There was a period in the 70s when funky music had a kind of unbridled quality you don’t much hear any more— there was a lot of screaming, and everyone seemed to be fully embracing […]
Month: April 2014
Locking with clave — 01
This is derived from an idea discussed by David Peñalosa in his book Rumba Quinto. In rumba, an Afro-Cuban genre, the quinto is the highest-pitched conga drum; the quinto player is the lead player, improvising […]
Page o’ coordination: hihat splash in 3/4 — 02
Hey, I kind of like these things— we’ll see several more pages o’… with hihat splashes, in the near future. This format has become one of the major things we do here, as I’ve had […]
Now offering: Skype lessons!
OK, it’s formal announcement time: I, your blogger, Todd Bishop, am now offering live online lessons, via Skype. I’ll be happy to work with you on single lessons— say, if you’d like help with something […]
Three Camps in first inversion paradiddles
2024 UPDATE: This page looks really awful. I’ve just posted a much nicer looking version of it. Here’s an adaptation of the traditional snare drum piece Three Camps, played with first inversion paradiddles— the very useful […]
Site update!
Normally I try to make big site changes at the beginning of the year, but, the heck with it, I was getting tired of looking at the old design. The big template change is self-evident, […]
Page o’ coordination: hihat splash
Here’s a relatively easy jazz waltz page o’ coordination, with a minor twist— we’ll be incorporating an open sound on the hihat, played with the foot. This is a jazz feel, so swing the 8th […]
Son clave basic coordination
Here’s a companion piece to our page of Rumba clave coordination, this time using Son clave. The format is basically same: the first patterns are logical, and the later ones build a few common Afro-Cuban […]
Playing in Seattle tonight…
Hey, if you’re in Seattle, come on down to Egan’s in Ballard tonight— my group will be playing at 10:30, as part of the Ballard Jazz Festival. The band includes Richard Cole, Jasnam Daya Singh […]
Transcription: more Serge, more Dougie
What the heck, let’s do some more Dougie Wright. The last thing was a little goofy, but today’s transcription is for me a minor classic of 70’s studio rock drumming. The album again is Serge […]
Groove o’ the day: Dougie Wright — En Melody
I spent a lot of time listening to French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg as I was working on my album of his music a few years ago, and came to appreciate a very British, very 70’s, […]
Straight 8ths within Afro 6/8
I keep feeling like I have to justify doing so much with the Afro 6/8. I’m just working with it a lot, and here we are nothing if not personal and idiosyncratic. I also feel […]