: In a Rock/Blues band who dictates the groove? The song is Superstition by Stevie Wonder. The song sounded out of sync and rushed when we were playing it. I play guitar and try to lay back and play behind the beat, but should

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Typically the rhythm guitarist, drummer and bass player set the groove. If they're not locking, then the drummer and bass player should set the groove, especially for R&B. The drummer, bassist and guitarist should all play on the same place within those cute little Gaussian curves that are the beat.

What I hear in your question is that the rhythm section isn't locking and you want to know why.

So the first thing to do is play to a metronome or drum machine. Are you all playing at steady tempo throughout the song with and without the metronome? Or does the metronome appear to speed up and slow down to one or more of you?

If tempo's okay, then start the drummer playing with the metronome as far behind the beat as you want. Then have the bassist come in and hit the same beat. Then you come in.

Do this for a few minutes and hopefully everybody will be on the same page. Try playing the song again.

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This track seems to me to be right on the beat. Keys dictate the tempo, but drums and bass lock in with them. Nothing is pushed or pulled. The tempo on the track I listened to started at 98bpm went to 104 towards the middle, but no one instrument seemed to make this happen.

If you're having problems with the rhythm section keeping together, try facing each other, and keep the volume down, as loudness becomes noise which makes it hard to define where the beat is. The metronome is probably not a bad idea, but if it was used on this recording - what happened? Sir duke has the same slight variation in tempo, so maybe Stevie doesn't rely on click track?