I did something I don’t usually do— transcribe a lick for a stranger on the internet with no context and no information about the player or music. I have no idea where the person got […]
Category: Gary Chaffee
Linear tweak
Here’s a minor tweak for the Gary Chaffee linear system, which we’ve been using a lot lately. I have never had a truly satisfactory way of teaching fills— there are lots of different materials for […]
Chaffee linear patterns in context – 02
Yes, I’m determined to finally resolve some minor issues I have in practicing Gary Chaffee’s linear thing. Today let’s work through a short phrase that will be useful in jazz settings, starting after the 1, […]
Chaffee linear patterns in context – 01
Gary Chaffee’s linear system— found in book 3 of his Patterns series— is a major entry in the literature of drumming, but it has always felt unfinished to me. There are some extra steps required […]
Page o’ coordination: linear pattern for Latin soloing
The 5+3 note phrase is one of the easiest and most useful of Gary Chaffee’s basic linear phrases. If you start phrase on the a of 2, the bass drum part makes a Latin tumbao […]
Chaffee linear phrases: adding 2s / triplets in 3/4
Another item we did some months ago: Gary Chaffee style linear phrases including a two-note pattern, this time in a triplet rhythm in 3/4. As you are no doubt familiar with by now, Chaffee wrote […]
Linear Chaffee lick in 32nd notes
This is one of the more fun-and-easy-and-cool-sounding short linear phrases from the Gary Chaffee pantheon: 5 notes (RLRLB) + 3 notes (RLB). Today I’ve written out some ways of playing it as a 32nd note lick […]
Chaffee linear phrase as 32nd notes
This is a thing I was working on with a student— this particular Chaffee-style linear phrase (5/3/5/3) happens to work really well as a fill— it sounds impressive, and it’s really easy to play. In […]
Chaffee linear phrases: adding 2s
This is a baby-step entry into adding a two-note pattern (RB) to Gary Chaffee’s linear system, which is based on 3-to-8 note patterns— dig into Patterns, vol. 3 for Chaffee’s full explanation of that, or […]
Linear phrases in 3/4, mixed rhythm – 02
Here’s the companion to the Gary Chaffee linear phrases in 3/4, which I posted the other day. This page just has the same phrases displaced by one note; the last note of each phrase, a […]
Linear phrases in 3/4, mixed rhythm – 01
More pages of Gary Chaffee linear patterns, in two measure phrases in 3/4, with 8th notes and triplets. If I was about doing things in a logical order, I would have done these pages a […]
Chaffee linear phrases in 4/4 with inversions – 01
I’ve found it helpful to practice Gary Chaffee’s linear materials in inversions— not always starting the patterns on beat 1. We’ve already done that in 3/4 with 16th notes and with triplets; today we’ll do the […]