> Fellow jazz list members, I've been lurking following the discussion
> on how one learns to improvise and have noticed no one has
> mentioned how they use rhythm. It seems everyone is worried about
> what note to play, but I would remind you that when you play the note
> can be just as important as its pitch and tonal relationships. Do any of
> the list members have any rhythmic insights to share?
I'm from Portugal which is a little country in the westerner side of Europe,
and grew up listening among other things to african and brazilian music.
The music from Cabo Verde, Angola, (Portuguese ex-colonies) or from Brazil
(colonized by Portuguese) has all to do with my musical roots.
Being so into african beats, the rhythm gets under your skin, so the whole
off-beat subject is just second nature to me. Also I begun studying music by
the percussive side, and have now some nice practice of hand percussion. In
fact I can say that I'm quite good improvising with rhythm (I also program
sequencer/drum machines which gives a deeper understanding of it all).
My influence from bossanova, provides a lot of rhythmic ideas, so I can say
that is not a problem to me. So I don't stress it. But I would be more than
happy to discuss it.
All this to say I would love to dissect some rhythms here!
Pedro