It says “workout”, like it’s some kind of technical challenge, but it’s really a page of exercises for opening up some musical possibilities with your bass drum when playing sambas and bossa novas. A lot of drummers (I like to diagnose people’s playing issues en masse) get ostinato-itis with these styles.
Play the page straight through, without stopping, 1-4x each exercise, along with the samba/bossa nova recording of your choice (I’ve given some suggestions at the bottom of the post):
Play the cymbal part with the right hand on the closed hihat, any cymbal, or on the snare drum with a brush. At tempos faster than about HN=100 you’ll probably have to play with both hands— alternating, or in a RLLR/LRRL sticking. Or whatever mixed sticking you like. The cymbal rhythm can be played at an even volume with no accents, or accented on 1/3 and &-of-2/&-of-4 when playing alternating/mixed stickings. You can also do this very standard, Baiao-type rhythm on the hihat:
While you’re at this, you might take a look at a similar page I did back in 2011. Don’t neglect listening to recordings to get the feel and interpretation overall.
Playalong suggestions after the break:
A moderate tempo possibility:
Medium tempo:
This one should be pretty challenging for playing the cymbal part one-handed:
Another fast one:
I am happy to help you with any of the materials on the site, and with anything else drumming related— contact me for private lessons, online world wide, or in person in Portland, Oregon. All levels of players, and all people, are welcome.
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