Be advised that posting will be spotty for a couple of days while I undergo, and recover from, a lovely big ol’ dental procedure. On the up side: we’re going to have a fund raiser […]
Year: 2015
Groove o’ the day: Tony Williams — Lopsy Lu
This is a super-classic bit of 70s fusion, from Stanley Clarke’s first self-titled solo record, with drumming by Tony Williams. I got this album used for 3 bucks around 1985, when I was buying everything […]
I get mail
I’m not going to deface my blog with that ugly-but-apt universal troll illustration, so here’s a photo of uber-troll artist Jeff Koons. Hey, a bona fide troll— my first in four years of blogging. Someone […]
Transcription: Frankie Dunlop — Green Chimneys / Rouse’s solo
2024 UPDATE: Oops, apparently Ben Riley plays on this record. I need to look at the sleeve before posting these things. It sure sounded like Frankie Dunlop to me. Thanks to Andrew Wicks for the […]
Half-time feel funk: advanced method — open hihat
Here’s the next step for this half-time funk method we’ve been doing, using Syncopation, by Ted Reed. On the intermediate method and on this one we’ll be using the pages with quarter notes, 8th notes, […]
Daily best music in the world: Ornette live — 1973
I’ll be out for a couple of days here— playing at the Jazz Station in Eugene tonight with flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny, attending a memorial service for my partner/wife’s mother, and having my own birthday with […]
What to do with a beat
Don’t know how to make a variation? Any of thesecould be a variation of the first beat. Why not. If you ever get bored looking at some page of rock beats you’re supposed to be […]
Cymbal technique for Brazilian styles
It’s kind of a thing among Brazilian drummers to be able to play really blazing singles on the cymbal with the right hand, when playing a samba. Drummers in the modern American tradition— or maybe […]
Half-time feel funk: intermediate method
Here’s the next phase of our little half-time feel funk method, using Ted Reed’s Syncopation. We’ll use pp. 29-30 out of Reed, with the quarter notes, 8th notes, and 8th rests, along with the page […]
Very occasional quote of the day: resistance
There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. — Steve Pressfield, The War […]
Linear phrases in 5/4, mixed rhythm — 02 – inversion
I feel bad posting more practice stuff, when I’ve barely gotten to hit the drums myself this week, what with taxes, dental work, teaching, painting the house, and on and on. But back in the […]
Feelings
Your feelings are like an unaturally-torn piece of paper held by a hand model with weird thumbs. Ideally we would all feel happy and confident always when playing the drums, enjoying every phase of learning, […]