First get the leaves off your paper and learn how to hold a pen. Start writing at the UPPER LEFT. Come on. “You have to have a command over the English language or you’re just […]
Year: 2019
A balanced attitude about cymbals
Some thoughts on cymbals; sound, quality of instruments, and how that relates to playing music. We want to have nice instruments and get a great sound, but, frankly, it is not all-important. Hopefully here we’ll […]
Idris’s clave
A page of beats based on a snare drum rhythm used a lot by Idris Muhammad. It’s a sort of one-bar clave, an inversion of the rhythm commonly called tresillo, starting on beat 3. I’ve […]
Page o’ coordination: another basic 3:2
UPDATE: pdf download now works Back in Portland after a road trip to northern California… recording drums for a quasi-punk record by my wife and one of her 90s East Village cronies, in a Lions […]
Rock drill
Here’s a rock drumming practice system, that is related to my harmonic coordination improved method, and also this post on developing rock fills. I’ve been using it with students of all ages, and have been […]
Practice loop: Tunji
Here’s a practice loop made from a long sample from Tunji, by John Coltrane. It’s from the album Coltrane, which is one of my favorite records in the world— everyone should own it. Also see […]
Transcription: Philly Joe Jones – Let’s Cool One
Here’s Philly Joe Jones’s drum solo on Let’s Cool One, from the Clark Terry album In Orbit. Just the rhythm section plays the tune here: Thelonious Monk, Sam Jones, and Philly Joe. It’s a rather […]
Groove o’ the day: Chico Hamilton waltz
Here’s Chico Hamilton playing his version of an Elvin-type waltz in 1962. I’ve always assumed it was Elvin’s thing, that everybody else was copying. Maybe it was a type of groove everyone hip was doing, […]
CYMBAL OF THE MINIT: 20″ Leon Collection Ride – “Serge” – 1600g
A new recurring item, featuring individual cymbals available on my Cymbalistic site. Mainly I sell CYMBAL & GONG cymbals; the Leon Collection cymbals are a special line made by C&G’s master cymbal smith. They’re generally […]
Harmonic coordination improved – triplets
Here’s the triplet-based companion for the harmonic coordination improved warm-up. It’s a less miserable and soul-destroying, more musically relatable way of playing exercises of the type found in the harmonic coordination section of Dahlgren & […]
Vashkar
The other day I listed some often-played tunes that had some kind of an mystique, at least in my mind. Here’s a tune that nobody ever plays, with a lot of mystique. Apropos of nothing— […]
Max’s rubadub – transcribed phrases
Some excerpts from a very large transcription I’m working on— Max Roach’s entire performance on Freedom Suite, by Sonny Rollins, which I plan on releasing as an e-book. All 19 bloody minutes of it. These […]