Hot on the heels of the six stroke roll post, here is a related thing, a flashy fusion lick by Dave Weckl. I pulled it off of a Paquito d’Rivera album in about 1987, and […]
Category: downloads
Six stroke roll combinations
No big deal, just a page of six stroke roll combinations and phrases, in 16th notes and 16th triplets. I call them that under duress, it just happens to be the common name for this […]
Syncopation p. 38 in quarter note triplets
Rewriting the very famous page 38 exercise from Syncopation, with all the syncopated rhythms replaced by approximately similar quarter note triplet rhythms. Someday I’ll forgo the bass drum line— which I include out of respect […]
Rock beats with fill phrases
Using this framework a lot with my students in recent months, marking up Funky Primer with a Sharpie, putting accents over the bass drum notes to indicate a crash, marking over the remaining notes with […]
Free triplet game
Free in cost, free in method. A jazz drumming exerise for getting some variety into your playing, free of meter concerns. The parts here are written two or three beats long, but play them over […]
4:3lets in 4/4 – 01
Page of basic 4:3 tuplet rhythms in 4/4 time— four quarter notes in the space of 3— with rests: I don’t know what we’re calling the rhythm when written this way, but what it is […]
Transcription: Roy Haynes – Well, You Needn’t
Roy Haynes trading fours with Kenny Burrell on Well, You Needn’t, from Burrell’s 1959 album A Night At The Vanguard. They’re playing trio, with Richard Davis on bass. The whole record is really cool— nobody’s […]
Bossa warmups
Five pretty-easy Syncopation systems for getting warmed up with some bossa materials. And for getting it together in the first place, if you’re just learning the style. Use with pp. 38-45 in Syncopation. Play all […]
Transcription: Art Blakey – Safari
A little drum break and Latin groove from Art Blakey, on Safari, by Horace Silver, originally on Horace Silver Trio, vol. 1, on Blue Note. Originally a 78 release, actually— the recording is less than […]
Matt’s double bass drill – 01
One of my students is a Metal drummer, which is kind of unusual for me. Part of our lesson time is workshopping methods for improving his double bass drum technique. I’ve had him do a […]
Groove o’ the day: Jack Dejohnette – 47th Groove
This is from kind of a dark horse album, Irresistible Forces, by Jack Dejohnette’s Special Edition— under which name he released several records between 1980-94, with different lineups. I listened to the next record a […]
Subtractive method: EZ bossa system
A simple thing that works shockingly well for creating a functional bossa groove that breathes. You’ll recall that this “subtractive method” is a way of revoicing the rhythms in Syncopation, based on how they line […]