The Roots - The Seed

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Here's another groove from one of my favourites, Questlove. This groove is deceptively simple but sounds great with and without the band. Take note of the two accented upbeat hihats, these two simple embelishments hold this groove together and give it it's infectious lope. Questlove is the king of laying down a pocket groove with machine like precision and repetition, while at the same time carefully choosing moments to add slight variations and fills to keep a tune moving forward.

D'Angelo - Spanish Joint

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I love this groove. Questlove has injected this R'n'B groove with an afro-cuban feel that works perfectly on this tune. It looks a little bit awkward on paper but it plays really nice. Questlove lays down the backbeat for this groove with a cross stick/rim shot flam, getting a nice percussive sound which complements the afro-cuban influence. The accent for the flams is with the right hand which plays a rim shot close to the edge of the snare, and grace note is a cross stick with the left hand. Enjoy.