FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS, WE’VE concentrated on applying sixteenth-note rhythms to funk and soul vamps. But guess what? All of these rhythms are applicable to any style of music. This month, we take a single rhythmic motif—including its cutshort and full-duration versions (and combinations of both)—and apply it at various tempos to both chords and single-notes in a half-dozen different musical genres.
Ex. 1a presents the staccato version—a sixteenth-to-eighth-to-sixteenth motif on beat one, a sixteenth-rest-to-sixteenth-plus eighth on beat two, and a single eighth-note hit on the downbeat of beat three. Ex. 1b shows the full-length version, which sustains each hit for its fullest value, sans rests, while Ex. 1c combines elements of both variations.
LET’S DANCE
The two-bar, IIm7-Imaj7 figure illustrated in Ex. 2 utilizes Ex. 1a and echoes our previous funk and soul apps, but its slower tempo lends itself well to pop and R&B ballads. Repeat as shown, and then add one bar each of Ebmaj7, Dm7, Cm7, Bbmaj7, Abmaj7, and Bb6 to create a slow and sultry version of Todd Rundgren’s “Hello It’s Me.” (Tip: Try playing this and all of the following examples with both straight and swing sixteenth-note feels.)
COUNTRY-FIED
In Ex. 3, we graft single-notes and an oblique bend (all derived from the C pentatonic major scale) to the full- length version of our versatile Ex. 1b motif, and out comes a cool, two-bar country lick. Hold the bend and barred pinky notes on beat three of bar 1—note how this creates a first-inversion C triad—and let everything ring as you cross into bar 2, arpeggiate the notes in reverse, and release the bend.
JAZZED UP
Ex. 4’s jazzy chord-melody snippet features a