METAPHOR— DO NOT TAKE LITERALLY I’ve gotten quite good at reading charts. By which I mean I’ve gotten quite good at ignoring charts. As a rule I avoid reading as much as possible— I’ve gotten […]
Category: reading
Three-note syncopation rhythms
Here are a couple of pages of syncopation rhythms in 4/4. Most of them can already be found in Progressive Steps to Syncopation, in one form or another, but sometimes I want to have certain […]
NEW E-BOOK: Syncopation in 3/4
That’s right, ANOTHER new e-book: Syncopation in 3/4. All of my regular followers are going to want to have this one… being as we are very dedicated to the myriad/infinite ways of practicing Ted Reed’s […]
Sonny Clark comping
Something a little different: transcribed piano comping rhythms. Played by Sonny Clark on Funky Hotel Blues, a bonus track on the CD release of Sonny Rollins’s The Sound of Sonny. I’ve written out the first […]
Very occasional quote of the day: Steve Gadd on reading
“Reading improves just from doing it. It wasn’t easy for me, but thanks to the encouragement of my teacher, John Beck, I stuck with it and it has been very useful. The more you do […]
Reed interpretation: triplets with breaks
I don’t why it took me over 30 years to figure this out— I’m always looking for ways to simplify things, to make them more playable. This is an alternative to a very common, popular, […]
A good book you should all chase down
Look for the book withthe really goofy cover. I just want to take a moment again to recommend you all try to find a copy of the book Syncopated Rhythms for the Contemporary Drummer by […]
7/8 rhythms
I got sort of lightly burned at a session recently, when a player pulled up a tune he had written which was in a fast 7/8. I’ve been working on my odd meters quite a […]
Quarter note-ism
The usual theory of practicing is that as you master really hard stuff, you’ll be super-good at the easy stuff. What often happens is that hard stuff just starts sounding like normal drumming to you, […]
Partido Alto variations
The partido alto rhythm, in this case; it’s also a Brazilian song style, a type of funk groove, and a tune (see below). It’s one of the major rhythms in Brazilian music— several of the batucada […]
Syncopation exercises in 3/4 — 01
This is a straight library piece: some syncopation exercises in 3/4, similar to the one-measure exercises in the middle section of Ted Reed’s Syncopation, for doing all of the usual things you do with that […]
Doubling up a ballad feel with Syncopation
Happy new year, everybody. I’m practicing a lot of slow tempos lately, so here are some Reed interpretations that will be familiar to all jazz students, written out to suggest double time during a ballad. […]