Here’s a method for practicing filling in figures, that will work with most Reed systems, and involves accents on both the cymbals and the drums. For the examples we’ll use 8th notes accented to match […]
Category: figures
Filling in funk beats – 01
This is in development, it’s not necessarily a finished “lesson.” We’ve done a lot making simple rock beats into fill phrases, here we’re doing that with a more complex beat— looking at some possible ways […]
The natural sticking / fill lesson
These are some steps I was running through with an adult beginner, to get oriented with some normal things you do on the drums, and to practice counting 16th notes. There are a number of […]
Rub-a-dub lesson: Fables of Faubus
Another example of rub-a-dub applied, using a passage from the Charles Mingus tune Fables of Faubus. In previous lessons we’ve just used this idea on the head of some tunes as an exercise. Here we’re […]
Rub-a-dub lesson: Doxy
Another rub-a-dub lesson— getting as much of this in as I can before the end of the year, so there’s a robust section on it in the upcoming 2018 Book of the Blog. This page […]
3+2 rub-a-dub phrases
Continuing in eking out a way of learning this rub-a-dub concept, here are a couple of pages of combinations of three-beat and two-beat patterns: Practice these in the written meters, then try putting them into […]
Rub-a-dub lesson: Equinox
Here’s an easy little lesson for doing this rub-a-dub business in a musical context, using the tune Equinox by John Coltrane. Equinox is based on some very common jazz rhythmic figures, so this should be […]
Developing a method for rub-a-dub
I’ve been working up a practice method for learning what Mel Lewis called rub-a-dub— I hate to use his term, because I only just saw it explained for the first time in Chris Smith’s video. I don’t […]
A simple solo method
Here’s a simple, non-technical solo method I was just working on with a student… …a SKYPE student… did you know I teach lessons via Skype? I do. Anything you ever have questions about on the […]
Figure and fills: Rover
Here’s a page of drum orchestrations and fills based on a rhythmic figure from the tune Rover, on my album Travelogue, along with a practice loop sampled from it. The fills/orchestrations start very simply, building […]
Stairway to Heaven figure
This is something I did for a student who was looking for some help playing Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. On the out chorus— or whatever you want to call it; the song is […]
Orchestrations of a figure: Groove Elation
Today we’ll do a little survey of ways of orchestrating on the drums a rhythmic figure— the bass line from the tune Groove Elation, by John Scofield. It’s a bright New Orleans-influenced thing, with a […]