Urvasi Bass Groove: 4 Exercises to Improve Your Timing (Part 2)

To improve your timing on bass, keep a steady quarter-note pulse with your foot, imagine a sixteenth-note shaker running in your head, sing the line as you play it, and transcribe the groove onto a 1-e-and-a time grid so you know exactly where each note falls.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Intermediate · 16 min

Can't see the video? Watch it on YouTube.

This lesson uses the bass line from AR Rahman's song Urvasi, taught in Part 1, as a tool for building better timing. Jason Zac shows four exercises that help you feel time, not just count it. They work on this riff, and they work on anything else you play. The lesson suits bass players who can already play the line and want it to sit tightly in the groove.

Why timing starts with feel

Jason Zac describes timing as something you feel in your body, a kind of time feel. Two basic things must always run while the music plays: the pulse and the smallest subdivision of that pulse. They sound simple, but they are the most important parts of playing in time. Without a pulse inside you, it is hard to connect with an audience and get them moving.

Exercise 1: Keep the pulse with your foot

Tap your foot in steady quarter notes the whole time you play the line. In the video, Jason Zac uses a foot tambourine so he can hear what his leg is doing. You can use your shoe or anything else that makes a sound. Hearing the pulse is what matters.

• Keep the foot completely consistent, as if you were a one-man band with a drummer built in.
• Slow the line right down until you really feel the pulse, then bring it up to a comfortable speed.
• If the Urvasi line is too tricky at first, start with a simpler riff you know, such as Smoke on the Water. The Urvasi groove sits on an unusual time division.

Exercise 2: Hear the sixteenth-note subdivision

Next, imagine the feel of the song and find its smallest subdivision. For this groove it is sixteenth notes, four even divisions of each beat. An easy way to feel them is to imagine a shaker playing steady sixteenths. Try vocalising the shaker, then keep it running in your head while you play.

Once the shaker is going, combine it with your foot. The leg keeps the pulse while the inner shaker, or your voice, fills in the subdivisions. This is hard at first, but it is what gives you a solid time feel.

Exercise 3: Sing the bass line while you play

While playing the line, sing it. Keep the pulse running in your foot and the shaker in your head as you sing. This builds confidence with the riff. You can also add your own mouth percussion sounds if you like.

Exercise 4: Transcribe the groove onto a time grid

The most taxing step, and the one you have to do at some point, is transcription: writing the groove down in a form you understand. You can use staff notation or tabs. Jason Zac shows a simple visual method he calls a time grid.

1. Because the feel is sixteenth notes, write each beat as 1 e and a. The number is the downbeat. The e falls 25% of the way through the beat, and at 50%, and a at 75%.
2. The song is in four beats per bar, so the grid reads 1 e and a, 2 e and a, 3 e and a, 4 e and a.
3. Sing the line slowly with the shaker in mind, and mark each sub-beat where a bass note lands.
4. Count the grid aloud with your foot on the pulse, and point to each marking as it goes by.

Notice how each position feels different. The downbeat feels strong and settled. The e is offbeat, so your body responds to it quite differently. Notice the and and the a as well. In this riff, the second bar's rhythm differs from the first, which is a big part of why it grooves.

How to practise

Play the line on bass while reading your markings. This feels awkward at first, because you are reading and understanding rather than playing from memory. If the opening is hard, isolate just the first three hits until they sit right, then build outwards. You can apply the same four steps to any song, including simple popular melodies, to get started.

Questions about this lesson

What does 1 e and a mean in counting?

It is a way of counting sixteenth notes. The number is the downbeat, e falls a quarter of the way through the beat, and falls halfway, and a falls three-quarters of the way through.

Why should I tap my foot while playing bass?

Tapping quarter notes with your foot gives you a constant pulse to play against. That inner pulse helps you lock in with the music and connect with an audience.

How can I feel sixteenth-note subdivisions?

Imagine a shaker playing steady sixteenth notes and vocalise it, then keep it running in your head while your foot keeps the pulse.

Do I need staff notation to transcribe a groove?

No. Staff notation or tabs work well, but a simple time grid that marks which sub-beats are played is an easy alternative if you don't read music yet.

Practise it

• Rhythm TeacherBuild accent patterns, divide beats and explore odd metres and polyrhythms.
• Rhythm ArithmeticBuild a phrase from sounds and silences, see it become staff notation, and loop it for practice.
• All free music apps40 practice tools for harmony, rhythm, ear training and more.

Related lessons

• Fix Your Timing: Build a Rock-Solid Sense of Rhythm on Piano (Part 1)To build solid timing, first feel a steady pulse with your body (such as a head movement), use breathing in and out to change volume without rushing or dragging, then count how many beats make up each repeating cycle to find the meter, splitting odd meters like 5 and 7 into smaller groups of 2, 3 and 4.
• Improve Your Sense of Rhythm on Piano: Time Feel, Swing and Triplets (Part 2)To build a strong time feel on piano, keep a steady pulse, divide each beat by two, three or four, choose straight or swing, and then create grooves by playing only some of the divisions or accenting them in irregular groups. In short: divide more and play less.
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• Folk & Bluegrass Piano Arpeggios With Melody (Banjo-Style)To make a piano arpeggio sound folk or bluegrass, play the chord as straight eighth notes in the left hand while the right hand adds scale notes on the sixteenth-note e and a of the beat, the spots the left hand leaves empty.