It’s not no deep fuckin’ secret! People talk about this shit like it’s some kind of… – Paul Motian From jazz writer Ted Panken, several unedited interviews with Paul Motian— he posted this in 2014, […]
Category: time
Down Beat Drum Talk 1964: the bass drum
Continuing the talk about the use of the bass drum in jazz, particularly with regard to keeping time, aka “feathering”, here is an extended exchange from Down Beat Magazine’s March 1964 issue, between Elvin Jones, […]
Very occasional quote of the day: time and feathering
“[T]here are certain things that will never change. Good time is good time, whether it’s Baby Dodds riding on a snare drum or Jack DeJohnette slammin’ a full kit. Time is time whether you put […]
Very occasional quote of the day: one way
“I’m one of the cats that used to start them playing like lightning. We used to play like lightning all night long up at Minton’s sometimes. I got tired playing fast all the time. You […]
Very occasional quote of the day: improving time
“I think the best way to improve your time, is to play with musicians that have good time. Getting the feeling for how its supposed to be and working on it will improve time. But […]
Pulse memory
From one of the better YouTube channels, for bassists, here’s a video on the subject of time, in which the guy works through practicing with a slow click— which I highly recommend, practicing with the […]
Know your tempos: Workin’ / Steamin’ / Cookin’ / Relaxin’
You can buy them all in one collection now. Hey, we haven’t done one of these in a while. All the tempos from four very famous Miles Davis records, with his very famous quintet from the […]
Time is money
Another funny item I dug out of my archives. I believe it’s from the jazz festival at UC Berkeley in 1989— I was there playing with USC’s guitar ensemble. A bassist and drummer gave a […]
Latest views and practices on time
Rounding up my current views and practices on the subject rhythm and time, in teaching and practicing: knowing rhythm, holding a tempo in playing. This is mostly about beginner to intermediate level students. A lot […]
Very occasional quote of the day: practicing in time
“Through the years I had always practiced from slow to fast, but then I found out that that’s the worst possible thing any drummer can do for his time. If you practice like that, you […]
Tempo and practicing
Yes, it is. This always hung me up— the seemingly infinite tempo possibilities for any one thing you practice. It was a constantly lurking thing that I’m not doing this fast enough, and you would […]
Very occasional quote of the day: ectopic pulse
Film editor Walter Murch talks about Richard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, conducted by George Solti, used in the famous “Charlie’s Point” scene in Apocalypse Now. Late in post-production Decca denied the filmmakers the right […]