Comments on: Dancing and songwriting

By: Do you have groove? (hint: you do)

Do you have groove? (hint: you do) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:59:31 +0000

[...] written about the relationship between dance and music before, but never really about groove. Beginner musicians will complain all the time that they don’t [...]

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:35:35 +0000

@James Lewin : Thanks!

@Jeff : Great idea to record multiple versions. In fact, many do it for vocal mixes when delivering to an artist, but doing two different solos is pretty nifty. Sometimes though, I find myself liking music that throws me off…but the enjoyment is more an intellectual exercise (ie. Dream Theater). It really depends on the type of audience you’re looking for too. More sophisticated listeners will want more sophisticated music, and sometimes that includes “weird” time signatures. If someone just wants to get down and boogie…it’s gonna have to be 4/4 or maybe a waltzy 3/4.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:18:47 +0000

So true… it’s funny, because I was recently playing a song I’m working on for some friends, and the song reached the solo where the time shifts to 7/4, and one of the listeners shouted, “What’s this?” I hit pause, and asked what she meant, and she said, “You can’t dance to this.” Her reaction had a big impact on me, and I’ve since instructed the drummer to record two versions — one with a 4/4 beat under the solo and one with 7/4 — so that I can have a slightly weird version of the song and a danceable one, too!

Jeff

By: James Lewin

James Lewin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:27:39 +0000

Great post!