A thing we do here is to rewrite/re-organize existing materials to make them better for practicing certain things. I hate hunting around the page while I practice, flipping pages, dodging things that are no good for what I’m practicing.
Playing with a loop from a Meters song, I played some Stick Control combinations on the drumset to make a funk texture— I combined all the four-note patterns starting with an R with all of the four note patterns starting with an L. So beat 1 was an R, beat 3 was an L.
You could just memorize the first thirteen patterns from Stone and figure out the combinations in your head while you play, as I did— or I can write them out so I have something to post on the blog, and maybe a few people will actually do it. Some of these combinations are already in the book, others are not. There are two pages, the first is most useful.
Play this in 2/2, with the Rs as cymbal + bass drum, Ls as snare drum— with the appropriate hand. I put an accent on the cut time beat 2; or beat 3 if you’re counting in 4/4… look, do this:
I played quarter notes on the hihat with my foot, and played the unaccented snare drum notes pretty strongly— I wasn’t ghosting them. It’s an ordinary orchestration we do with Syncopation all the time, but it’s hard to do this exact thing without using Stick Control-type patterns.
It’s similar to what Zigaboo Modeliste does at times, de-emphasizing the cymbal rhythm. And it’s a lesson in a certain un-intricate concept of funk. I like unintricacy in funk. We’re playing an 8th note grid, but it’s a grid of interlocking parts, which creates a strong groove. To me, groove-wise, plain 8th notes played on a single sound is a weak structure; interlocking parts is a strong structure. You may not play this way all the time, but it sets you up to move some different directions— especially if you’re used to playing funk with a repeating cymbal rhythm, or a linear cymbal rhythm.
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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Brilliant!
Thanks! It's kind of obvious, but I've never seen it before.