A good groove can make you tap your feet, bob your head, and snap your fingers.

You can move

the same groove from chord to chord in a tune without changing the basic phrase. Sounds
wimpy? Actually, grooves are anything but wimpy. With the right groove, a good bassist alone
can move a whole roomful of people. A groove is constructed of several elements, and you can
use the different elements to create your own earth-shaking grooves. Check out these guidelines
to help you get started.

Rattling the groove skeleton

The human skeleton consists of about 206 bones, while the groove skeleton consists of just two
bones . . . uh . . . notes. The first two notes of any groove are the groove skeleton. A groove can
contain other notes besides the groove skeleton, but these first two notes are the most important
because they establish the root of the chord, the tempo for the tune, and the feel of the rhythm.
The following list takes a closer look at each one of these elements.

 The root of the chord: You usually play the root as the first note of your groove. The
root of any chord (or scale) is the most important note in that chord - it's the note your ear
gravitates toward (the most satisfying note). The second note, or the other half of the groove
skeleton, is usually a chord tone (root, 3, 5, or 7) that further defines the chord. With these two
notes, you give the listener a good idea of the harmony in a tune.

 The pulse (tempo) of the tune: Music has a certain pulse. The pulse is the speed at
which you count 1-2-3-4, or the speed at which you tap your feet in time with a tune. The pulse
can be fast, slow, or something in between. The time that elapses between the first note and the
second note of the groove skeleton establishes the pulse for the groove and for the song, and lets
the listener know how fast the music is.

 The feel of the rhythm: You can divide a beat only so many ways: into quarters, eighths,
sixteenths, or triplets (no, not babies . . . triplets divide a beat into three equal parts. When you
choose the division of the beat for your groove skeleton, you signal the feel of the groove and the
song to the listener. The feel has nothing to do with tempo (see previous bullet). Different feels
can be applied to the same tempo. A feel can give the listener a sense of urgency or a sense of
laziness in a tune, all without changing the overall tempo of the music.

Figure 1 shows how the groove skeleton creates different feels.

Choosing the right notes for a groove

Playing grooves is an elusive art form. And yes, there's a method to the madness, and a science to
the art.

A few basic guidelines

The following list gives a few basic guidelines to remember when you're creating any groove:
 Choose notes from the appropriate scale for the chord. Almost every tune has its own
unique set of chords that accompanies the music. Your choice of notes needs to correspond to
each particular chord in the tune. If your groove doesn't match harmonically with what's going
on in the music, it's no longer music; it's noise.

 Settle on a finger position. Try to choose notes for your groove that fit into a box (a
pattern of notes on your fingerboard that requires no, or very little, shifting with your left hand.
The less you shift your left hand, the easier it is to play the groove. You may think that sliding all
over your fingerboard looks cool, but the best bassists tend to hold one position for as long as
possible. Your hand gets used to a certain sequence, and you don't even have to think about
playing the groove (after you've practiced it enough, of course).

 Make your groove mobile. Some tunes consist of only one underlying tonality
throughout, so you don't have to move your groove around (just listen to some James Brown
tunes). In most tunes, however, the chords change as the tune proceeds, which means that you
have to move your groove to match the chord changes within the tune. With this type of tune,
you need to make sure that you pick a group of notes that's simple to execute when you move
from chord to chord.

Ranking the best and leaving the rest

The preceding list gives you a general idea of what to consider when creating a groove. The three
most commonly used scales in a groove are the major, minor, and dominant scales. Chords are
made up of the root, the 3, the 5, and sometimes the 7 of the scale they're related to.

Not all notes are created equal. Certain notes in a scale sound better in a groove than others. The
following notes are the prime choices for your grooves (listed in order of importance):
1. Root: No question about it: You have to know the root of each chord in the tune. The root
identifies the sound of the chord for your band and for the listener. For example, a D-minor
chord has D as the root; an E-dominant chord has E as the root. The root is the most important
note in a chord. Your band counts on you to define the sound of each chord for them. That's why
bassists play the root as the first note every time the chord changes, so play that root with
authority.
2. 5th: The 5 reinforces the root, and it's fairly neutral (it fits over any major, minor, or dominant
chord). The interval (distance) between the root and the 5 is the same for major, minor, and
dominant chords. If you have a lot of chord changes between major, minor, and dominant in a
tune, the root and 5 combination is the perfect choice for your groove notes.
3. 3rd: The 3 identifies the chord as either major or minor. Choosing the 3 also forces you to
settle on a hand position. If the chord is major and therefore requires a major 3, start your groove
with your middle finger on the root in order to reach all the notes in the scale for that chord
without shifting. If the chord is minor and therefore requires a minor 3rd, start the groove with
your index finger on the root.
4. 7th: The 7 is another excellent choice for a groove, especially if the chord is minor or
dominant. Minor and dominant chords both have a b7th.
5. 4th: The 4 is a great note to play as a passing note (an unstressed note that you play on your
way to the next important note). A passing note adds a little spice to the groove (it gives the
groove an interesting sound). Just be careful not to emphasize a passing note, as it tends to
obscure the chord.
6. 6th: The 6 is a good choice to play as a neutral note. (No matter what your chord is, the 6 will
generally fit.) As with the 4, you don't want to emphasize it too strongly. Using the 6 as a passing
note would be ideal. Passing notes are used to smooth the passage from one strong note to the
next.
7. 2nd: The 2 is not exactly a terrific choice to include in your groove. It's too close to the root
(only two frets away), so it clashes, and it doesn't give your bass line enough variety. However,
the 2 can work as a passing note.