So-called because I found myself unconsciously tapping this out in the grocery store parking lot while waiting for them to bring out my groceries. …incidentally, for the sake of limiting your exposure to COVID-19, I […]
Category: downloads
Velocity stickings for Syncopation, Lesson 10
For a couple of my students I’ve written a set of velocity stickings to use with Lesson 10 (pp. 22-23) in Syncopation. They’re designed to be played fast, hey? These will be a godsend for […]
Transcription: Elvin Jones – Chasin’ the Trane – 06
Part 6 of the Chasin’ the Trane transcription project. Elvin Jones playing on that eternal classic track from John Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard. My head isn’t fully back into this series, so I […]
Philly Joe kicks and set ups
Companion to the Philly Joe Jones appreciation from the other day— I’ve transcribed some kicks and setups from the tune Soft Winds, from Chet Baker In New York. Jones plays figures all through the head; the time […]
Stone flam beats as independence patterns
I like doing this once in awhile: converting familiar materials into another format. Rhythm patterns (plus filler) can be converted to sticking patterns, accent patterns can be converted to rhythm patterns, sticking patterns can be […]
“Snare Conditioner” in 6/8
I mentioned to Adam Osmianski that I wanted a 6/8 version of his transcription of the found-music malfunctioning air conditioner drum solo, and he encouraged me to go ahead and do it myself, so here […]
Transcription: Jack Dejohnette – Mr. Clean
Took a break from the really long and hard Elvin Jones transcription and did something else really hard. From the Freddie Hubbard album Straight Life, this is Jack Dejohnette playing behind Joe Henderson’s solo on […]
Accents on 8/8 jazz rhythms
A background project lately has been to create some ways of practicing feathering the bass drum as part of a modern, varying, organic jazz texture. This page is related to some things I’m hearing in […]
Syncopation exercise: Accents from Chasin’ the Train – 01
Companion to yesterday’s post: a syncopation exercise based on part 5 of the Chasin’ the Trane transcription— all of the accents played on the snare and bass drum. As usual I’ve followed the Reed convention […]
Transcription: Elvin Jones – Chasin’ the Trane – 05
Here is part 5 of this transcription— the 25th-30th choruses of Elvin Jones playing Chasin’ the Trane, from John Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard. The transcription begins at 4:38 in the track. We’re nearing […]
Hemiola funk series: all basic patterns in 3/8
UPDATE: Download link works now! There’s an ongoing political crisis happening in the United States right now, and it’s really hard to write, or do anything else productive. It’s very serious and basically every human […]
Hemiola funk series: all patterns combined
Continuing to work through the possibilities of the hemiola funk series, in hopes of eventually making a concise, coherent method out of it. It has been great for my students— adult beginners, and kids under […]