July 2015 RJ Clinic Grooving in form pt 1

Grooving in Form Part 1: AABA Beats by Mike Johnston One of the first things you learn when you begin to play in bands is form, and one of the most popular song forms is AABA. Before we get into our lesson, lets first define the traditional AABA structure. The A part is the main section of the songoften referred to as the verseand is repeated. The two verses are followed by the B section, aka the bridge, which is musically different from the first section. The bridge gives the song contrast before transitioning back to the final A section. The B section often provides contrast in lyrics, melody, harmony, rhythm, or texture. Its also known as the middle eight, in reference to its placement in the form and the number of measures, or its sometimes called the release. It occurred to me years ago that the AABA form might work just as well on a shorter time scale. What if each beat of a measure was treated as either an A or a B In that instance you could have a groove where beats 1, 2, and 4 are considere