Developing Contemporary Rhythm Skills Through Contemporary R&B
Trevor de Clercq · 2022
This chapter offers some ways to help students understand the organization of rhythm and meter in contemporary popular music, with a focus on those skills that may be underdeveloped in a traditional music curriculum. In particular, I discuss a number of classroom activities and assignments related to developing rhythm skills within the context of contemporary R&B, using songs from artists such as Mariah Carey, Bobby Brown, Mary J. Blige, and Ne-Yo. The chapter is organized into three main parts. The first describes how drummer’s charts can help students conceptualize and internalize patterns of form, hypermeter, and phrase organization in this style. In the second part, I discuss how a comprehensive description of meter in contemporary R&B requires going beyond traditional meter identification categories, due to how the drumbeat interacts with the time signature and swing rhythms on different metric levels. Finally, Part 3 gives a few examples of rhythm transcription assignments, with a particular focus on the extensive syncopation found in R&B melodies. Overall, the attention to rhythm and meter is intended not only to build fluency with this particular style but also to more broadly develop critical skills for the twenty-first-century musician.