Hey Friend,
Rhythm is the foundation of music. It is the base on which we build songs.
Rhythm gives a framework for our brains to follow. If there were no established rhythm in a piece of music, it would be very difficult to consistently perform it.
You’d never know when to speed up or slow down, how long to hold notes and chords, or even how to to count out any sort of beat.
In short, it would be a hot mess.
Now I don’t know about you, but I think it could be an interesting experiment to try. Write a song without any established rhythm…
Hmmm... It’s probably been done.
In fact, it’s known as “ free time,” and performing in this manner would require a great deal of intuition into your fellow band members playing.
You’re not going to run into this rhythmic style often at all. Turns out most forms of chants are free time based, but you don’t hear much chanting in contemporary music.
There have been some progressive Rock artists that have incorporated free time - Pink Floyd in " Interstellar Overdrive," Radiohead (the first two minutes of this one), King Crimson. Even the Allman Brother’s Band in “ Whipping Post” (about the 10 minute mark).
I can tell you we aren’t going to spend any more time with this style of music. I have more than enough inspiration from music that has established rhythm, and there’s plenty to learn.
If you dig it, you can look for courses in free jazz, most likely from the standpoint of improvisation.
I want to help you get your fundamentals down so you can later branch out into the styles you’re interested in.
Okay, gotta roll… Friday calls...
Have a great one!
Peace~
Dave
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