A collection of warmups for adding 16th notes to our good friend the right hand lead Reed system. You can work them up to practice them while reading from Syncopation, or these could be your […]
Month: August 2024
I answer technique questions
A question about technique from Ben in Australia: I have been working on my grip which has become prominently German. I’m finding that it’s very comfortable and natural for the slower aspects with grooves, sticking […]
Chaffee linear patterns – first exercises
I’ve needed this page several times recently— the first basic orienting exercises for the Gary Chaffee linear patterns: RLB / RLBB / RLRLB / RLRLBB / RLRLRLB / RLRLRLBB Mainly, playing the repeating patterns as […]
Groove o’ the day: Idris Muhammad boogaloo
A light little 60s pop beat by Idris Muhammad— I don’t know what to call it, part boogaloo, part bossa nova— from George Benson’s album Shape Of Things To Come. The whole record is like […]
Very occasional quote of the day: excitement
MD: You use a lot of dynamics and have a beautiful touch. JW: I’ve worked very hard on that lately: just getting the quality of my sound together. It’s not that I don’t want […]
Daily best music in the world: Ornette Coleman in Berlin – 1971
Newly uploaded video of Ornette Coleman playing Berliner Jazztage in 1971, with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell: h/t to Hank Shteamer, uploaded by Bay Area drummer Jay Korber.
Jazz loop, rock loop
Two practice loops I’ve been enjoying, one jazz, one rock. The first is sampled from Everydays, a Stephen Stills song, played by Kenny Burrell on the album Blues – The Common Ground. Tempo is 124: […]
Rock with Stick Control!
A little thing I improvised while warming up for a rehearsal. All my rock stuff is oriented around getting off the hihat, getting both hands moving around the drums. A lot of students get locked […]
Transcription: Jeff Watts – Housed From Edward – 03
Part three of Branford Marsalis’s Housed From Edward, from the album Trio Jeepy, with Jeff Watts on drums. Let’s do the whole thing. This begins in the middle of Marsalis’s solo at 3:21, and ends […]
Very occasional quote of the day: interesting
“It may sound like an extremely obvious thing to say, but I think it is worth saying nevertheless that when you are making a film, in addition to any higher purpose you may have in […]