UPDATE: Bumping this to the top of the blog, scroll down for new posts. You may have noticed I’ve added a Patreon account, for those who prefer to support the site that way. Well, we’ve […]
Heavy Metal triplet groove
This is a 70s type of rock triplet feel groove that doesn’t seem to be used much any more— I don’t know why, it’s easy and fun to play, and must have an easy guitar […]
Dejohnette patterns
UPDATE: Oops, there’s a duplicate pattern in there— I think pattern 9 happens three times. And I got sloppy with my beaming standard. Oh well, it happens when you’re rushing to post stuff. Some […]
Transcription: Jack Dejohnette – Directions
Here’s that Jack Dejohnette transcription I mentioned yesterday— on the intro of Directions, from Miles Davis Live at the Fillmore East – It’s About Time. The 8th note quintuplets I mentioned happen right up front, […]
Quintuplets from normal rhythms
The question of odd tuplets came up in conversation with a student recently, and again when I was working on a Jack Dejohnette transcription, where he was playing some 8th note quintuplets in cut time. […]
The demon-haunted world: jazz snobs
Here’s a desperation special. When I can’t write much, I pull something not-that-great out of the drafts folder, like this: a few snippets of people battering their insecurities into submission by attacking a mythical demon, […]
Tony Williams interview
A nice 1983 interview with Tony Williams in Downbeat magazine, by Paul De Barros. Shared on Twitter by Richard Scheinin of SFJazz. Tony talked a little bit about his time studying with Alan Dawson: What […]
Transcription: Jack Dejohnette – Climax – drum solo
Another drum solo from a Jackie McLean record. Jack Dejohnette early in his career, soloing on a fast tune from McLean’s album Jackknife. The tune is Climax, tempo is about half note = 160. We […]
Lead hand
From Mike Clark’s Twitter feed, a graphic illustration of what I mean when I talk about a lead hand, or mention the drums being a predominantly right-handed instrument: This is how I played before I […]
Transcription: Roy Haynes – It’s Time – drum solo
Here’s Roy Haynes’s drum solo from the title track of a Jackie McLean record we visited a few months ago, It’s Time. The solo begins at 5:31. Pull up my Cliché Control page and start […]
Marking up Reed
You know, I think we should all own multiple copies of Syncopation— first because they tend to get destroyed through use, second so we can pencil in our own changes without turning the book into […]