Millions,
So, I’m talking music with a fairly…nonmusical person and he asked me what was meant by “the pocket.” You know, that place where the bass & the drums usually hang out. I tried explaining it, tried thinking about how to explain it, and ended up throwing up my hands and saying “it’s like deja vu; you either know what it is or you don’t. Explanation is impossible.”
Of course, that’s just me, being lazy. Anyone want to tell me what I should’ve said?
“When the rhythm section sounds like they are playing with the same brain”
Aha…
But that’s “being in the pocket” instead of, simply, “the pocket.”
Nah, I suspect you’re overthinking this. I have no etymological cites for this, but as a musician who plays rhythm guitar with an incredibly tight rhythm section, I have always thought about the phrase “being in the pocket” means basically “being in that safe place that you two both recognize”
I had an earlier thread asking “how should you explain swing?” the point being that it doesn’t matter whether the beat swings or not, but whether, relative to one another, the rhythm section are doing the same things.
So, in other words, there is no “pocket” unto itself - there is only a pocket made when the players agree musically. So DBreign has it right…
Okay, you got me. That’s just me being lazy. I’ll think on it and get back to you. (I have to go run an errand right now.)
Well, FWIW, I’ve never heard this expression used out of the context of a rhythm section being “in the pocket.” I don’t think “the pocket” means anything on its own.
Just as I feared…
I’ve read that the drummer should be just a hair ahead of the melody, and the bass player should drag behind by a tiny margin. Everybody else plays in between.
I’ve never heard it used in any other context either, but the first time I heard it, I knew what “the pocket” meant to me. I don’t think anyone has said anything wrong here. It’s just a subjective thing, not lending itself well to a simple definition. What is “love” or what does “is” mean?
Typically, written music is an aproximation of what the writer intends. In most music, the tempo will vary slightly throughout the song. Speeding up, slowing down, it’s an “organic” thing that gives the song it’s “feel”. Sometimes the rhythm section will play a fraction of a fraction ahead of the beat, giving the listener the sense that the song is faster than it really is. Sometimes they play slightly behind the beat giving a more somber feel to things. In both cases the tempo actually stays (mostly) the same.
When the rhythm section is playing “in the pocket”, they are dead on the beat. The one falls on one and the three falls on three. Exactly. Every time, like a machine. “Drivin’ the bus”, as it were. For examples listen to Bernard Purdie or Steve Gadd. (I only know drummers, sorry.)
So, for me anyway, “the pocket” is that very small fraction of time between ‘slightly ahead of the beat’ and ‘slightly behind the beat’. In other words, dead on.
Others are welcome to totally disagree. Like I said, this interpretation is mine and mine alone.
This doesn’t read exactly how I meant it. What I mean is the one and the three fall exactly where the “feel” of the song indicates they should be. Not necessarily where the metronome says they are.
(Note to self: think twice, post once.)