Groove Harmony outline
My plan for an eventual book about harmony and structure in blues, funk, hip-hop and dance music
I recently got involved in some music theory pedagogy discourse on Twitter, about which you do not care. There was some discussion of the fact that I'm planning to write a teaching resource for groove-based popular music, particularly blues, funk, hip-hop and dance music. I thought it would be a good idea to post what I'm planning for it. Note that the title is a placeholder until I think of something better. (Unfortunately, Groove Theory is taken.)
I am not a music theorist by training, and I have no ambition to present a coherent theory of this music. It's more of a set of heuristics and patterns, with a focus on aspects of the music that are not explained well by Western tonal theory or jazz theory. I don't have a plan for publication. Maybe I'll pitch it to an academic press, or to a commercial press, or do a subscriber thing on Substack. I'm open to suggestions on this. Here's the outline.
Introduction
What is groove?
Groove structures and attention
Why Groove Harmony
Types of groove harmony
Blues, funk, and hip-hop
The white racial frame of music theory
Groove
Loop structures
Binary structures and hypermeter
Harmonic rhythm
Longer-form grooves
Odd-length grooves
Deep listen: Miles Davis, "So What"
The metrical grid
Counting and subdivisions
Time signatures
Tempo: "How fast" vs "how dense"
Basic drum programming
Time-unit box systems and drum machines
Strong beats and weak beats
Syncopation and the backbeat
Deep listen: Parliament, "Mothership Connection"
Polymeter and hemiola
Basic polyrhythm: duple vs triple
Advanced polyrhythm
Deep listen: Kendrick Lamar, "DUCKWORTH"
Onbeats and offbeats
Swing ratio
Eighth note swing vs sixteenth note swing
Straight and late
Deep listen: Ray Charles, "You Are My Sunshine"
Unquantized time vs Dilla time
Overlapping grids
Warped grids
Deep listen: Slum Village, "Get Dis Money"
Harmony
One note
Pitch and frequency
Drones and pedals
Creative challenge: One-Note Groove
Two notes
Consonance and dissonance
Octaves
Fifths
Thirds
Sevenths
Other intervals
Creative challenge: Two-Note Groove
Three notes
Trichords
Triads
Creative challenge: Three-Note Groove
Four Notes
Tetrachords
Other seventh chords
Creative challenge: Seventh Chord Groove
Five notes
Deep listen: Sonny Rollins, "Sonnymoon for Two"
The Lick
Creative challenge: Pentatonic Groove
Six notes
Minor blues and major blues
Creative challenge: Blues Melody
Seven Notes
The melodic minor necklace
Deep listen: John Coltrane, "My Favorite Things"
Creative challenge: Modal Groove
Stacking thirds
Voice leading and inversion
Modal interchange
Stacking fourths
Going Further
Twelve-tone equal temperament
Between the piano keys
Pitch bends and cents
Blue notes
Is the blues based on just intonation?
Deep listen: Prince, "Starfish and Coffee"
The blues scale as chord roots
Deep listen: Deee-Lite, "Groove is in the Heart"
Deep listen: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"
Establishing key centers in a groove
Dual tonicity
What if there is no key center?
Deep Listen: Mary J Blige, "Family Affair"
I want feedback on this from musicians, teachers, students, music theorists, and anyone else who knows or wants to know about groove-oriented Black American music. Let me know what you think.
Totally support this. I want to see more educational material for rhythm out there! I like what you laid out.
Here’s something that I found helpful in describing elements of a groove from 8-bit Music Theory.
https://youtu.be/FoMmVlAvjmM
I'm just a groovy percussionist, but your outline looks amazing. I would definitely buy your book!