The KJ and Will show!... Just kidding everyone. ; Last week I had the privilege of rehearsing with KJ Scriven for a worship concert in Florence South Carolina. This is an original song KJ wrote that we only performed once together. We only rehearsed the song together once before we shot this video. KJ is one of those artists you have to pay close attention to because his style is often full of improvisation. Also KJ is a drummer so he knows what he likes and wants. That can be intimidating if you are not confident and the artist is not humble. KJ however is a very humble guy and I will say that we are of one heart and mind musically. While performing together we tend to speak the same language, spiritually, emotionally, and technically. I believe this is a good video to display improvisation, creativity, and technique upon the congas in an urban, jazz, pop, Gospel & R&B type setting (whew that is a mouthful). The tones and notes I am applying here are bass, slap, muff and some open notes. Focus mainly on the bass, slap, and muff and use open to accent the breaks and vocals of the song. I find that in many melodic soulful or pop settings it is very important to use a combination of bass and muff to deliver a full fat sound. The bass gives it the low end and the muff delivers a full softer open resonance of the drum. Below this paragraph is a rough notation of what I am actually playing. Remember L=Left hand R=Right hand B=Bass S=Slap M=Muff and T=Touch (although in this scenario the touches are not necessarily ghost notes but rather slightly softer than a regular open or muff tone. Listen to the sound and let that be your guide. It should blend well with the rythm.) The Bass is played on the 1 and downbeats while slaps are used for the accent. Notice artists like KJ will have a body language that will tell you when and where to play the downbeat or on the one. In this case when he rocks forward, dips his right shoulder and administers a harder sharper down stroke on the guitar that is him feeling the downbeat or bass as well as the accents. Also the intonation and inflection of his voice will change. There are improvisations of course and this is only a crude explanation however I hope it gives insight to what is going on in our minds as we play. A lot of it is in technique and development of such but the reliance upon following your heart after you have practiced (what "feels" right) and above all God's guidance during the song should be your strongest leading. God bless you guys and don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and give us feedback.
