What is the Groove?

The groove is elusive. It can be hard to find, but it can also come easily at times. With enough effort it can be created, but it can disappear in the blink of an eye. It’s a wave you ride, not a train to hop onto.

Groove is special. It exists only for the time it’s being created. With time, effort, concentration, and emotion we can create it. It’s something that comes from within us, but something that exists outside of us as well. It is its own entity.

Groove is a combination of timing, rhythm, synchronization, and to a certain degree, emotion. One of the most important elements of groove is that it happens in time. Groove is created through the repetition of a specific rhythmic idea in an ongoing way. Groove develops, ebbs and flows, changes over time, but it only exists as long as the repetition is happening. There can be subtle variations and brief deviations from the primary rhythmic idea, but it will always be returned to as the central driving force.

Just because we play does not mean we’re grooving, or that there is groove. Timing is everything. The time has to be consistent. Time and note placements can be played in many ways, but in order to successfully groove, these things need to be done in a consistent way. The way the notes are spaced, the air in between them, needs to be intentional. It must be done in a conscious way, with focus and determination, if the groove is to succeed.

The groove needs to be continuously nurtured and injected with our energy. In return it fuels us as well, because it feels good. It is a mutually reinforcing relationship: our energy into the groove; the groove’s energy into us. When we play, we have to want it. We’re searching, seeking, in earnest to create something intangible outside of ourselves. Because it’s invigorating, inspiring, freeing, and most importantly – fun!

-Alexander Cook