3. What is Groove?

What is groove?

Consumers of popular music may have a difficult time describing exactly what a groove is, beyond it being a feeling or vibe associated with a particular music. And yet they do know how to respond to the groove - through movement. A groove needs to be felt. The presence of groove in pop music naturally lends itself to dance, and this may in fact be the best way to listen to and understand grooves.

​

In more concrete terms, Ethan Hein defines groove as “a small musical cell that repeats indefinitely”. In music software, groove specifically means “the degree to which a rhythm deviates from the straight metronomic grid” (Hein). Groove can be achieved by intentionally playing sounds slightly behind the beat or in front of the beat and is thus “a way of stretching and bending strict metronomic time” (Ibid). There is a sense of ‘push and pull’, both in the interaction between performers, and the play between metronomic time and musical time, which creates tension and drives the energy of the music (Meelberg). Groove is experienced as a ‘process’, with repetitions of the main pattern varied by small deviations, or even complete breaks, which bring revitalisation and create listener suspense.

​

Features of groove include:

• Repetition of musical cells

• Static and often blues-based harmonies

• Short, circular melodies if present

• Lack of large-scale linear structures

• Frequently defined by drums, electric guitar and bass

​

Melodic and harmonic elements that may be present within musical cells are subservient to the temporal aspect of groove – the organisation of the sound patterns within time. This aspect involves an interplay between beat, metre and rhythm. Groove cannot be effectively notated, but is best realised in actual performance through the interaction between musical sounds created by the performers (Meelberg).

​

Groove is different to a song in which the “hierarchical organisation of smaller cells. . . form a linear sequence with a beginning, middle and end” (Hein). While repetition is still an important feature of song, it is the larger-scale structure, involving the elements of melody, harmony and musical form, which provides listener interest and expectation as the music develops through a series of events towards certain musical goals. Grooves are usually contained within songs as individual sections or phrases, but the overall organisation of a song is linear.

​

Scroll down to listen to some examples of groove in the music videos. What makes each groove distinctive? Consider the elements of duration, texture, tone colour and pitch. How is variation used within repetitions of the groove?

​

References / Further Reading

​

Hein, E. (2014). What is groove? Retrieved from http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2014/what-is-groove/

​

Hein, E. (2020). Songs vs grooves. Retrieved from http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2020/songs-vs-grooves/

​

Hein, E. (2021) Groove melodies. Retrieved from http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2021/groove-melodies/

​

Hein, E. (2021). Groove harmony. Retrieved from http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2021/groove-harmony/

​

Hein, E. (2021). Pieces vs songs vs grooves. Retrieved from http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2021/pieces-vs-songs-vs-grooves/#more-23323

​

Hein, E. (2013). Why isn't repetitive music boring to listen to? Retrieved from http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2013/why-isnt-repetitive-music-boring-to-listen-to/

​

Meelberg, V. (2011). Moving to become better: the embodied performance of musical groove. Retrieved from http://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/11612/11613

​

Zbikowski, L. (2004). Modelling the groove: conceptual structure and popular music. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 129(2), 272-297.

​

​

​