Questions about composing

[iommi]

No..this is not a thread where i am gonna ask abt how to compose riffs...

Let's say i have scratched my head and played all the scales i know..And finally come up with some nice sounding riff....When i play it,it sounds good....But i certainly haven't been thinkin anything abt note durations..It sounds good and that's all matters...I guess that's what every guitarist does...I don't think anyone is gonna like say "Ok...This will be a song we'll do at 120 bpm and this note i am gonna play will be a quarter note and am doin it in 3/4 time or whatevr?"

My question is then where exactly does all this rhythm sense come into play?A lot has been said abt how a guitarist shouldn't fall out of time...But when it is u who creates the music,how exactly can u fall out of rhythm?

And basically isn't it the drummer's headache he puts out a backin which matches my riff?Like u create a furious fast riff..he's expected to do some fast furious drummin..So that the combination creates a good pushin fast feel?

[smfulla]

rhythm sense comes into play when you analyze your riff. Most people I know can't really remember a riff they wrote for weeks on end and want to write it down. When you analyze your riff, you will be able to find out what time signature(s) its in, what notes to use, and what bpm it is. And it usually sounds better when you stick to a bpm.

You can fall out of rhythm by being behind the beat or infront of it. Sometimes this sounds good... but if you fall too far behind, then its gunna sound way different to what you wanted originally

When it comes to writing a song as a group... you have to compromise to get what sounds best for the song. So maybe your lightning fast riff will have to be changed to actually get the best drive for the song, or maybe you could help your drummer to find a better beat.

[gck]

as far as I remember there's a pretty good "lesson" on the problematic of time sigs when transcribing music at Steve Vai's homepage (http://www.vai.com). By the way, there are even some more lessons there, from the man himself!

[55'gibby]

think about the rhythm of a song like the pentameter of a poem, how fast or slow you say the poem doesn't affect the pentameter. the same is true with music. once the rhythm is set, everything else is used to elaborate the rhythm. you can elaborate the rhythm is two basic methods point (parallel) or counterpoint (serial). in the point method everyone play in the same time and pattern (everyone plays the down beat for example) and by counterpoint each person plays a role in the rhythm (some play the up beat, some the down for example). you can mix and match when you point or counterpoint as you see fit, just because you started one way doesn't mean you have to stay that way. one true-ism is the fact that everyone is in the same time signature either as a group or as a collective. in your typical 4 or 5 piece band it is up to the rhythm section of the band to hold the rhythm, the soloist and remaining members to build upon the rhythm.

as far as falling out of time goes, you either play the right beat the right way or your going to sound bad, if the whole band is doing it, even just a little, the band will sound shabby and will give the impression of just noise.


P.S. point and counterpoint can be used musically as well as rhythmically.