Wrote this out as an experiment, adding the left foot to a subtractive pattern, and it works quite well. It’s manageably easy to read. The underlying pattern is close to my usual pattern: BSHB SHBS.
The seed of this idea came from John Riley. In a clinic he called a SSBB SSBB pattern his “C major scale” for jazz comping, and I think it’s a correct metaphor. It’s very much like a scale, expressed in drummer terms. Normally we acquire this stuff through just playing a lot of junk and figuring out how to use it, this makes a more ordered thing out of it.
Anyway, I’ve given some warm ups to make the structure of the pattern clear, that will help with applying this system while reading from Syncopation:
Add a repeating cymbal part of your choice— probably on a ride cymbal, since you’ll be playing the hihat with your foot. This will work in a number of styles, although it’s leaning into a modern open, broken texture— an ECM type feel, or a jazz feel. As a Latin or funk thing we’re getting pretty fragmented, but that can still work.
You could just practice the warm ups and leave it at that. It’s better to learn it as a system, and practice it reading out of Syncopation. The point is not to play some junk, it’s to understand it, and be able to apply it when reading a rhythm part.
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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