Here are a few specific drills for use with the EZ rock method from the other day. Not every single thing you play using this method is going to sound great, but it’s a solid […]
Category: syncopation
EZ linear quarter note rock method
I may have written this up before, but I can’t find it in the archives, and I probably didn’t include the embellishments I’m going to tell you today, so what the hell, let’s do it […]
Jazz rhythm book
There’s a good book on rhythm that is kicking around on the internet for you to download and read: How to Read Jazz and Other Syncopated Type Rhythms. It’s by Micheal Longo, who had a long […]
Mingus riffs
A quick little transcription project, before I get into making a lot of cymbal videos. These are the rhythms for the horn riffs on some Charles Mingus tunes. A riff is a repeating background figure, […]
Syncopation p. 37 in 16th notes
Continuation of this item, in which I transcribe exercises by Ted Reed into 16th notes. Here I’ve done the famous page 37 exercise. I won’t be doing any other pages because that would be obsessive […]
Syncopation rhythms in 16th notes
This is a library item— you can print it and keep it with your copy of Progressive Steps to Syncopation. I’ve transcribed the one-line syncopation exercises from Reed into 2/4, doubling the rhythmic values. Just […]
Todd’s methods: Gospel 6
Get me. Here’s a practice method for people who have bought my new print book Syncopation in 3/4. It’s closely related to my standard Reed 2/2 funk method, except here we’ll be doing a slow […]
NOW AVAILABLE: 2018 Book of the Blog / Syncopation in 3/4
The 2018 CRUISE SHIP DRUMMER! Book of the Blog is now available to order. It includes all of the downloadable exercises and trancriptions posted on the site in 2018, as well as some grooves o’ […]
Syncopation p. 37: rub-a-dub method, mach 1
Now this is the level of drum geekery I aspire to, with the defiantly gibberish post title, and everything. I was writing out a very laborious explanation of the next steps in my evolving quasi-Mel Lewis […]
Todd’s funk drill – another tweak
Another small tweak to my Reed-based funk drill, improvised by a very talented 6th grade student of mine. It’s very obvious, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. Maybe I did, […]
Funk drill tweak
This is a minor tweak to my standard funk drill using Ted Reed’s Syncopation. It was played by mistake by one of my students (6th grader), but it sounded good so I decided to keep […]
Practice rhythms: partido alto logic
This is a collection of two measure practice phrases based on the concept of the partido alto rhythm, which typically has 3 or 4 quarter notes alternating with 3 or 4 upbeats. I’ve expanded on […]