instead of holding a steady rate of speed, then the song will take off with no brakes just like the ol’ 97 did between Lynchburg and Danville.
Alternatively, deliberately soloing just a bit behind the beat can paradoxically add incredible drive to the music – listen to some of banjoist Sammy Shelor’s solos as an example. This guy has an amazing ability to retard his note placement just enough to sound like the coolest thing on the planet. However, if done to excess, or in the wrong song, being behind the beat can make a song feel like it is dragging and everyone will fall into a deep REM sleep immediately.
Finally, an ultra-important factor associated with timing is the degree of syncopation or amount of swing (or lilt) that the music is being played with. Syncopation is a highly misunderstood concept - strictly speaking it is the placement or emphasis of a note in an unanticipated fashion. This could be, for example, an unusually stressed note within a repeating series of notes. Syncopated timing refers to the consistent placing of select notes (e.g. every other note) ahead of where the ear expects to hear them. The degree to which this is done is called the amount of "swing" or "lilt". For example, a "square" rhythm with no syncopation would sound like this: Da Da Da Da... Introducing a certain amount of syncopation or swing would be rendered like this: Da d'Da d'Da d'Da... (Musically this can be written as a "dotted eighth note + a sixteenth note.") You can see that the shorter d’ pulls the immediately following Da ahead of where your ear would expect it to be. The relative length of the d' when compared to the Da would be the degree of swing.
Note that individual songs can and should have dramatically different amounts of swing – even if played by the same ensemble. For example, the song Rollin' in my Sweet Baby's Arms is usually rendered with a pretty square rhythm. On the other hand, a slower song such as Jimmy Martin's You Don't Know my Mind can and should be swung to some degree.
The consistency in the degree of syncopation among the instruments being played in a band is, in my opinion, one of the essences of achieving a great groove. If every instrument in the ensemble is performing with the same degree of syncopation, and with the beat right at TDC, magic starts to happen as the notes line up. This refers, of course, to the amount of lilt in the guitar strum, the banjo roll, the mandolin notes, the fiddle bowing, and most especially the durations of the bass notes. We will cover each of these in future Key of Bluegrass blog postings.
In summary, a great groove can happen when all the basics have been covered, and the entire band is sync'd up with the same degree of lilt. Pure and absolute beauty emerges. Time stands still. Everything appears as if it is happening in slo-mo. Members of the band enter a trance-like state accompanied by drooling and moaning followed by writhing on the floor. Even a whirling dervish will have nothing on you at this point!
Keep on pickin’
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