Grooving like Victor Wooten

Victor Wooten, Groove Master

Victor Wooten is a phenomenal musician. He plays bass with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, but he is also an unbelievable solo bassist. If you're unfamiliar with Wooten's music, check him out. He is truly the master of the groove. ("You can't hold no groove if you ain't got no pocket!") 

Today I stumbled upon a video of Wooten explaining how he integrates the metronome into his practice routine. After watching it, my attitude toward the metronome changed drastically. Your teachers aren't lying when they tell you that "the metronome is your friend."

The metronome really is powerful tool, especially when it's used as Victor Wooten uses it. In the clip, he outlines a method of practicing with the metronome which has the goal of weaning yourself off of the metronome. As opposed to relying on an external click to provide the groove, this method helps develop your own internal sense of groove. Check it out:



Applying Wooten's Lesson

So, rather than always setting the metronome to one click per beat (4 clicks in one measure of 4/4), Wooten suggests gradually decreasing the number of clicks per measure (e.g. 2 clicks per measure, then just 1 click per measure). This way, you force yourself to rely only on your internal sense of time. The infrequent metronome clicks now act more as reinforcement of the groove. Or, if your groove deviates at all, the clicks help to correct you and get your internal metronome back on track.

After watching the clip, I migrated to the piano and tried it out for myself. I played a left hand bass line to "Georgia On My Mind" to explore the concept. Bass lines work well for this kind of practice, because they are monophonic (single melodic line) and allow for focused attention on just one aspect of music—in this case, the groove.

I started the metronome at 80 BPM (4 clicks per measure) and played a simple bass line through the form several times. Once I was comfortable with that, I reduced the 'nome to 40 BPM (8 clicks per measure). This variation took some time for me to adjust to. At times I rushed, and at times I lagged behind a bit. But once I locked into the groove, I could really tell. And I knew that I was relying more on my internal metronome than the audible clicks of the external metronome.

After this, I tried out his final practice idea from the YouTube clip. The idea here is to divide an interval of time into 5 beats, so your metronome is clicking once every 5 beats. But instead of using this clicking pattern to play in a 5/4 time signature, play over 4/4. When you do this, the click will sound at a different beat of the measure each time. That looks like this:

Before I could even attempt playing over this metronome pattern, I had to spend some time simply counting along: "One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four." Once you have that mastered, try playing over it! It really puts your internal sense of time to the test!

The Metronome Is Your Friend

Wooten is an excellent teacher, and through these metronome practice exercises, he teaches us a couple main points regarding the metronome:

1. Practicing with the metronome does not have to be boring/dull/static.
2. The metronome isn't there to give you the groove. You supply the groove, and the metronome helps you check it.

So, pull your metronome out of the trash can (and give it a good wash). Resurrect that clicking machine, and try out some of these exercises.

The Gigantic Problem and the Simple Solution

The Gigantic Problem

As I mentioned in my introductory Q&A post, there’s a lot of information out there (in music, or otherwise).

When you look at the study of music all at once, you’ll likely be discouraged. Taken as a whole, the quest for knowledge and skill in music can be seen as a gigantic problem.

For example, a music student might be confused by strange Latin or Greek terminology, bored by the histories of old (dead) composers, or discouraged by a seemingly impossible new piece of music assigned to them by their instructor.

And even once you conquer one case of confusion, or overcome one bout of disinterest of a topic, you'll find that—while you were solving that problem, a new problem has presented itself. At every step of the way, you keep discovering that there is always much, much, more to learn.

You can look at this as an overwhelming, daunting “gigantic problem,” or you can look at it differently...

It's Good to Have Problems

 

Many people perceive a "problem" as a bad thing. This, in fact, is often a proper perception—of course no one wants to have problems (financial, social, medical). Having a problem, in this sense, means that something is wrong.

But in the world of education, a "problem" is an opportunity to learn. In the quest for knowledge—musical or otherwise—it's imperative that you identify problems and take on challenges. Once problems are identified, steps can be taken to think critically and work toward a solution.

It's important to correctly identify the problem at hand!

There's no use in denying the difficulty of the road ahead. It is to our advantage, as learners, to acknowledge that there's a lot to learn. Take Shakespeare's words: "The fool doth think himself wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." Or take any one of these Bible verse translations expressing the same idea.

Looking at the problem realistically and acknowledging that there's a long road ahead is the first step.

The Solution

The learning process—again, in music or otherwise—requires the ability to clearly identify the problem at hand and to ask the best questions to help guide your learning. As Nancy Willard said, "Sometimes questions are more important than answers." If you haven't identified the problem, you can't begin on the solution.

So, give yourself an honest assessment to identify that which you have already learned, and that which you have yet to learn.

From there, the trick is to take baby steps, and to build slowly upon a solid foundation. Learn each new chunk of information by studying and practicing in a thorough, focused manner. Shortcuts and sloppy practice will not result in a solid foundation. (If you build upon a shaky foundation, the structure as a whole will be unsound and will eventually collapse.)

"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs."  —Henry Ford

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward." —Chinese Proverb

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one."  —Mark Twain

As it turns out, a whole slew of successful people  have an affinity for small steps.

Baby Steps in the Practice Room

Although the above advice is nothing new or revolutionary, I have found that it's easy to forget about baby steps when I step into a practice room. I might try to take on more than I can handle, or I might slop through a piece rather than approach it with slow, focused practice.

So, the next time you step into the practice room, keep these keywords in mind:

• Solid foundation
• Baby steps
• Thorough
• Focus

"What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step." —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry