A baseline thing to do with Reed funk methods is to practice in two measure phrases. For example: one measure cut time funk* / one measure RH lead**. * – CUT TIME FUNK: Reading from […]
Category: Todd’s Methods
Reed tweak: alternating triplets in 3
This came up while I was practicing out of my book, Syncopation in 3. An extremely ordinary practice system used with Syncopation is to a) swing the top line rhythm, b) fill in the remaining […]
Harmonic coordination summary
I never did a really good summary for my harmonic coordination system (which I’ve variously called Harmonic Coordination Whatsis or Harmonic Coordination Improved, etc), let’s do that now. I use it a lot in teaching, with […]
Practice phrase for Chapin
A very small item here, for making your time practicing single measures of independence patterns a little more productive. Try it when practicing Chapin— that Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer— or for any other […]
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 […]
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, […]
Todd’s rock drill
Along the lines of that jazz drill from a few weeks back, here’s a rock/funk drill I’m playing— or universal backbeat-music drill. My wife, Casey Scott, is a songwriter, and is getting ready to record […]
Todd’s jazz drill
A summary of something I’ve been doing lately. I hadn’t practiced for about a week, so to get my act together, I drilled some standard jazz methods using that recent page of practice rhythms. I […]
Linear Reed tweak
This is a sticking system for a Reed linear solo/fill method, which I improvised while practicing. In the past, I mostly improvised the stickings, which is not a bad way to practice, but it’s limiting, […]