Why Should Beginners Listen To Classic Soul Music?

Are you interested in mastering soul music? Have you been trying to understand the essence of soul music? Whether you are totally new to the world of music or a seasoned musician who is trying to get into soul music, the first thing that you should do is to listen to as much soul music as you can. The more you listen to it, the more familiar you will be with this genre of music. Whether you are learning to play an instrument to accompany soul music singers or you are learning to sing soul music, it is important that you get used to the dynamics of soul music. Only when you listen to this music you will understand the intricacies.

You must not stop with listening to the latest soul music tracks and soul music albums. You must listen to the classic soul music albums. If you want to get the real taste of soul music, you will find it in the classic soul music. Like any other music genre soul music too has be influenced in a number of ways by the other elements. Therefore, if you want to make sure you have the original soul music, then you should select the old albums.

You cannot find some of the classic collections so easily some of the soul music albums are very difficult to find. They have been somehow got buried and they are not available in our regular music stores. They are often found with the soul music enthusiasts and soul music collectors. Therefore, finding such rare soul music can be really difficult. Some people spend months together trying to track some of their favorite classical soul music albums. Especially soul musicians who would like to enhance their soul music skills spend a lot of time and money in acquiring the oldest soul music tracks. Not all of us have the time or money to spend on acquiring such rare soul music.

Things have been made simple here at Raresoulgrooves.com. Here you will find all the rarest collection of soul music. You will not have to surf the web for hours or hop from one music store to the other to find your favorite rare soul music albums. You can find everything you need here. You can get hundreds of soul music tracks that are rare to be found elsewhere. The rare collection they have here are a result of lot of efforts. We can now enjoy the benefit of those years of hard work through just a few clicks. You can easily order all your favorite rare soul music tracks easily and save your precious time to listening and practicing your soul music. The quality of your soul music will improve noticeable levels by constant listening to classical soul music. You will learn to imitate and improvise on the great soul masters. Classical soul music will serve as a good bouncing board for you.

TJ Grooves - Soul Music TV & Rare Soul Grooves.com

Soul Music CDs - Excellent Gift for All Occasions

Not all of us are that gifted in selecting gifts when it comes to picking the right gifts for our loved ones. Some of us have to really think hard to come up with unique gift ideas. At times, it can be the budget that we have for the gift that can be highly constraining and in other situations even when we are ready to spend money we may not be able to think of some unique gifts. If you are stuck for ideas on gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, valentine’s days, etc. Here is a brilliant gift idea that you can use and impress your loved ones.

There can be hardly anyone who does not love music because music is part of our life and it is within each one of us in different forms. All of us appreciate good music though our tastes vary. Therefore, one of the best choices for your gift would be to pick a soul music CD for your loved one. Soul music contains and expresses love in the most vivid way. If your man loves music, then you can certainly impress him by getting some good old collection of Soul music. All of us can afford music CDs and it is one of the best ways of expressing your love for your partner. Rare soul music collection will help you express how you feel about your partner and what he or she means to you. They will be drawn closer to you whenever they listen to the Soul music CD that you bought for them.

You do not have to worry, even if your partner is not a Soul music fan in particular. You can introduce him or her to soul music. This music is so empowering and hardly anyone can resist it; you will soon notice your partner getting addicted to soul music. You cannot find any better gift for your loved one than giving them a rare soul music CD. Soul music CDs are also excellent gifts when you want to make up to some one or when you want to say sorry to your loved one. This is more powerful gesture than the classical way of sending flowers. Your partner will adore you for such a thoughtful gesture.

When you want to get a soul music CD for your partner, make sure to find a good collection of songs. When you choose rare soul music tracks, it will become all the more effective especially when your partner is going to be a fan of soul music. If you are wondering where to find the rare to find soul music albums, you will not have to go too far. We have everything you need here. Raresoulgrooves.com has a complete collection of rare soul music albums that you cannot find that easily elsewhere on the web or in your regular music stores. You will find amazing deals on the rare soul music CDs here. Go ahead and pick your rare soul music CD and impress you partner.

TJ Grooves - Soul Music TV & Rare Soul Grooves.com

OK Guys & Girls, we’re trying to compile the top 10 Soul tunes of “all time”. I’ve been trying to compile my Top 10 Soul tracks and it’s not as easy as I thought. So can you help us? Read more

Classic Soul Music to Soothe Us during Recession

Classic Soul Music that has already been enjoying a great popularity in going further up the graph in terms of people’s most preferred music genres. Though soul music had its origin among the black Americans, it is no more limited to them. It is a favorite music genre that people love and no borders, color or race can limit it; everyone enjoys this music equally.

Recently people show extraordinary interest in soul music and in particular classic soul music. Why is this sudden interest? We can probably find the answer if we go to the roots of soul music history. Soul music emerged during difficult times when people were depressed and when there was a general sense of melancholy that prevailed among the black people of America. It has a very specific historical background. We can see that sense of melancholy reflect in the classic soul music, which is typical of this genre of music.

If we look around our own times now, we can see that there is a general depression that is haunting people all over the world. The reason for that depression is to be seen in the economic recession that is subjecting everyone under tremendous financial pressure. Everyone is trying to cut back on their expenses, stop spending money on luxurious things and activities. All of us are trying out to find some extra source of income to make the ends meet. There is so much of uncertainty that shrouds us. Everyone feels oppressed in some way or the other and anxious about the feature. And no wonder that people find soul music to be soothing them during these times.

History is repeating itself but this time it is not just for the black Americans but for the entire world. So classic soul music is the perfect match for people’s mood. It makes them identify themselves with the music. This would be the only known sociological explanation for people’s extraordinary interest in classic soul music. This will pave way for the emergence of more soul music artists and excellent albums. However, it is always a question whether the new generation soul music will match the classic albums. It is becoming difficult to gain access to some of the rare soul music collections, albums and tracks. Soul music enthusiasts who know the value of classical soul music are ready to pay any price for the rare to find soul music albums and tracks. They complain that they are unable to get rare soul music collections despite their readiness to pay for them.

If you are looking for such rare soul music albums, Raresoulgrooves.com will be an ideal online destination for you. You will be able to find all types of rare soul music albums. As a site dedicated to rare soul music, you can find here the best tracks compiled and made available to you at a reasonable prices. Never hesitate go ahead and place your order.

TJ Grooves - Soul Music TV & Rare Soul Grooves.com

So Michael Jackson has just announced that he will be doing a staggering 30 odd dates at the O2 in London, England and this will be his farewell tour. So is Michael still the King of Pop? Read more

Why is it easier to buy your Soul Music CDs Online?

After the arrival of the internet, our life has been simplified to a large extent. We can do so many things by just being at home without having to ever leave our homes. This was not the case before the internet era. We had to drive long distances and find stores to buy our favorite products. Even if we wanted to buy some music CDs of our choice, we have to drive. We can buy our favorite soul music CDs anytime now by sitting right at our desk. All that we have to do to buy our soul music CDs is to go online and search for our favorite CDs.

With online search, we can easily find even most rare soul music CDs in a short period of time. This would not be the case with our regular shopping. We may have to drive from one shop to the other or walk around the stores in our city to find out whether they have the rare soul music CDs that we are searching for. Now in a matter of few seconds we can have all the music stores in our city lined up. It is also possible to make quick searches on the availability of a particular rare soul music CD in those online stores.

Another great advantage of buying our rare soul music CDs is the ability to compare various online stores and their prices. Since we can compare easily the cost of the rare soul music CDs easily, we save a lot of money on the soul music CDs that we buy. Using the savings, we can get more CDs of our choice.

Since we do not drive around from one store to the other, we save a lot of time. Besides that, we save a lot of money on the fuel.

Very often, we postpone our CD shopping for the want of time. When we buy our favorite CDs from our regular stores, we need to find time to visit the store when it is open which often overlaps with our working hours. With online shopping, we never have to worry about it because we can buy our favorite rare soul music CDs any time of the day or night. The online stores are available 24×7.

We can also find a considerable variation in the price of the soul music CDs between the regular stores and the online stores. Online stores sell the soul music CDs at a much cheaper price because of the high level of competition and online stores can more easily lose their prospective buyers as the buyers have so many options before them. Therefore, in order to increase their conversion rates, online stores try to keep their pricing as competitive as possible.

As we can see, there are so many advantages in buying our soul music CDs from online stores. When we buy our soul music CDs from Raresoulgrooves.com, we can find even the most rare soul music CDs that we cannot find in any other online store or offline store.

TJ Grooves - Soul Music TV & Rare Soul Grooves.com

All You Ever Wanted To Know About R&B

Rhythm and blues (or R&B) was coined as a musical marketing term in the United States in 1949 by Jerry Wexler at Billboard magazine, and was used to designate upbeat popular music performed by African American artists that combined jazz, gospel, and blues. It replaced the term race music, which was deemed offensive, as well as the Billboard category name “Harlem Hit Parade,” in June of 1949, and was initially used to identify the rocking style of music that combined the 12 bar blues format and boogie woogie with a backbeat, later known as rock and roll. In 1948, RCA Victor was marketing black music under the name “Blues and Rhythm,” but the words were reversed by Wexler of Atlantic Records, the most aggressive and most dominant label in the R&B field in the early years. By the 1970s, rhythm and blues was being used as a blanket term to describe soul and funk as well. Today, the acronym “R&B” is almost always used instead of “rhythm and blues”, and defines the modern version of the soul and funk influenced African-American pop music that originated with the demise of disco in 1980.

ORIGINALl RHYTHM & BLUES
In its first manifestation, rhythm and blues was a predecessor to rock and roll. It was strongly influenced by jazz and jump music as well as black gospel music, and influenced jazz in return (hard bop was the product of the influence of rhythm and blues, blues, and gospel music on bebop) and African tribal beats.

The first rock and roll consisted of rhythm and blues songs like “Rocket 88″ and “Shake, Rattle and Roll” making an appearance on the popular music charts as well as the R&B charts. “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”, the first hit by Jerry Lee Lewis was an R&B cover song that made #1 on pop, R&B and country and western charts.

Musicians paid little attention to the distinction between jazz and rhythm and blues, and frequently recorded in both genres. Numerous swing bands (for example, Jay McShann’s, Tiny Bradshaw’s, and Johnny Otis’s) also recorded rhythm and blues. Count Basie had a weekly live rhythm and blues broadcast from Harlem. Even a bebop icon like arranger Tadd Dameron also arranged for Bull Moose Jackson and spent two years as Jackson’s pianist after establishing himself in bebop. Most of the studio musicians in R&B were jazz musicians. And it worked in the other direction as well. Many of the musicians on Charlie Mingus’s breakthrough jazz recordings were R&B veterans. Lionel Hampton’s big band of the early 1940s, which produced the classic recording “Flying Home” (tenor sax solo by Illinois Jacquet) was the breeding ground for many of the bebop legends of the 1950s. Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson was a one-man fusion, a bebop saxophonist and a blues shouter.

The 1950s was the premier decade for classic rhythm and blues. Overlapping with other genres such as jazz and rock and roll, R&B also developed regional variations. A strong, distinct style straddling the border with blues came out of New Orleans and was based on a rolling piano style first made famous by Professor Longhair. In the late 1950s, Fats Domino hit the national charts with “Blueberry Hill” and “Ain’t That a Shame”. Other artists who popularized this Louisiana flavor of R&B included Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Frankie Ford, Irma Thomas, The Neville Brothers, and Dr. John.

At the start of their career, The Rolling Stones were essentially an R&B band.

CONTEMPORARY R&B
It was not until the 1980s that the term “R&B” regained ordinary usage. During that time, the soul music of James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone had adapted elements from psychedelic music and other styles through the work of performers like George Clinton. Funk also became a major part of disco, a kind of dance pop electronic music. By the early 1980s, however, funk and soul had become sultry and sexually-charged with the work of Prince and others. At that time, the modern style of contemporary R&B came to be a major part of American popular music.

R&B today defines a style of African-American music, originating after the demise of disco in 1980, that combines elements of soul music, funk music, pop music, and (after 1986) hip hop in the form known as contemporary R&B. In this context only the abbreviation “R&B” is used, not the full expression.

Sometimes referred to as “urban contemporary” (the name of the radio format that plays hip hop and R&B music) or “urban pop”, contemporary R&B is distinguished by a slick, electronic record production style, drum machine-backed rhythms, and a smooth, lush style of vocal arrangement. Uses of hip hop inspired beats are typical, although the roughness and grit inherent in hip hop are usually reduced and smoothed out.

HISTORY
Contemporary R&B singer Mary J. Blige performs on the National Mall during the “NFL Kickoff Live 2003” Concert.With the transition from soul to R&B in the early to mid 1980s, solo singer Luther Vandross and new stars like Prince (Purple Rain) and Michael Jackson (Off the Wall, Thriller) took over, and dominated the primary schools throughout the 1980s. Jackson’s Thriller, which repopularized black music with pop audiences after a post-disco backlash among United States mainstream audiences, is the best-selling album of all time worldwide.

Female R&B singers like Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson gained great popularity during the last half of the decade; and Tina Turner, then in her 50s, came back with a series of hits with crossover appeal. Also popular was New Edition, a group of teenagers who served as the prototype for later boy bands such as the New Kids on the Block, The Backstreet Boys, and others.

In 1986, Teddy Riley began producing R&B recordings that included influences from the increasingly popular genre of hip hop music. This combination of R&B style and hip-hop rhythms was termed new jack swing, and artists such as Keith Sweat, Guy, Jodeci, and BellBivDeVoe (featuring former members of New Edition). Another popular, but short-lived group, with more pronounced R&B roots was Levert, whose lead singer, Gerald Levert, was the son of O’Jays lead vocalist Eddie Levert.

In the early 1990s, R&B group Boyz II Men repopularized classic-soul inspired vocal harmony, and several similar groups (among them Shai, Soul for Real, and Dru Hill) would follow in their footsteps. Boyz II Men, and several of their competitors, benefited from lush ballads from producers such as Babyface and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who brought Michael Jackson’s sister Janet Jackson to fame during the late 1980s and early 1990s. As a solo artist, Babyface and contemporaries such as Brian McKnight eschewed prominent hip hop influences, and recorded in a smooth, soft style of R&B termed quiet storm.

In the early 1990s, alternative rock, adult contemporary, and gangsta rap ruled the charts, and R&B artists began adding even more of a rap/hip hop sound to their work. New jack swing had its synthesizer-heavy rhythm tracks replaced by grittier East Coast hip hop inspired backing tracks, resulting in a genre labeled “hip hop soul” by Sean “Puffy” Combs, producer for Mary J. Blige. Blige and other hip hop soul artists such as R. Kelly, Montell Jordan, Brandy, and Aaliyah, more than their slicker new jack swing predecessors, brought hip hop slang, style, and attitudes to R&B music. The subgenre also includes a heavy gospel influence with vocal inflections and sounds. The style became less popular by the end of the 1990s, but later experienced a resurgence. The hip hop soul sound continues to be heard in the work of artists such as Jaheim, Ashanti, Amerie, and Keyshia Cole.

During the mid-1990s, highly successful artists such as Mariah Carey, girl group TLC and the aforementioned Boyz II Men brought contemporary R&B to the mainstream. Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey recorded several Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, including “One Sweet Day”, a collaboration between both acts which became the longest-running number-one hit in Hot 100 history. In addition, both Boyz II Men and TLC released albums in 1994, II and CrazySexyCool, respectively, that sold over ten million copies, earning them diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Other top-selling R&B artists from this era included singer Toni Braxton, singer/songwriter/producer R. Kelly, and girl group En Vogue.

During the later part of the decade, neo soul, which added a 1970s soul music influence to the hip hop soul blend, arose, led by artists such as D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell. Several artists, most notably Missy Elliott, further blurred the line between R&B and hip hop by recording in both genres simultaneously.

During the late-1990s and early 2000s, the influence of pop on R&B could be heard in the work of several pop musicians, most notably Jennifer Lopez and the later recordings of *NSYNC and the early recordings of 98 Degrees. *NSYNC’s lead singer Justin Timberlake went on to make several solo recordings that showed heavy influences from both R&B and hip hop music. Other pop stars who perform heavily R&B influenced pop music (sometimes referred to as “dirty pop”,”urban pop”, or a modern definition of “hip pop”) include Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, and Pink.

In the United Kingdom, R&B found its way into the UK garage subgenre of 2Step, typified by R&B-style singing accompanied by breakbeat/jungle rhythms. Among the most notable 2Step artists is Craig David, who crossed over to American R&B audiences in the early 2000s.

PRESENT DAY:
By the 2000s, the cross-pollination between R&B and hip hop had increased to the point where, in most cases, the only prominent difference between a record being a hip hop record or an R&B record is whether its vocals are rapped or sung. Mainstream modern R&B has a sound more based on rhythm than hip hop soul had, and lacks the hardcore and soulful urban “grinding” feel on which hip-hop soul relied. That rhythmic element descends from new jack swing. R&B began to focus more on solo artists rather than groups as the 2000s progressed. As of 2005, the most prominent R&B artists include Usher, Beyoncé (formerly of Destiny’s Child), and Mariah Carey whose music often blurs the line between contemporary R&B and pop.

Soulful R&B continues to be popular, with artists such as Alicia Keys,John Legend, Toni Braxton and American Idol winner Fantasia showcasing classic influences in their work. Some R&B singers have used elements of Caribbean music in their work, especially dancehall and reggaeton.

Quiet storm, while still existent, is no longer a dominant presence on the pop charts, and is generally confined to urban adult contemporary radio. Most of the prominent quiet storm artists, including Babyface and Gerald Levert, began their careers in the 1980s and 1990s, although newer artists such as Kem also record in the quiet storm style. Its influence can still be seen in singles such as Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together”.

In addition, several producers have developed specialized styles of song production. Timbaland, for example, became notable for his hip hop and jungle based syncopated productions in the late-1990s, during which time he produced R&B hits for Aaliyah, Ginuwine, and singer/rapper Missy Elliott. By the end of the decade, Timbaland’s influences had shifted R&B songs towards a sound that approximated his own, with slightly less of a hip hop feel. Lil’ Jon became famous for a style he termed “crunk & B”, deriving its influences from the Southern hip hop subclassification of crunk music. Jon gave his main R&B artist, Ciara, the title of “The First Lady of Crunk & B”, and Brooke Valentine and Usher have also recorded R&B songs with strong crunk influences.

CONTEMPORARY R&B SUBGENRES:
These are the major subgenres of contemporary R&B, roughly in chronological order of popularity.

QUIET STORM
Quiet storm is a broad category of R&B and jazz-based music that is mellow, laid-back and often romantic. Its name comes from an innovative radio show that originated at WHUR at Howard University in the mid-1970s, named after Smokey Robinson’s hit 1975 single “Quiet Storm”. Unlike contemporary R&B, quiet storm shows little influence from hip hop, and generally plays to the urban adult contemporary crowd. The genre achieved great mainstream success during the 1980s with artists like Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, and Sade. Among other notable quiet storm musicians are Lionel Richie, Gerald Levert, Joe, and Brian McKnight.

NEW JACK SWING:
A fusion of hip hop music and R&B, new jack swing was distinguished by significant use of rapped choruses or bridges and prominent use of drum machines such as the Roland TR-808. Teddy Riley and his group Guy are credited with being the inventor of the genre; other notable figures include Bobby Brown, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Jodeci, and Boyz II Men. A female alternative, new jill swing, was championed by acts such as Janet Jackson, Total, Shanice, TLC, and SWV.

HIP HOP SOUL
Essentially new jack swing for the 1990s, hip hop soul took the style further towards a pure hip hop sound, usually accompanied by a nervy, gangsta rap-esque image. The sound was remenescent of funk with the inclusion of relatively darker baselines with elongated groove notes. Among its most notable figures were Montell Jordan, BLACKstreet, Groove Theory, and the “Queen of Hip Hop Soul”, Mary J. Blige.

NEO SOUL
Neo soul blends a hip hop influenced R&B sound with the classic soul of the 1970s. True neo soul is characterized by an earthy feel, accented by soul-styled harmonies, and accompanied by alternative hip hop beats. It generally has a much less mainstream sound than general R&B music. Some artists of this genre include Van Hunt, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Angie Stone, Maxwell, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Alicia Keys, and Jill Scott.

Article by Clarence Harrell

The World Of Funk & Disco

Funk Funk music is a musical style which originated in America in the mid to late 1960’s. This musical genre blends together Rhythm and Blues, jazz and soul music into a trendy and danceable style.

Funk concentrates on a strong rhythmic groove from the rhythm section melody and harmony are de-emphasised. Back line instruments such as electric guitar, electric bass, Hammond organ and drums are used to play interlocking grooves. Most funk songs, unlike other musical styles such as soul and R and B, comprise of very few chords sometimes as little as a vamp on one chord. A horn section (saxophones, trumpets and sometimes trombones) is often used in funk bands to provide stabs and punches to accentuate rhythms and grooves.

Performers in this genre include James Brown with songs such as ‘I feel good’, Earth, Wind and fire, Kool and the Gang who had a hit single with ‘Celebration’, and Tower of Power. Funk has had a large influence on more recent forms of music such as disco and hip hop.

Disco Nothing sets of a party better than a bit of disco music, the genre which blended together two favourite music genres, soul and funk. Disco music became popular in the 1970’s and took over the mainstream pop music charts. This music form relies heavily on a very steady four to the floor bass drum beat, a quaver or semi quaver hi-hat pattern using an open hi-hat on the off beat, and a solid, often syncopated electric bass line. The vocals are high impact and use a great deal of reverb. Electric instruments including guitars, pianos, string sounds, often played on synthasisers, play in the background and are less important than the high impact drums and vocals. Popular artists in this genre include ‘The Jackson Five’, ‘The Bee Gees’ and ‘Donna Summer’, music by these artists is bound to get any aged person tapping or too their feet! Disco music helped the creation of techno and house in the 1990’s.

Charlotte Jones - Groove Online

What Is Special About Northern Soul?

Soul music was not only popularized in the US. The UK too had a great role in the popularity of soul music. One cannot talk about the history of soul music completely without making a mention about northern soul music. When we say northern soul music, we are talking about the form of soul music that was popular in the northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul music was basically the recordings of the American soul music and a number of blues. They were all fast beat tracks. A major portion of this music was from the northern States of the United States. It does not mean no music from the southern states of the US came to the UK. The artists from the UK started making their own soul music records by 1970. The term “Northern Soul” was first used by Dave Godin one of the journalist in 1970s.

The Mod Movement contributed a great deal towards the northern music and they shared a great passion for soul music. Many changes took place within the Mod Movement; some of them moved to become psychedelics while others to become skinheads while some stick to hard core Northern Soul.

Northern soul created its own trends in fashion as much as it did with music. Poly velt shoes, blazers with lots of buttons in the shirts and blazers along with baggy trousers became part of northern soul fashion. Club badges were not uncommon among the northern soul music artist. Northern soul has a definitive say on the fashion in 1970s.
Some of the northern soul clubs that contributed significantly to this genre of music include The Catadombs, Casino Club, North Park, Blackpool, KGB, Winter Gardens, VA VA, etc.

Soul music lovers will find that northern soul is one of the expensive genres. People are ready to pay £15,000 for rare soul music from the north. If you have a rare northern soul music collection, then you have a treasure with you. Many of the northern soul artists despite their talents could not shine much because they did not have enough financial backing to promote their projects. So they remained popular at local levels. Northern soul would have seen much greater glory if some of its top musicians had enough financial backing.

You will be able to find some of the most rare soul tunes in the UK and northern England continues to be a popular hub for soul music.

If you are interested in finding rare northern soul music collections, you will be able to find a plenty of collections that you will love at Raresoulgrooves.com. You can enjoy 24 hours TV with lovable soul tracks. You can also order some of the rarest tracks and albums here that you cannot find anywhere else on the web. Many soul music lovers find Raresoulgrooves.com a rare heaven.

If you want to enjoy the original essence of northern soul music, you must listen to the original tracks of the famous soul bands of 1970s.

TJ Grooves - Soul Music TV & Rare Soul Grooves.com

The Guitar and Soul Music

One of the essential characteristics of soul music is that it originated in an environment whereby access to musical instruments was very limited in all senses of the word. However, it was just the limitation of the people and the times in which this music originated and not the limitation of soul music. Soul music belongs to organic music genres and it is a combination of rhythm and blues and gospel music. Normally these genres are not linked with the guitar. Nonetheless, it does not mean that guitar cannot be used as an accompaniment for soul music. With the creativity of the musician, the guitar can become one of the best accompaniment instruments of Soul Music.

The backbone of soul music or the soul of soul music is the rhythm. In all the pop style music, the rhythm will be dependent on the drumbeats whereas in the soul music, the rhythm is not so much dependent on the drumbeats but it relies on the tempo of the vocalist’s voice. It is not easy to follow the tempo of the vocalist voice; it requires a lot of training and experience to accompany playing chords to accompany the vocalist.

So if you want to accompany soul music with the guitar, you must listen to lot of soul music CDs, especially the classic soul music. If you listen to the dynamics of soul music, you will be able to pick up that this genre of music has a kind of “call and response patter” in the lyrics. Most guitarists try to play a single chord at each line of the response. You can other combinations too, but if you are trying for the first time, it is best to start with this technique. As your ears get more accustomed to soul music, you will be able to work wonders with your chords. 

The dynamics of soul music varies a great deal when compared to jazz or reggae. You will need to provide only gentle markers with your chords while accompanying using minimal strumming. Whereas, jazz or reggae would require you to come in with continuous flow of rhythm. 

Soul music is more of a free style music, the singer can improvise anytime with the tone or with the tempo, so you should be attuned to the singers movements not so much to his or her bodily movements but his or her movements on the notes, scale and tempo. Only when you are with the singer you will be able to strike the right chord at the right time. One can easily get off tune while accompanying. What you should be attentive here is not the rhythm as in jazz or other pop genres but to the responsive change that is offered by the vocalist without any warning. If the vocalist sticks to rigid rhythm, soul music will not sound soul.

It is always the vocalist who dominates in soul music and all the accompaniments are kept at the background enhancing the vocalist’s voice. Like in all the other cases, it is practice that will make you perfect. 

TJ Grooves - Soul Music TV & Rare Soul Grooves.com

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