Here’s something I don’t normally do: transcribe stuff from solo/demo/“lesson” videos online. But this is a) cool, b) illustrative of something I talk about a lot here, which is UNDERLYING SIMPLICITY. The video is “Memes […]
Year: 2017
Very occasional quote of the day: Harvey Mason on listening and insecurity
“[D]o all the listening you can, to everyone who is on record, or live. Try to evaluate what really makes them function in the setting they’re in. Try to add it to your arsenal or […]
Page o’ coordination: Afro-Peruvian – 01
Let’s get it out of the way up front that I know nothing about Afro-Peruvian music— I played a session with John Butler, a Portland guitarist who plays it, and he hipped me to its […]
Buddy meme
This Buddy Rich quote, embedded in a meme, has been kicking around the internet awhile: “You only get better by playing.” Uncontroversial to people who can play, but it has generated a small amount of […]
Linear phrases in 3/4, mixed rhythm – 01
More pages of Gary Chaffee linear patterns, in two measure phrases in 3/4, with 8th notes and triplets. If I was about doing things in a logical order, I would have done these pages a […]
7/8 practice rhythms plus stickings
This was partially covered in ’15 with a similar post, but I wrote this up, so I’ll post it. Small differences in format, or in which rhythms you choose to include, can make a difference […]
Things other people say that I think are stupid
T.H.I.S. S.U.C.K.S. I’m sorry I said stupid. I just wanted you to read this. If you hang out on the internet a little bit, you start noticing patterns in people’s views about drumming, and that […]
Very occasional quote of the day: cymbal selection for bop
Roy Haynes talks about what cymbal used to go with what soloist in the 1940s: “I just liked the sound of a cymbal with the sax. It was cool with a trumpet, too. Back in […]
Sonny Clark comping
Something a little different: transcribed piano comping rhythms. Played by Sonny Clark on Funky Hotel Blues, a bonus track on the CD release of Sonny Rollins’s The Sound of Sonny. I’ve written out the first […]
Daily best music in the world: Sonny plays Surrey
Sonny Rollins and Philly Joe Jones play Surrey With The Fringe On Top, duo, on Sonny’s record Newk’s Time. This has got to be the purest essay on bop drumming ever.
A funk sticking in context: RLL – 32nd notes
Third entry in this funk stickings in context series, using the RLL pattern again, this time in a 32nd note rhythm. I do this kind of thing a lot in 32nd notes. This is an […]
An Ndugu break
I think we’re going to be seeing a lot of Ngugu Leon Chancler around here in the near future. A group I play with plays a lot of 70s funk tunes, so I’m listening to […]