- Rolling Stone's Bill Miller from Steve Jordan's instructional video, The Groove Is Here.

Good drummers have the passion to create rhythms and sounds in their heads, and the technique to pull them off. This can be exciting to watch, and the better the drummer, the longer the the viewer's attention is held. After a while though, the viewer gets so filled with information that they tend to glaze over and become ready for a break. Eventually the viewer gets sated. And then the passion they initially enjoyed becomes noise and the technique they were awed by is reduced to math and exercise. Sooner or later, a good drummer, no matter how talented, becomes tiring.

And yet, great drummers don't have this problem. People can listen to a great drummer all night long and enjoy every minute of it. A great drummer can bring a crowd to a state of euphoria, keep them there as long as they want to, and leave them drenched in sweat and heaving with satisfaction. So what is the difference between good drummer and a great one? 

The difference is in the drummer's priorities. Great drummers focus more on the consistency, spacing, and volume of their notes and the depth of their feel. These skills make for a very different musical experience. While good drummers are merely fun to watch, great drummers can create an interactive adventure that produces a much deeper and more satisfying experience. The difference between good and great lies in the drummer's ability to groove. 

"Grooving" is when players lock up rhythmically and emotionally (matching a feel) to create what's called a "pocket".  As a drummer, playing "in the pocket" means your notes are even in their spacing, your time is steady, and your feel is consistent.  When your drumming exemplifies this control the listener can better predict when and how your notes will fall. This enables fellow musicians to dig deeper into the groove and play with more imagination and confidence, knowing they can trust their hits to land with yours. Audience members are also affected. When your note spacing and volume levels are consistent enough to rely upon and your pocket is clear and deliberate enough to convey an emotion, audience members will be unconsciously compelled to move to the music. Laying down a good groove makes dancing natural and easy. 

Grooving makes a song better by inspiring the musicians and by connecting the audience members, and yet the subject is often overlooked by even experienced drummers. It's commonly assumed that the ability to groove comes naturally with time, as so happens with technique and facility. It is assumed that the precision of your notes eventually locks into place while you are practicing other (more interesting) things. 

But that isn't always the case. Grooving isn't something you necessarily pick up after a certain amount of time behind the drum set. This is because, unlike coordination and dexterity, which naturally get better as you gain experience playing, grooving is more of a concept than a lick or pattern. Instead of inevitably getting around to working on grooving you are more likely to discover it suddenly after recording with a great producer or playing with an experienced band. 

So how do you start grooving if you are not grooving now? The first step is to recognize what grooving is when you hear it. (What does it sound like to "groove"?) The second step is choosing to emulate what you hear. (How can my playing sound like that, too?) There are three basic components that can improve the depth, weight, and consistency of your groove:

    Time - Creating accurate note spacing/volume control 

 Facility - Ironing out the gaps in your coordination

     Feel - Learning how convey emotion in your playing

Once you have discovered how note placement, volume levels, parts, and tones can affect your groove, you are ready to find the pulse of the song, create the appropriate pocket, and learn how to stay within that pocket during the fills, section changes, stops/starts, etc. that may take place in the course of a song.

Grooving is important to work on no matter what your drumming aspirations but especially if you are thinking about a career in music. Playing "in the pocket" is an essential step to playing professionally because grooving is what the people who hire drummers want to hear.  

Besides grooving I also like to teach/discuss a few other topics that I happen to have experience, interest, or thoughts about. I also offer career counseling for aspiring professionals. If you think I can help you with anything please click How it works for more info... 

I have a book called Groove Control which is available on this site. I think it is a valuable book and I enjoy working out of it but it isn't mandatory to purchase for lessons.

Thanks for looking!

Steve Bowman