Wrote this out as an experiment, adding the left foot to a subtractive pattern, and it works quite well. It’s manageably easy to read. The underlying pattern is close to my usual pattern: BSHB SHBS. […]
Category: grooves
Songodiddles
A very small item, adapting a paradiddle inversion (RLLR LRRL) to fit with a songo groove— they fit together quite nicely if you alter one note of the paradiddle. Which doesn’t leave us with a […]
Partido alto grooves
Partido alto is the name of a genre of samba music, and of a Brazilian rhythm, and also of— as we are doing here— a type of Brazilian fusion drum set groove. It seems to […]
Rock beats in 5 with Reed
Surprised I haven’t written this before. Expanding on a rock beat method I use with all of my students, to make grooves in 5/4— from the book, you simply read one measure of rhythm, plus […]
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 […]
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 […]
Page o’ coordination: Afro 6 – new LH basics
Basic left hand variations with a basic form of the an Afro 6/8 groove, with the “short” bell rhythm. Finally updating a page I did way back in 2012, that I still use all the […]
Funk warmups – cymbal on offbeats
A page of groove fragments, really, for one of my students— to help get oriented working out of New Breed. We were having some difficulties with this particular cymbal rhythm. You could play this […]
EZ 8th note groove with Stick Control
A simple 8th note groove sequence using the book Stick Control, played on the drum set. Use Stick Control pp. 5-7, or my page of sticking patterns, which I think is in a better order. […]
Groove o’ the day: Max In Tunisia
A selection of grooves played by Max Roach on the Miles Davis album At Last!— a live recording made at The Lighthouse in LA in 1953, and released thirty years later. Max here has been […]