Here’s an easy cut time funk technical study, sort of a flanker for my basic method, serving really no purpose except to set up a situation where unexpected things can happen. It’s easy to get […]
Category: funk
Cut time funk method: two-measure grooves
I’ve been working quite a bit with this cut time funk method from last year— part of what I’ve been doing instead of writing more blog posts. I’m not just writing junk to burn up […]
Transcription: Jeff Porcaro — Southbound
This is a song from my childhood which I only ever new from one line, which my college-age friend Tom, from the Big Brother/Big Sister program, used to sing at odd times: Southbound / unfold […]
Transcription: Zigaboo Modeliste — The Mob
Here’s the rest of that thing we were looking at the other day: Zigaboo Modeliste’s playing on The Mob, from the Meters album Look-ka Py Py. On the first and last A sections, he improvises […]
Two-beat rock fills
Here’s a page of basic two-beat rhythms for use as rock/funk fills, which I wrote for my intermediate students. You can and should play these on any one drum, or move them around the drums. […]
Grooves o’ the day: all the grooves from Look-ka Py Py
Let’s do a whole record for the groove of the day— and a very famous one at that: Look-Ka Py Py, by The Meters. The drummer is Zigaboo Modeliste, the New Orleans funk legend. We’ve […]
Two new linear drumming books by Joel Rothman
Received a few new books in the mail from author/publisher Joel Rothman, two of which I’ll review today: Drummin’ In The Rhythm Of Rock with Linear Patterns, and Linear Jazz Drumming. Rothman has been an extremely […]
David Garibaldi’s funk tips
Great piece from Rhythm Magazine with some comments on funk drumming from Tower of Power drummer David Garibaldi. I’ve pulled my choice favorite comments, but there’s a lot more, so go read the whole piece. What […]
2-3-4 Method
With today’s “2-3-4” method, I’m getting into the “give your practice idea a name so people will remember it and treat it like it’s a thing” racket. This is a pretty easy method for use […]
Transcription: Barney Miller Theme
Here are the drum performances on two versions of the very famous theme song from the TV show Barney Miller, which ran from 1974-82. The show was in syndication for many years, so the tune […]
Simple one-handed Reed interpretation
UPDATE: Download link is working now… This is a simple exercise which arose while working on my Zigaboo Modeliste-like half time feel funk method. It will be easy to master— it’s fun to work on […]
Groove o’ the day: Zigaboo Modeliste — Keep On Marching
Here’s a funky Second Line groove from Zigaboo Modeliste, on the song Keep On Marching, from the Meters album Good Old Funky Music. Play the open hihat strongly— it helps if you have some pretty […]