I was practicing this POC from last year, and wanted a version of it in 9/8, and here it is. I called it “African” only for the middle of the triplet rhythm on the hihat, […]
Month: April 2019
Practice loop: Fela Kuti – This Is Sad
This is a really cool practice loop, sampled from This Is Sad by Fela Kuti, with Tony Allen on drums. You could try to cop the actual groove, or just play anything over it and […]
Reed triplet method with RH accents
Writing yesterday’s piece I realized I’ve never posted a really satisfactory explanation of the RH accent triplet solo method— a very useful way of practicing Progressive Steps to Syncopation, which I’ve relied on a lot […]
Practice tips for drummers with limited time
Get it, use it. Here are some suggestions for people learning to play the drums, but who have limited time to do it… 1-2 hours a day to practice. That’s most people, actually. As you’ll […]
Tresillo and cinquillo inversions
I’ve got way too much painfully unfinished stuff in the docket right now; about a dozen long written pieces languishing in my drafts folder, some in-depth practice materials in development, an ambitious new book project, […]
EZ linear quarter note rock method – drills
Here are a few specific drills for use with the EZ rock method from the other day. Not every single thing you play using this method is going to sound great, but it’s a solid […]
Groove o’ the day: Lex Humphries afro 6
Hm, Lex Humphries has been coming up a lot lately. I heard this tune played on KMHD, Portland’s jazz radio station: Taboo, played by Duke Pearson on his Blue Note album Profile. I should think about […]
Page o’ coordination: the with interruptions – 04
I don’t like giving you pages with too many patterns on them. When I do that, the idea is that you move through the patterns quickly, and cover them all in one unit of practice— […]
Daily best music in the world: tax day
Listening to the Japanese band Boris while I finish my taxes. First rock band I’ve liked in a long time— mashing up all of the 90s (or the first half, anyway) and making it better.
3/16 Control – 01
BOPWORKS STICKS NEWS: For those of you who asked about getting some free Bopworks sticks, I’ll be sending them out this week. I’ll email everyone who will be receiving them. While I finish doing my taxes, […]
EZ linear quarter note rock method
I may have written this up before, but I can’t find it in the archives, and I probably didn’t include the embellishments I’m going to tell you today, so what the hell, let’s do it […]
Three Camps in 6-stroke rolls
For awhile I was campaigning to get this RLLRRL sticking called “Swiss sixtuplets”, based on an overheard conversation from drum corps days, when George Tuthill and Alan Kristensen, two corps legends, were talking about rudiments. […]