I finally discovered a use for one part of Funky Primer— the hands-only section on pp. 17-21. I never found much practical use for them as playing vocabulary, except they work really well for making […]
Category: samba
Transcription: Airto – Moon Dreams
First transcription in some time— I’m spending too much time on internet nonsense. Have I ever mentioned how wrong every single thing on the internet is in terms of music, this instrument, playing this instrument, […]
Samba warmups – RH move
Continuing this little samba unit, here are some warmups for a samba groove with a right hand move to the floor tom on 2, for a surdo effect. It’s another place to go, it’s nice […]
More EZ bossa subtractive systems
Some patterns that might be helpful along side the original EZ bossa system— itself really good for not just developing a simple, functional bossa vocabulary, but also for developing rock beats in a hip way. […]
Reed tweak: paradiddle inversion to toms
Another pretty substantial tweak to one of my other Reed systems— converting a very ordinary system, accented triplets, to paradiddle inversions— RLLR-LRRL. Actually there’s very little to it, I just think it’s worth spending some […]
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 […]
Groove o’ the day: Samba in 7
Here’s a bright samba groove in 7/4, played by Airto on Misturada, by the group Quarteto Novo. These are excerpts from the drum solo, starting at 0:49. Tempo is about quarter note = 220. I […]
Bossa warmups
Five pretty-easy Syncopation systems for getting warmed up with some bossa materials. And for getting it together in the first place, if you’re just learning the style. Use with pp. 38-45 in Syncopation. Play all […]
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 […]
Reading a lead sheet
Some notes on a chart I had to play yesterday, on a festival gig with a pianist I’ve worked with quite a bit, Jasnam Daya Singh. He’s Brazilian, and quite a heavy composer. For a […]
Tresillo unit – 02
Here’s an addendum to a set of stuff I posted back in January— the “tresillo unit.” That was basically a set of variations on a New Breed system. This is a loosely organized collection of […]