Following are some comments I wrote after hearing some younger drummers— in a jazz setting, players far enough along with their playing to let their ambitions get the better of them, musically. I got a […]
Year: 2023
Harmonic coordination summary
I never did a really good summary for my harmonic coordination system (which I’ve variously called Harmonic Coordination Whatsis or Harmonic Coordination Improved, etc), let’s do that now. I use it a lot in teaching, with […]
Very occasional quote of the day: cultivate
“You got to cultivate that rhythm, man.” – Miles Davis, interview by Don diMichael, 1969 [h/t to thenuge @ DFO]
Latest views and practices on time
Rounding up my current views and practices on the subject rhythm and time, in teaching and practicing: knowing rhythm, holding a tempo in playing. This is mostly about beginner to intermediate level students. A lot […]
Groove o’ the day: Billy Cobham – White Rabbit
Here’s Flamenco beat played by Billy Cobham on a cover of the Jefferson Airplane song White Rabbit, from George Benson’s album of the same name. I’ve been listening to it on my drives to Eugene […]
Reed interpretation: short rolls
An easy thing to do with Syncopation, adding short rolls. This will be a no-brainer any time you want to work on your rolls without a lot of extraneous stuff, using familiar materials. I wrote […]
Reading round up
I’ve been using my pages of syncopation rhythms a lot in teaching lately— similar to what’s in Ted Reed, but written for a specific purpose, either for a specific drum set application, or to do […]
Family matters
The following may not be of a lot interest to everyone, but that’s what www.blogspot.com is all about. So stand by, we’ll get back to drum stuff soon enough. I’ve been dealing with some family […]
Marvin Dahlgren video channel
Everybody’s going to want to check this out: Marv’s Legacy, a new(ish?) YouTube video channel with Marvin Dahlgren talking about practicing his books— Four Way Coordination, Accent On Accents, Drum Set Control, etc. I’ve only […]
Chaffee linear system: alternative 4s/6s
Something I’ve been playing with— as you know, Gary Chaffee’s linear system is based on 3-8 note patterns, starting with the right hand, alternating sticking, ending with one or two bass drum notes. I don’t […]
Unpacking a groove: Predator
I’m getting into some finer points of playing the hihat two handed with a younger student, and was tempted to show him a groove I transcribed a long time ago: Predator, played by Omar Hakim […]
Quintuplet jazz? – 02 – bass drum added
Continuing that suspect page of jazz rhythms in quintuplets, here are some more practice patterns with bass drum added: See that post view from the outside of a swing feel for some explanation of this […]