Year 7 - Music
The feel of the kick and snare in an RnB groove
Fills and variation in RnB drum grooves
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit develops pupil understanding of drum grooves, specifically how to create variation through adding embellishments around the basic rock groove. Pupils also learn about the fundamental shared features of pop music.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to use the kick and snare drum when creating a typical groove used in R'n'B music.
Key Notes
- R'n'B (rhythm and blues) grooves in the late 20th century are built around the interaction of the kick and snare.
- Two features of these grooves are the snare playing a backbeat and quaver and semiquaver upbeats on the kick
Vocabulary To Learn
- R'n'B: R'n'B stands for rhythm and blues; it covers a range of music made mostly by Black Americans in the last 70 years
- semiquaver: a note lasting for a quarter of a beat
- metronome: a device that clicks/ticks a beat to keep a player in time
- playhead: a vertical line that shows which part of the track is being played
- upbeat: a note that precedes a strong beat
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Any note that precedes a strong beat is an upbeat.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
R'n'B (rhythm and blues) grooves in the late 20th century are built around the interaction of the kick and snare. Two features of these grooves are the snare playing a backbeat and quaver and semiquaver upbeats on the kick.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'R'n'B'
R'n'B stands for rhythm and blues; it covers a range of music made mostly by Black Americans in the last 70 years.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Any note that precedes a strong beat is an upbeat. Correction: An upbeat sounds like it musically belongs to the strong beat. Find a good non-example in a melody or drum groove to show how an upbeat both precedes the strong beat and also creates emphasis, often due to following a rest.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 7 Music guide library.