More soloing from Billy Higgins, on Dear John, on Freddie Hubbard’s record Bolivia. The tune has the same chord changes as John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, which is a 16 bar form, but the drum solo […]
Category: solo materials
Chaffee linear system: alternative 4s/6s
Something I’ve been playing with— as you know, Gary Chaffee’s linear system is based on 3-8 note patterns, starting with the right hand, alternating sticking, ending with one or two bass drum notes. I don’t […]
Reed tweaks: kicks and setups with RH lead triplets
An online student in Europe is working on his reading with me, in preparation for an audition, and we’re talking about kicks and set ups. There’s a minor tweak to a common Reed solo/fill method— […]
Transcription: Max Roach solo – I’ll Remember April
A Max Roach epic here, a chorus of fours and two solo choruses on I’ll Remember April— not a short tune. This will probably go in an e-book sometime, so get it free while you […]
16th note exercise for brushes – solo
Continuing this thing— playing the the 16th note pages from Reed with brushes, with accents and bass drum additions hastily scribbled in while practicing. Here’s the 20 bar solo on p. 23. > = accent / […]
16th note exercise for brushes
Another cut and paste item. I don’t practice brushes nearly enough, so yesterday I was hitting that a little bit. Poking around for things I needed to work on, I settled on these pages from […]
Reed tweaks: 16ths doubled
This is a small change to a very basic Reed method, that makes it a lot more interesting, to me. I don’t seek these things out, they just happen while I’m practicing. I play with […]
The paradiddle inversion method, with triplets
Here’s how to fit that late paradiddle inversion system into a triplet or 12/8 environment. For clarity, we’ll base it off the accented triplets pages from Syncopation— pp. 53-58. Advanced students can then figure out […]
Reed interpretation: paradiddle inversion – key and warm-ups
Preparatory page for a Reed system using the highly useful RLLR-LRRL paradiddle inversion— we’re doing a lot with it for a reason. It’s easy to play fast, works great on the drums, and fits a […]
Reed tweak: filler options
Some filler options for a basic, very common right hand lead method used with the book Syncopation— the top line book rhythm is played with the RH/RF on a cymbal and bass drum in unison, […]
Paradiddle inversion control – 01
A sketchpad for my own practicing— a set of velocity studies using one paradiddle inversion in particular, the massively fun and useful RLLR-LRRL form. In case you’re listening to all that Antonio Sanchez and thinking […]
Chaffee linear phrases in other rhythms/meters
In the comments of the recent Chaffee linear phrases in 4/4 post, someone asked about other rhythm possibilities for the same phrases. The phrases there were ten notes long, so basically any rhythm and meter […]