“If you get too involved in the playing of the instrument itself, you forget that the whole purpose of what you’re doing is to add to the music. There’s more to music than having control […]
Hemiola funk patterns in 5/8
Here’s a nice easy page of hemiola funk patterns in 5/8— based on our friend the 3:2 polyrhythm. World’s fastest way of getting your students playing hip stuff in 5, if you already (wisely) ran […]
Delayed continuity
I’ve been looking some piano literature lately, reading an old book called Practising the Piano (British spelling) by Frank Merrick. You can get it on Scribd without having to pay anyone but Scribd. Another site […]
Page o’ coordination: prep for subtractive method with Rumba bell
Continuing this subtractive thing using another common Latin bell rhythm, a Rumba rhythm, Guaguanco. There isn’t typically a bell used in Guaguanco, but played on the drum set, it’s the equivalent of the bell rhythm; […]
Rimshots vs. no rimshots
Here’s a little video of me stunningly adorned in lush Irish wool, playing some crap for a second in response to a drum forum question, about technique for low-volume rimshots. You’ll notice there’s very little […]
Page o’ coordination: basic triplet texture in 3/4
Same deal as the recent triplet texture in 4/4 page, done in 3/4. A simple linear triplet pattern with added bass drum variations. I already did this with a student, looking at the page in 4— […]
Tom tom sizes rated!
The genesis of this post. Let’s do something dumb: critically assess the full range of tom tom sizes for goodness and badness. Reward the good, denigrate the bad, punish the weak and strange: 6″: A […]
Very occasional quote of the day: practicing vs. playing
Most important thing on this site: DL: How important is it to play, and how important is it to practice on your own? SM: It’s more important to play. I’ve always felt that playing is […]
Transcription: Tony Williams – Life Suite, Part 2
Some more from that self-titled Stanley Clarke album. I must have gotten the record in high school. Nobody ever told me to get it, I was just rooting through the stacks at the used record […]
Organizing practice loops
UPDATE: Download links are working now! My archive of sampled practice loops has gotten so big that it’s become kind of unmanageable, so I’ve organized them into categories. Here are the first three new zips […]
Ornamentation overdose
This has been going on a long time. Another entry in the ongoing real-world musical saga I call “Music didn’t suddenly get good when a lot of people learned how to play fast.” Let’s reminisce […]
Subtractive method: batucada
This developing subtractive method is becoming really interesting. It makes it much easier to write and communicate more complex orchestrations than in the past— which is not an end in itself, it just makes it […]