Double Trouble

By Matt Byrne Published In DRUM! Magazine's August 2007 Issue

This month, we're going to work on the rudiment that we metal heads tend to overlook — the double stroke. Even though a lot of rock and metal may not really require the use of this rudiment in play, it’s very important to have in the ol' bag of tricks and will most definitely make you a better all-around drummer. One of the key points to remember when working on doubles is to avoid making the second hit a “drag” or a “buzz.” Each stroke should be equal in height, volume, and pronunciation. Mastering the double stroke is all about controlling the natural second bounce of the stick. Like anything else we work on in drumming, take it slow at first, and then push yourself as you feel more comfortable. As you improve, see how quietly you can play doubles. It's another way to work on your muscle control and to “feel” the stroke more. Below, I've provided some alternating hand pattern exercises and some basic beats that work doubles between the feet and hands.

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Paradiddle Tap Orchestrations

By Wally Schnalle Originally published in DRUM! Magazine's February 2008 Issue

In this lesson I continue my exploration of “odd-adiddles,” I put the paradiddle tap in a jazz context. I’ve taken that same five-note wonder (shown in its raw form in Ex. 1) and orchestrated it around the kit. This vocabulary can be used for soloing or for tension-filled fills. Ex. 2 shows the orchestration I’m using for this right lead pattern. The right hand plays the floor tom; the left hand plays the snare; and the double right is replaced with a double stroke on the bass drum. Ex. 3 and 4 put the odd-adiddle in an eighth-note-triplet context, while Ex. 5 and 6 show them played as sixteenths. Each of the rhythmic environments has a one- and two-measure example, as the five-note pattern does not resolve itself for five measures. These examples will help you to feel the odd-adiddles in shorter, more usable phrases. Also, be sure to keep time with the hi-hat as shown so you’re actually feeling the tension and resolution of the phrase.

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Hotlicks: The Beats That Drove The British Invasion

By Brad Schlueter
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine's July 2006 Issue

The influx of English bands in the early to mid-1960s was more than just a new style of music; it was also a cultural revolution that ultimately would influence fashion, sexuality, and politics. Think Austin Powers, and you’ll get the idea, baby. Bands like the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and The Who made great music during the period that has passed the test of time and continues to have a profound effect on the music we listen to today. Lots of the drummers of the era had backgrounds in jazz, and some had trouble adapting to the straight eighth feel of rock, which is why much of the music has a subtle swing. Since rock was still in diapers, there also weren’t as many clichés for drummers to rely on, forcing them to often approach the music more creatively than many of today’s drummers (no offense, guys). There were many great bands and drummers who were a part of the British Invasion, but the scope of this article unfortunately limits the number that we can cover. And if we happened to omit your favorite drummer, feel free to direct all complaints to the editor, and away from me.

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“The House Of The Rising Sun”
Band: The Animals
Drummer: John Steel
This cover song about a famous house of prostitution in New Orleans was one of the Animals’ biggest hits, and they recorded it in just one take during a stop while touring. John Steel’s simple drum part provided the pulse the tune needed. The recording doesn’t favor the bass drum, so it might vary slightly.

“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”
Band: The Animals
Drummer: John Steel

Steel plays a very simple linear groove in the verse that’s pretty unusual by today’s standards.

“Bits And Pieces”
Band: Dave Clark 5
Drummer: Dave Clark
Dave Clark played on some Dave Clark 5 tracks but would also use studio drummers so he could be in the control room helping produce the songs. Recording technology was very different then. Songs were often played in a single pass, unlike multitrack recording today that allows drummers with bad time or vocalists with poor pitch to be Pro Tool’ed into perfection. This track has the big, dramatic drum intro shown here.

“Glad All Over”
Band: Dave Clark 5
Drummer: Dave Clark
“Glad All Over” proved a threat to The Beatles’ chart dominance, knocking the Beatles’ “I Want Hold Your Hand” from Billboard’s #1 slot in 1964. Here we see the intro fill and groove used for much of the song. Clark’s drumming has a definite pre-punk-rock flavor.

“Carrie Anne”
Band: The Hollies
Drummer: Bobby Elliott
Bobby Elliott was considered one of the best drummers of the era. His drumming on this catchy song is simple and supportive, leaving plenty of room for the steel pan solo. Matrix actress Carrie Anne Moss was named after this infectious chart topper.

“Bus Stop”
Band: The Hollies
Drummer: Bobby Elliott
Here’s another simple drum part from the always-supportive Elliott. This song was written by Glenn Gouldman, who later was a member of the band 10cc. Elliott still tours with The Hollies as one of the two original members.

“You Really Got Me”
Band: The Kinks
Drummers: Mick Avory, Bobby Graham
Ghost drumming is nothing new. Mick Avory had just joined the Kinks when this tune was recorded, but the producer had doubts he could pull it off, so he got session drummer Bobby Graham to provide the drum track for the song while Mick Avory played the tambourine part. Graham is an unsung hero of the British Invasion – a session drummer who recorded somewhere up to 15,000 songs for many popular bands of the era. Brian Epstein asked him to replace Pete Best in The Beatles, but he declined, so they got Ringo Starr instead. Ouch.

“For Your Love”
Band: The Yardbirds
Drummer: Jim McCarty
The Yardbirds began as a serious blues band and had three incredible guitarists in succession: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. “For Your Love” was one their biggest hit and like The Hollies’ “Bus Stop” was written by Glenn Gouldman. It also drove the serious blues guitarist Clapton to leave the band. Studio musicians played much of this track, including the bongo part, which is most easily played with a sticking of R LL R L R L R L. McCarty plays a twist beat during the verse, but it’s his big drum break at the tempo change that really stands out.

“I Can See For Miles”
Band: The Who
Drummer: Keith Moon
Keith Moon was the original wild-man drummer, destroying countless drum kits, hotel rooms, and tragically, eventually himself. There will never be another drummer like him. On “I Can See For Miles” Moon takes his familiar role of playing lead drums, peppering the intro of this song with tom hits and snare crescendos. His innovative and unusual approach to the instrument helped establish The Who as one of the British Invasion’s most interesting and rebellious acts.

“Get Off My Cloud”
Band: Rolling Stones
Drummer: Charlie Watts
The Stones had just had a huge hit with “Satisfaction,” and their record company was banging on their door wanting another single. This song was their response and ironically also became a #1 hit in the U.S. The transcription has excerpts from the verse and chorus showing how well Charlie Watts drives the tune.

“Paint It Black”
Band: Rolling Stones
Drummer: Charlie Watts
The Rolling Stones had a grungier sound than some of the other bands of the era. Charlie Watts plays a double-time tribal tom pattern that suits the Middle Eastern vibe of this song perfectly. The bass drum is hard to make out in that section and may be quietly thumping quarter-notes.

“In My Life”
Band: The Beatles
Drummer: Ringo Starr
Here we see an interesting example of Ringo’s drumming. He plays a cool linear groove that is a great example of simple, creative drum set orchestration.

“The End”
Band: The Beatles
Drummer: Ringo Starr
Here is Ringo’s drum solo from the post-Invasion years. If it seems surprisingly difficult to play, remember that Ringo is left-handed but plays a right-handed kit, so lots of the patterns begin with his left hand.

“She’s Not There”
Band: The Zombies
Drummer: Hugh Grundy
The Zombies were a great band that broke up too soon. Drummer Hugh Grundy played some really interesting parts that still sound fresh today – his contribution to drumming should be better known. On “She’s Not There,” he plays a linear groove for the verse that sounds like a rim-click played with his left hand, while the snare note on count 4 and the hi-hat note that follows it is played with his right hand. It’s a great groove with a hint of a Latin flavor. This song reached #1 in the U.S.

“Time Of The Season”
Band: The Zombies
Drummer: Hugh Grundy
This is one of the great radio songs of all time, but tragically became a hit after The Zombies had disbanded. Written by keyboardist Rod Argent, who also penned “She’s Not There,” this song and album wouldn’t have been released in the States if Bob Dylan’s keyboardist Al Kooper hadn’t badgered the record company to release it. After they reluctantly did, it promptly sold two million copies in the U.S. The recording quality of this song still sounds amazing, and it features another linear pattern that this time includes a handclap and vocal “ahhh” bathed in reverb. Those parts are written within the verse pattern because they’re inseparable and essential to this great groove. The chorus features another clever Latin-tinged Grundy groove.

Mastering 6 Over 4

By Jim Donovan Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's August 2007 Issue

At the foundation of many West African rhythmic structures is the polyrhythm 6 over 4. The trick to internalizing this feel and applying it to the kit is to start very slowly. Begin by simply using your dominant hand and your kick drum. Try counting 6 aloud as you play the first exercise. Then try counting 4. The goal is to gradually be able to feel both 6 and 4 at the same time. Exercises 2–4 implement bell patterns from the Ghanaian Eve tradition. Remember, accuracy and a relaxed feel is much more important than speed while you’re learning these.

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Groove Analysis: Steve Ferrone’s “First Flash Of Freedom”

By Nate Brown
Published on August 27, 2010

Our buddy, Nate Brown from onlinedrummer.com, demonstrates Steve Ferrone’s spacious drum part on the song “First Flash Of Freedom” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers latest release, Mojo. You can find a transcription of these patterns on page 56 of the August 2010 issue of DRUM! Magazine.

Inverted Beats

By Matt Byrne
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine's February 2008 Issue

In this lesson we’re going to mess around with some inverted beats between the kick, snare, and hi-hats, as well as with some beats that incorporate left foot-patterns on the hi-hat. The first set of beats is of straight sixteenth-notes where the double hits alternate between the ghost-note hits on the snare and the double hits on the hi-hat. The groove and overall feel of these beats comes from the execution of the ghost notes. The next set of beats also features straight sixteenth-notes, however, I’ve replaced the snare hits with the kick drum, and vice versa.

The last set of beats features variations of the first set, but here I’ve added the left foot hi-hat. These hits, combined with the kick drum, are accented.

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India Meets Brazil

Peter Erskine
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s December 2005 Issue

Challenge: Read Ex. 1!

Tricky! Famed Indian musician, composer, and sitar master Ravi Shankar showed this to jazz musician and bandleader Don Ellis in the 1960s. This is a fascinating rhythmic study. Taking the subdivisions 3-3-2 with an accent at the beginning of each group, we have a phrase that sounds very much like the Brazilian baião in Ex. 2 and 3.

Now, instead of treating the rhythm in duple fashion, let’s have fun and utilize the grouping as a series of accented eighth-note triplets in 4/4. Here’s the same rhythm (Ex. 4) with more visual clues and explanatory tuplet markings.

Try incorporating this at the kit!

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Peter Erskine has played with Weather Report, Steps Ahead, and the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and holds an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee School of Music. petererskine.com

Expanding The Paradiddle-Tap

Wally Schnalle
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s December 2005 Issue

In previous columns, we’ve played with the pardiddle-tap sticking in jazz and paradiddle modulation exercises. Here we use the pardiddle-tap sticking to create “lick” vocabulary. First, we explore the pardiddle-tap in quintuplet usage and then accelerate that up to thirty-second notes through the addition of bass drum strokes. Note that the last example uses double bass to execute the 3-note pattern. Also note that I’ve added an additional accent on the left hand. This just adds a little dynamic interest. I’ve also given each pattern four possible orchestrations, but as usual explore and find your own.

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DRUM! Music Editor Wally Schnalle is a drummer, composer, and teacher based in the San Francisco bay area, and has performed with Eddie Gale, Ernie Watts, and the San Jose Symphony Orchestra. itrhymes.com

Mike Cosgrove: Playing Around With Paradiddles

By Mike Cosgrove
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s September 2006

One of the best ways to challenge your technique is to play paradiddles in as many ways possible. Ex. 1 is a standard paradiddle pattern, and Exs. 2–4 shift the starting note by one beat. For an added workout, the accents also change halfway through each bar. As always, use a metronome, and keep time by tapping your foot on the floor, hi-hat, or bass drum. Also try practicing these exercises on a pillow to build strength in your hands. Good luck!

DRUM! Notation Guide

Rich Redmond’s Groove Builder Video Exercises

By Rich Redmond
Published on August 4, 2010

Do you want to make every beat count? Using simple exercises, Nashville studio and touring hotshot Rich Redmond demonstrates how to make your grooves dynamically fatter by combining accented strokes and ghosted taps. His secret combines drumming mechanics and basic musicianship to add more muscle to your groove.

10 Ways To Sound Like Bill Bruford

By John Natelli Originally published in DRUM! Magazine's March 2010 Issue

It was the ambitious fourth album by the English band Yes — a group of slightly nerdy, absurdly skilled art-rockers — that first turned the ears of the world toward the rhythmic individualism of Bill Bruford. The record was called Fragile, and rarely have the drums on a recording made such an immediate impression on generations of first-time listeners. The music was equally impressive, both in scope and execution — the tense, prog-funk grooving of “Roundabout,” the dizzying intro to “Heart Of The Sunrise,” and that incredible snare sound that could only be described as a sort of dry, punchy bonk

All would be canonized as prime examples of what had then become known as “progressive rock,” a term loosely applied to a highly diverse set of bands aspiring to move beyond the structures and conventions of the standard blues-rooted rock that had dominated the airwaves since the early ’60s. Yes was the first of these acts to achieve true mainstream appeal, although Bruford would only stick around a little longer before making the first in a series of career moves that by anyone’s terms would be considered adventurous, if perhaps a little risky. He had it figured out, though. His restlessness and pioneering instincts gave us a body of work astounding in its variety of achievements (and collaborators).

To examine Bruford’s contribution to drumming by simply compiling a list of “Brufordisms” is to diminish his legacy. Like the greatest of composers, the merits of this legacy are most apparent when his work is viewed holistically, rather than as separate achievements. After all, these techniques and innovations were not consciously devised independently of one another. They evolved as a style over time, forging one of rock’s truly unmistakable musical voices, which has modeled artistic integrity of the highest degree for the past 40 years and reflects the true personality of its owner. His prose, in fact, reads much like his drumming: meticulously crafted, yet never sounding belabored; complex, yet totally reasonable. To state it plainly, Bruford has been very successful in striking the perfect balance between brainy and badass.

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1. THE GROOVES
From his legendary up-tempo lope with Yes, to his more fusion-influenced patterns of the late ’70s (see Exs. 2a, 2b, 2c), hard grooving is one of Bruford’s undeniable strengths as a rock drummer. Even the most straightforward of his earlier rock-era grooves seem to have a little extra springiness to them. Aside from the man’s inimitable feel, a few small embellishments help to create this effect. The most characteristic (and ordinary) of these is a simple sixteenth-note in the bass drum just before the snare whacks a backbeat (Ex. 1a). This little gesture can be heard frequently throughout Bruford’s entire catalog, right up to the recent “From The Source, We Tumble Headlong,” from In Two Minds, his collaboration with keyboardist Michiel Borstlap. As unremarkable as it may seem, it’s a trademark of his feel. The addition of a subtly ghosted breakbeat pattern adds even more texture and spring, as seen in “Yours Is No Disgrace” (Ex. 1b, from The Yes Album by Yes) and “Siberian Khatru” [(Ex. 1c, from Fragile by Yes). The classic “Roundabout” has a similar feel with a slightly different construction (Ex. 1d).

2. THE SNARE (CLOSE TO THE RIM)
The sound of Bruford’s drums are as much a part of the records he has recorded as the music, and the most unique and noticeable voice in this kit is the sound of the snare drum. It is one of legendary distinction, sought after by many, but never quite replicated. In fact, “Bill’s Bonk” seems to be less the result of any particular piece of magical gear than the manner in which he played those items (various Ludwig Supra-Phonics and Supersensitives — no surprises there). According to Bruford, the task of contending with his colleagues’ amps in the days before drum mikes resulted in him firing his rimshots at around the halfway point between the center of the head (tuned “fairly tight”) and the rim to produce more ring. Bruford is a lifelong believer in the au naturel school of mixing: drumheads are not to be dampened or muted because the overtones will properly absorb into the mix with the other instruments, creating a livelier and more organic-sounding record. In his words: “Crap idea, if you think about it. I just let my drums ring, and those harmonics are part of the music, as any idiot now knows.” A comprehensive inventory of Bruford’s gear by era can be found at billbruford.com/equipment.

3. THE PARADIDDLES
For Bruford, and many others, the paradiddle and its permutations provide a sort of vocabulary of stickings that allow us to explore more complex rhythmic territory. (For example, the handy RLRLRRL and RLRLRLL stickings help you to play in 7/4 by allowing you to begin each new phrase on the right hand.) Bruford has been able to exploit the endless usefulness of figures like these to a high degree in much of his playing, providing the seed for some of his most celebrated material.

Examples 2a, 2b, and 2c are all taken from three different performances of the fusion-y 9/8 workout “Beelzebub.” The first is the original studio recording from his 1978 solo debut, Feels Good To Me, the second taken from the Earthworks rendition heard on the Magna Carta label’s Drum Nation Vol. One (2004), and the third comes from a Bruford clinic at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario in 2006. Notice how he uses a distinctly different pattern for each, yet relies heavily on paradiddles for all three. Bruford is also particularly fond of the paradiddlediddle. To this day, the entirety of Yes’ “Heart Of The Sunrise” remains perhaps the greatest recorded document of one man’s ability to creatively and musically incorporate this rudiment into a piece of music. The passages in Ex. 2d are taken from this masterpiece. Similarly orchestrated figures are plentiful in the King Crimson song “Easy Money” from Larks’ Tongues In Aspic record (Ex. 2f).

4. THE SEXTUPLETS
Swift, single-stroke sextuplets have always been a reliable choice for Bruford as textural material during a fill. As a result we hear them quite commonly in his playing. Oftentimes he seems to enjoy the rhythmic contrast of following and/or preceding these with straight sixteenth-notes, as in the gripping opening phrase of “Heart Of The Sunrise” (Ex. 2d) as well as other moments in that song (Ex. 3a). Ex. 3b shows a similar application, also preceded by straight sixteenth-notes and further enhanced with an accent pattern. It is from yet another live version of “Beelzebub,” this one from a 1979 performance captured on The Bruford Tapes (each recording of this tune is unique from the others). Example 3c is his clever orchestration of a sextuplet between the hi-hat, snare, and kick, also from “Heart Of The Sunrise.”

5. THE METERS
Bruford’s facility with odd meters has come to define much of his work. This can be somewhat attributed to his often brutally discerning choice of collaborator. But it’s also very much the result of his status as the first rock drummer to explore odd meters while working within the format of a “pop vocal group,” as he described Yes in his 1982 instructional drum video. Evidently one of the first of its kind, Bruford And The Beat features the drummer explaining the genesis of his famously off-kilter groove from the hypnotic title track off King Crimson’s 1981 album Discipline (Ex. 4a). Inspired by a left-handed Swiss triplet, the phrase comprises 17 sixteenth-notes — which would make the time signature 17/16 — tethered to quarter-notes on the bass drum. Think of this as a measure of 4/4 with an extra sixteenth-note tacked on the end. Because of this extra note, the right foot won’t fall on the first downbeat of the phrase for another four measures (i.e., it will take four measures before those extra sixteenth-notes add up to another quarter-note). Another great example of Bruford’s gift for odd grooving is from “In The Dead Of Night” by uber-virtouso prog unit U.K. (Ex. 4b, from their eponymous debut).

6. THE POLYRHYTHMS
It’s only natural to hear Bruford and “polyrhythms” mentioned in the same breath (this is, after all, the man who drummed on the finest output from King Crimson, a group that spent entire LPs exploring the concept). Nonetheless, the association should not be taken for granted. While greats like Tony Williams and Elvin Jones had spent the ’60s coloring their post-bop with these clever rhythmic illusions, Bruford — certainly influenced by the aforementioned — was one of the first drummers to use the technique extensively in the rock idiom. Specifically, he likes to imply polyrhythms by the use of specific orchestrations around the kit within a phrase of otherwise typically subdivided beats. This can be heard a number of times on the King Crimson album Red, particularly in “One More Red Nightmare” and the title track, where he repeatedly outlines a 3:2 polyrhythm with a pattern orchestrated around the toms and ride (Ex. 5). The effect would be lost here if the same rhythm, single-stroke sextuplets, was played on only a single piece of the kit.

7. THE DISPLACEMENT OF THE BACKBEAT
Another clever technique in Bruford’s arsenal — no doubt the direct result of frequently playing odd-metered music — is his practice of displacing the backbeat in a groove. A rhythmic illusion of sorts, this has the disorienting effect of making it seem like your LP just skipped. In a live performance of his composition “Sample And Hold,” from a 1979 New York City radio broadcast, Bruford pulls this one a couple of times successively while the rest of Bruford (the band) churn out a dizzying melody with contrapuntal bass (Ex. 6a). Whether these are definite meter changes embedded in the composition or just the playful whim of our tricky hero is not completely obvious. Does it matter, though? We’re left with our heads spinning either way. Sometimes Bruford is able to create the opposite effect by declining to adjust the backbeat while the rest of the group transitions from one odd-metered phrase into the next. This occurs right before the turnaround during the guitar/keyboard “hook” in “Siberian Khatru” shortly before both meet up at the beginning of the new phrase (Ex. 6b).

8. THE BREAKS
Considering all the discussion of his virtuosity on the instrument, it should be noted that for most of any given song Bruford is fairly keen to lay low and lock into a groove (even if it’s in 17/16 and polyrhythmic). This inclination of his to serve the song makes the busier moments only that much more exciting. Occasionally he finds his window and takes the opportunity to teach both his kit and you a lesson not soon to be forgotten. Examples 7a, 7b, and 7c represent a small collection of these often dazzling moments.

9. THE SYMMETRICAL KIT
Just as Bruford’s career evolved through the years, so did the drums he played, until his endless craftiness and innovation joined forces in the late ’90s to produce the Bruford original: the symmetrical drum set. This configuration consists of a remote hi-hat placed due north of the snare with two toms and two cymbals equidistantly positioned on each side. The toms are placed flat with a gentle inward curve, similar to a set of timpani, and are purposefully arranged to avoid the descending pitch order of a typical setup. Bruford credits his design with a more comfortable playing experience as well as enhanced musical possibilities: “This makes for some nice combinations [and] interesting phrasing.” Ex. 8 contains excerpts from a 2005 Earthworks performance of “The Wooden Man Sings And The Stone Woman Dances” in Paderborn, Germany. The phrases demonstrate the possibilities of this unique kit.

10. THE MASTERY OF THE DOWNBEAT
Of the true holy grails of drumming, the ability to take extended metric excursions while maintaining a firm awareness of the downbeat can often prove the most elusive. At the risk of sounding a bit too admiring, it must be acknowledged that Bruford has simply mastered this concept. While every album in his catalog verifies this claim, the most compelling piece of evidence is a YouTube video of Bruford soloing over the King Crimson’s “Indiscipline” vamp at his 2006 drum clinic at Mohawk College. For the three-and-a-quarter minutes, he modulates around various pulses, manipulating the audience’s sense of downbeat with the skill of a magician and a look on his face like he’s trying to solve a riddle. Occasionally he returns to the downbeat, following it with a brief rest to remind them what planet they’re on. Then he’s off again, ad-libbing material that cannot be rationally analyzed in terms of meters, pulses, and polyrhythms. Ex. 9 illustrates a few of these moments and how they relate to the 4/4 “Indiscipline” rhythm that accompanies them. All are taken from the YouTube post titled “Bill Bruford — Indiscipline,” which must be seen to be believed.

Matt Byrne: Double Bass Basics

By Matt Byrne
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s September 2006 Issue

In this lesson, we’re going to go over some double bass basics. First off, balance and posture are very important, so your setup is key, with the throne being your anchor point. Sitting too close or too far from the kick drums will throw your balance off, causing you to lean in and hunch over or lean back and push off your pedals. Sit at a distance that feels naturally comfortable, with your feet relatively shoulder length apart.

The exercises I’ve provided are pretty straightforward but will help build stamina, endurance, and independence in your legs. Start with the standard sixteenth-note pattern in Ex. 1. Exs. 2 and 3 are slightly trickier variations, with straight eighth-notes on the hi-hat and the snare mostly on 2 and 4. Focus on playing each bass drum with equal volume and intensity. Get kicking!

DRUM! Notation Guide

Art Of Acquisition

By Brad Dutz
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s December 2005 Issue

Part of a percussionist’s job is creating and collecting instruments, which I think is also very fun. The more instruments you have, the more gigs you can cover. Having unique instruments can also be your calling card for studio work.

Creating shakers is very simple. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when experimenting with filler materials such as small beads, popcorn, BBs – just about anything that can make a sound. Windchimes are also simple to make. I have made them from bottle caps, piano tuning pins, keys, bamboo, nails, shells, glass, forks, spoons, pods, pistachio shells, and Brazil nuts.

Metal products are easy to come by and are very cheap in most cases. I was recently in an antique shop and found some old brass bowls that make great bells. In the same store, I found an old Iranian gong that sounds extremely groovy. The best shakers in the world are old 35mm metal film canisters, which can also be found in antique stores. Industrial supply places have great scrap metal that they get rid of cheap. I have found good anvil and bell plate sounds at metal shops. And if you can find a military supply store, old artillery shell casings make amazing big bells.

Always keep one eye on newspaper ads for old instruments as well. Many great products are sold by people who don’t care to keep them around.

Keep searching everywhere!

Brad Dutz has played with Alanis Morrisette, Kiss, Willie Nelson, and Tribal Tech; on several movie soundtracks and TV shows, and teaches at Cal State Long Beach. rhythmweb.com/dutz/

Peter Erskine: Velocities

By Peter Erskine
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s September 2006

Here’s some cool drum vocabulary that best exists in its own time and space frame; such rhythms shouldn’t be transcribed in measured time. Why? Because these are rhythmic expressions more of velocity and emotion rather than technique. To get started, let’s use the triplet as our foundation. Play Exs. 1–9 at varying tempos and dynamics, all the while listening to the drumming of Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and Art Blakey. You will recognize these motifs, and you will also recognize that these are best played freely. Change the tempo and speed throughout (start and stop frequently if you like). Vary the dynamics rapidly and often. Experiment with crescendos and diminuendos. Vary the texture: Play on different parts of the head, drum, or cymbal. In other words: make the music breathe.

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Hot Licks: The Birth Of Punk Rock

By Brad Schlueter
Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's August 2008 Issue

If you’re familiar only with today’s brand of prefab pop punk, you owe it to yourself to check out the gritty bands that spawned the music, fashions, and attitude that went on to influence several generations of punk rockers. The songs could be political and blunt with lyrics that ranged from confrontational to apathetic or just plain sarcastic. The drumming style was often primal, direct, and without frills. Here are a handful that made it happen.

“Anarchy In The U.K.” by Sex Pistols

The first single from Sex Pistols has everything a punk rock anthem needs: angry lyrics, pounding drums, and a great guitar hook. Johnny Rotten’s lyrics and nasal monotone delivery ooze punk’s discontent and nihilism. His opening lyric “I am an anti-Christ” was shocking in its day, and the band seemed to go out of its way to live up to that image. Drummer Paul Cook anchors the intro of this classic song by playing what has become an essential punk rock groove. He plays a variation on a “twist” beat, riding his floor tom and playing his snare on 2 & and 4 and adding a little sixteenth-note tom embellishment at the end of each bar.

“Train In Vain (Stand By Me)” by The Clash

Pop punk didn’t begin with Green Day. The Clash was known for blending political lyrics with catchy melodies that had stylistic influences ranging from reggae to rockabilly. “Train In Vain” is a love song and is one of their biggest hits. This song still gets radio play and was a last-minute addition to their hugely successful London Calling album. It was almost left off because the band felt it was too commercial. Topper Headon provided the perfect tasty groove for the song.

“Neat Neat Neat” by The Damned

Although The Damned never broke big in the States they were among the U.K.’s early crop of punk bands. And while you might not recognize the birth name of the Damned’s drummer (Christopher Miller), his stage name, Rat Scabies, will always be one of the great ones.

“Ready Steady Go” by Generation X

This was Billy Idol’s band before he became known as the solo artist with a perfect sneer. Their first successful song, “Ready Steady Go,” is an up-tempo rocker that features drummer Mark Laff behind the kit. His slamming flam-and-kick drum intro launches the song off the starting blocks.

“I Wanna Be Sedated” by The Ramones

The Ramones were one of the hardest working punk bands around, playing thousands of shows during their 22 years of gigging. Often cited as the first punk rock band, the Ramones inspired The Clash, The Damned, and Sex Pistols to perform after they toured the U.K. in 1976. This song was written about how much life on the road stinks and features Marky Ramone (Mark Bell) on drums.

“Pay To Cum” by Bad Brains

This Washington DC punk band began playing fusion and reggae but later went punk. All three influences are still present in their music today. This minute-and-a-half song was their first single and was the song that launched the insanely fast, hardcore style of punk that’s still popular today. The audio quality makes it difficult to make out exactly what drummer Earl Hudson plays on this recording, but it’s impossible to miss his unusual but memorable cowbell part in the verses.

“Group Sex” by Circle Jerks

The debut album by Circle Jerks features 14 songs that average just over a minute each. For the title track from the record, drummer Lucky Lehrer plays a cool tribal drum groove. Lucky moves his right hand from his crash to his tom-tom to create the beat for this ridiculously fast song.

“Holiday In Cambodia” by Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys’ anti-war song is just as pertinent today as it was in 1980. The transcription begins when drummer Bruce “Ted” Slesinger breaks into two-handed sixteenth notes played on the hi-hat over quarter-notes on the bass drum. He gradually opens his hi-hat, setting up his fast snare roll that leads into the next section. Here he plays a disco beat with quarters on the bass drum and open hi-hats on the &’s.

“Gloria” by Patti Smith

Patti Smith is referred to as the “Godmother Of Punk” and her version of this rock staple proves she deserves the title. Her arrangement varies greatly from Van Morrison’s original version. Jay Dee Daugherty’s drum part begins with a bass drum and hi-hat pattern with a light triplet groove. He builds his part into a shuffle, giving it a quasi-country feel. He changes his hi-hat pattern to a straight quarter-note pattern, giving the song a more rock vibe, but maintains the triplet feel with his bass drum. Finally, he switches to a straight-eighth-note rock feel in the fourth line of the transcription. The tune picks up speed leading into the chorus and Daugherty introduces the funky two-handed hi-hat groove seen in the last line.

“I’m Bored” by Iggy Pop

Often called the “Godfather Of Punk” (wonder if he ever compared notes with Patti Smith?), Iggy Pop’s visceral stage persona is unforgettable, and he is credited with inventing stage diving. From the opening lyric, “I’m bored. I’m the chairman of the bored,” Pop’s attitude is all punk. Klaus Kruger plays the aggressive drum fills that set the stage for this great song.

Tom Bashin’

Mike Cosgrove
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s December 2005 Issue

We're gonna’ beat on the toms! Lots of rock songs use toms to push the groove with a warmer and fatter dynamic. Here are some grooves that primarily involve the toms. Be sure to play the notes cleanly: You want to really drive the songs with each groove.

Many of the patterns shown here are just building blocks for you to be creative. Some of the patterns sound better at faster tempos, some are better slower, but all can be played at any tempo. In Ex. 4, keep sixteenth-notes strong and even between your right hand and right foot so that it doesn’t sound "flammy". In Ex. 3, Ex. 7, and Ex. 8, try to open up or separate the flams a bit more to fatten the beat when hitting high and low toms together with right and left hand. Play with a metronome and try to keep time with your left foot.

Good luck!

DRUM! Notation Guide

Mike Cosgrove writes, records, and tours both with Alien Ant Farm and independently. He gives drum lessons in Southern California and loves his Cocoa Pebbles.

Hand/Foot Independence

Matt Byrne
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s December 2005 Issue

This month, we’re going to work on building coordination and endurance between one hand and one foot. All drumming revolves around singles, doubles, and paradiddles. It’s important to practice those rudiments by mixing them together using various combinations of one hand, one foot, and some imagination. Here are some patterns that will get your limbs working independently. They also make for some great fills. Go for it!

P.S. Check out a drummer named Derek Roddy, who plays for an extreme metal band called HATE ETERNAL. He is the master of similar types of exercises.

DRUM! Notation Guide

Matt Byrne bashes for the Grammy-nominated heavy metal/hardcore band Hatebreed. In his spare time, he is working on his Special Ed./Elementary Ed. Teaching degree. You can email Matt at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Ian Paice: And The Origin Of Progressive Metal

By Brad Schlueter
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s May 2006 Issue

Few bands have enjoyed the longevity of Deep Purple or survived the endless lineup and style changes that the group has weathered over the past three-plus decades. Such a healthy lifespan can be easily explained as a byproduct of the masterful musicianship and stylistic diversity found on pop tunes like “Hush,” “Hey Joe,” or “Kentucky Woman,” intermingled with their original metal and keyboard-driven progressive rock styles on “Burn” or classic metal anthems like “Smoke On The Water.” Founding drummer Ian Paice has been propelling the band from the beginning with his great technique, inventive parts, fast foot, and blistering single-stroke rolls. His influence on modern drumming can’t be overemphasized, as he arguably had a hand in the birth of both metal and progressive rock drumming. Not a bad pedigree. Flip the page to look at some of his flashier moments.

DRUM! Notation Guide

“Hush” from Shades Of Deep Purple

This cover was one of Deep Purple’s early hits. Propelled by Jon Lord’s funky Hammond organ work and Paice’s cool grooves and fills, the song’s great success now seems inevitable.

“It’s quite hard to remember that far back,” Paice admits. “Basically it’s a samba. Obviously I wasn’t trying to play the same way that a guy with congas and hand drums would do it. But I was keeping that pulse that the organ was doing in my mind in a way to complement the fairly straightforward rock-and-roll rhythm I played, so try to maintain the inherent swing of the samba while you’re playing. It finds its own feel.”

During this period, Paice’s drumming was a bit reminiscent of Mitch Mitchell’s jazzy rock drumming with Jimi Hendrix. Check out the great triplet fill that sets up the “na-na-na-na” vocal refrain. It’s okay to sing along.

“Chasing Shadows” from Deep Purple

Here Ian Paice proves that he paid close attention to practicing rudiments at his drum lessons. By playing a double paradiddle – LRLRLL RLRLRR (remember Ian’s a lefty) – with his right hand moving between his high tom and mid tom and his left hand staying on the floor tom, Paice creates a clever tribal Afro-Cuban groove.

“You put all the paradiddles into a 4/4 tempo and they work very well,” Paice explains. “It was interesting flipping the hands between two drums to create the semi-jungle feel. It was one of the times when the drum pattern created the song. I was just having fun with it by myself on the kit, and the guys came in and found that the feel was something they really liked, and started creating the song around it.”

He plays quarter-notes on the downbeats and closes his hi-hat on 2 and 4. The percussion enters after four bars, making it a bit harder to decipher how he executes this cool groove.

“Hey Joe” And “Child In Time Bolero”

Could a song be more politically incorrect? “Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?” Well, Joe’s on his way to murder his girlfriend for cheating on him, and then he’s going to escape to Mexico – not the greatest caper ever planned, but it does make for a dramatic song. Deep Purple’s take on the classic adds a two and a half minute intro built around a bolero groove that ends with a quarter-note triplet. It might be more suitable as the theme music at a bullfight.

“We had the intent of changing it and arranging it à la Vanilla Fudge,” Paice says. “It’s one of those songs that no matter who does it, it will never quite be what Hendrix and Mitch [Mitchell] and Noel [Redding] created. Sometimes there’s a benchmark set the first time you hear [a song]. And that sort of tune did give a lot of freedom rhythmically for the drummer to just sort of wave his arms ’round a bit more than he normally would.”

Paice also plays a similar if more conventional bolero pattern in Deep Purple’s “Child In Time.” Note: The bass drum part is so quiet that it could be a little different than what we have notated here.

“Pictures Of Home” from Machine Head

Paice enters “Pictures Of Home” with an absolutely killer fill from the Live At Royal Albert Hall CD. It sounds polyrhythmic because he groups these linear ruffs in clusters of three eighth-notes for sections of this fill.

“My idea for it was to use it the same way a magician uses slight of hand to deceive you – the drum intro is meant to deceive your ears because it’s a great tumbling load of notes,” Paice says. “I’m actually thinking of three beats against two when I’m playing, so I’m just trying to misdirect the listener as to where the 1 in the bar is, and it works well.”

If you want to learn it, try playing flams instead of the thirty-second-notes notes at first. Once you get the basic rhythm and voicing down, widen the flams into thirty-second-notes. Playing e and ah with your feet may seem very strange and difficult unless you try it that way first.

“Burn” from Burn

If you’re not familiar with Ian Paice’s incredible drumming and Ritchie Blackmore’s ability to craft an unforgettable guitar riff, this song should clue you in. “Burn” kicks butt and blends Deep Purple’s progressive rock leanings with their metal influences.

Paice’s blistering single-stroke assault propels this tune much like Pierre Van der Linden did in “Hocus Pocus” by the Dutch prog band Focus (but fortunately without all the yodeling and whistling). You’ll need to warm up and get a triple shot of espresso before attempting this one.

“We were down in a place in Wales, and the guys were running a part of the song that would become ‘Burn,’” Paice remembers. “They were going over and over it, and I was bored stiff. And as they did it one more time I just started to solo under the chords they were playing – staying in time but totally ignoring what they were doing. And they all stopped and said, ‘That was great. That’s what it needed. Do it again.’”

“Fireball” from Fireball

Want to improve your feet? Put your double pedal in a closet until you can play the intro to “Fireball.” This tune has another blistering Ian Paice drum intro that helped establish him as one of the best drummers in rock.

<.p>This fast intro would challenge any drummer to play, let alone create, which makes it even more amazing that this track chronicles the very first time Paice had ever experimented with two bass drums. “The song had basically been written, and I knew what I was trying to achieve with the drum intro,” Paice explains. “Being a one-bass-drum player, I was trying to find ways of simulating what would happen with two bass drums. I initially started by trying to play all the notes of that double-bass-drum pattern with just my left foot. I could just about get the speed, but I couldn’t get any power to make it sound convincing.

“Luckily for us, the night before, The Who had been recording in the same studio, and Keith Moon’s kit was still there – the roadies hadn’t taken it away. So I took one of his bass drums out of the case and stuck it next to mine, and for the first time ever I just played the pattern with the two kicks. That gave the power and the feel to set the song up. It’s not a difficult part, but it’s a great part for that song.”

“Smoke On The Water” from Machine Head

This is the rock anthem. The song’s massive popularity has lasted for decades, and learning to play the intro is one of the first tasks every guitarist must tackle. Paice plays an accented sixteenth-note pattern on his hi-hat, gradually building the intensity until the vocals enter. He uses buzzes, ruffs, and occasional hi-hat openings during the groove to help subtly shape his beats around the vocal lines, which helps make his part breathe. He punctuates all the section changes with very tasty fills. Chops are required.

“When we were recording the Machine Head album, the first track that we did was the backing track for ‘Smoke On the Water,’” Paice explains. “We did it in a ballroom right across from the Grand Hotel in Montreux. We were recording in the evening, and Montreux that time of year is a sleepy little Swiss town. When there is no other noise and you have a rock and roll band playing very loud in an empty ballroom, the sound goes for miles. We were just about getting towards the end of the take for the basic tracks and the police were trying to break into the ballroom to stop us because of all the complaints about the sound. And the road managers were actually holding the doors shut to keep them from breaking in before we finished the track.

“Then we went on to record the rest of the record, and we thought no more about it. It was just a backing track with a nice riff. It was only after the casino burned down that the riff and the words came together. And the words came from Roger [Glover, bass] watching the smoke from the casino drift lazily across Lake Geneva. It’s a pretty controlled track from the drums. There’s a little bit of phasing at the end on the cymbals, because that was a time when we used phasing. It was a nice effect.”

“Highway Star” from Machine Head

This is another great hard rock tune and perhaps the ultimate Deep Purple track from the classic lineup featuring Ian Gillian. According to Paice, the song was an homage to all the great early rockers who influenced the bandmembers.

“‘Highway Star’ is out-and-out rock and roll,” he states. “It’s taking all the influences from the great stuff from the ’50s and throwing them all together in one joyous piece of mayhem. All the ideas – they come from Little Richard, they come from Gene Vincent, they come from Elvis Presley – they come from all those rock giants. It was the music that we grew up with, and it meant something to each one of us.” Check out this perfect drum fill that Paice places just about a minute into the tune. It in itself is a classic slice of rock history.

Speed Drumming: Derek Roddy’s Weak Foot Buster

By Derek Roddy
Published on August 4, 2010

Derek Roddy knows a thing or two about playing fast, having literally written the book on the subject — The Evolution Of Blast Beats. But he didn’t develop his superhuman speed overnight, and in this video lesson he shares his secret for developing your weak foot. Better brace yourself, though — your shins are sure to burn after this weak foot buster.

Pedaling Lesson: Art Cruz Turns On Overdrive

By Art Cruz
Published August 3, 2010

In second part of Art Cruz’s focus on bass drum technique, the remarkable Winds Of Plague drummer demonstrates how he approaches his fastest bass drum patterns by reverting to an toe-activated style that employs an odd inward angling of his right foot. He then demonstrates the technique on the song “Soldiers Of Doomsday” from the band’s brutal 2009 release The Great Stone War.

Tiger Bill’s Speed Lesson #77: Backsticking Speed Tricks of the Trade - Part 2

By Tiger Bill Meligari Published August 2, 2010

Last month I demonstrated a backsticking pattern using single stroke sticking. This time I'll show you how a little change in sticking pattern can make your backsticking a whole lot faster and easier to play! Take a look at the written notation and then watch the video demonstration.

Video Lesson

As with any sticking pattern, the key is to practice very slowly at first. Don't be in a rush to gain speed or you may find your technique becoming sloppy. As you alternate between the tip and butt end of the stick, strive to maintain an even triplet sound!

Practice Tips

Once you can perform this backsticking pattern cleanly and up to speed, work on it again with the sticking reversed. Try to stay loose and relaxed while performing this exercise. This will become even more critical next month when we apply our backsticking to the drumset! If you find you're having trouble playing cleanly without getting tense, refer to my Web site at http://www.TensionFreeDrumming.com.

Feel free to email questions on this month's lesson to me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

For free drum lessons, and expert drumming advice, visit http://www.TigerBill.com.

Until next time: Have fun and stay loose!

Tiger Bill Meligari

Velocities

By Peter Erskine Published in the September 2006 issue of DRUM!

Here’s some cool drum vocabulary that best exists in its own time and space frame; such rhythms shouldn’t be transcribed in measured time. Why? Because these are rhythmic expressions more of velocity and emotion rather than technique. To get started, let’s use the triplet as our foundation. Play Exs. 1–9 at varying tempos and dynamics, all the while listening to the drumming of Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and Art Blakey. You will recognize these motifs, and you will also recognize that these are best played freely. Change the tempo and speed throughout (start and stop frequently if you like). Vary the dynamics rapidly and often. Experiment with crescendos and diminuendos. Vary the texture: Play on different parts of the head, drum, or cymbal. In other words: make the music breathe.

Velocities Exercises

DRUM! Notation Guide

Peter Erskine has played with Weather Report, Steps Ahead, and the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and holds an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College Of Music. http://petererskine.com

Groove Analysis: How To Play Thomas Lang's "Loki"

By Radim McCue Published July 28, 2010

In the DRUM! Magazine June cover story about Thomas Lang he reflects on some of the changes he's made to his own style, and the sounds he created for the album stOrk. In the following lesson, Nate Brown of onlinedrummer.com takes you step by step through the tune, giving you a taste of the Lang magic. Nate says it took him a couple of days to master this, so be prepared to work.


Download the sheet music HERE.

Slamming In Six

By Matt Byrne Published in the July 2006 issue of DRUM!

I’ve explored some whacky time signatures in past columns, but this month I’m going to take it back a notch with some beats in 6/4. Although it is considered an odd time, 6/4 doesn’t really feel that off-kilter when you’re playing it. Exs. 1–8 are executed easily enough to help you feel the beginning of each measure and not get lost. Each rhythm is also written out with an eighth-note and a sixteenth-note hi-hat pattern. If you have trouble feeling the subdivisions in the eighth-note beats, play the sixteenth-note rhythms to get your timing straight. As always, start slowly until you establish a steady and comfortable flow. And be sure to plug in your metronome.

Slammin In Six Exercises

DRUM! Notation Guide

Matt Byrne bashes for the Grammy-nominated heavy metal/hardcore band Hatebreed. In his spare time he is working on his special ed./elementary ed. teaching degree. http://www.myspace.com/mattbyrnedrummer

How To Groove In 5/4

By Mike Cosgrove Published in the September 2006 issue of DRUM!

In this lesson, we’re going to explore odd-time groovin’. Ex. 1 is a basic rhythm of five beats against four beats. Get comfortable with it before attempting the other exercises. Exs. 2 and 3 are kit-based grooves that are fairly simple to play as long as you count sixteenth-notes. In Ex. 2, keep quarter-notes with the right hand, and double up for eighth-notes in Ex. 3. In Ex. 4, incorporate alternating sixteenths (RLRL) with the hands, and make sure to nail the backbeat on 2 and 4. Finally, in Exs. 5 and 6, alternate sixteenths between the right hand on your ride and left hand on your snare. You will also be challenged to accent the bell of the ride on & of every beat. Careful: The left hand gets a little tricky in Ex. 6. Have fun!

DRUM! Notation Guide

Odd Foot Ostinatos

By Wally Schnalle Published in the September 2006 issue of DRUM!

This month’s rhythmic mayhem involves playing odd-numbered groupings on the bass drum in 4/4. Ex. 1 illustrates playing every third sixteenth note, which takes three measures to cycle completely. Ex. 2 presents a grouping of five sixteenth-notes (two plus three) that cycles in five measures. And, of course, the grouping of seven sixteenth-notes (two plus two plus three) in Ex. 3 cycles completely in seven measures. Your first exploration of these exercises should be with the ostinatos (repeated patterns) in Ex. 4. Simply play the ostinato, and add the different bass drum patterns from Exs. 1–3. Repeat as many times as it takes to really feel comfortable playing each pattern. Look out for advanced permutations in the coming months.

DRUM! Notation Guide

Left-Hand Work Out

Matt Byrne
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s August 2006 Issue

This month, we’re going to concentrate on building strength and endurance in the left hand (for those of you who regularly play left-hand lead, just reverse the stickings for a rightie work out). We begin with some snare exercises (Exs. 1–2) that are fairly simple to play so that you can focus on making the left-hand accents stand out. I’ve also provided two beats in which the left hand really gets a work out. The first (Ex. 3) has a triplet feel and is played between the hi-hat, kick, and snare. There are no accents indicated, so the left hand plays at the same volume and consistency throughout the beat; feel free, however, to experiment with playing ghost notes once you’re grooving. The second beat (Ex. 4) is a straight four-on-the-floor. The left hand keeps a steady eighth-note pattern for the entirety of the beat and the ghost notes are indicated. Enjoy!

DRUM! Notation Guide

Matt Byrne is the drummer for heavy metal/hardcore band Hatebreed. He resides in Beacon, New York, where he teaches drumming to a handful of students. In his spare time, he is working on his Special Ed./Elementary Ed. Teaching degree. You can email Matt at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Swiss Triplet Beats

Mike Cosgrove
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s August 2006 Issue

Get your sticks in fighting shape because we’re gonna’ shred on the Swiss Army triplet again. This month, we'll work on accenting different parts of the pattern. Swiss Army triplets are typically played as triplets with flams, but when you put them over straight sixteenth-notes and “flatten” out the flam, you get cool layered rhythms. For each of the exercises (Exs. 1–8), be sure to focus on the different accents! Once you become comfortable with the patterns, try moving your right hand to the ride and keeping time with your left foot. Also try playing the accents on toms, cymbals, or a cowbell. Have fun!

DRUM! Notation Guide

Independent Iyesa

Richie “Gajate” Garcia
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s January 2006 Issue

In this independence exercise, we will look at two cowbell patterns that are played in the Afro-Cuban Iyesa rhythm. To get started, you’ll need two cowbells – a cha cha bell and another large cowbell. As always, start off slowly. Once you have practiced Exs. 1 and 2 separately, begin playing them together. For an advanced workout, switch hands and try adding the clave with your foot (Ex. 3).

Richie “Gajate” Garcia has played with Phil Collins, Diana Ross, Hiroshima, and John Denver; recorded movie soundtracks; taught at Musician’s Institute for ten years, and performs clinics worldwide.

Video Lesson: Art Cruz’s Heel-Toe Technique

By Art CruzPublished on July 21, 2010

If you’ve ever wondered how Winds Of Plague drummer Art Cruz can slam bass drum patterns so quickly and easily, this video lesson will remove the shroud of mystery forever. It’s all about applying a simple heel-toe technique that requires rocking your foot to acitvate the top and bottom of your pedal’s footboard in quick succession. Master this with both feet and you’ll be able to execute rapid-fire sixteenths and thirty-seconds just as Cruz does during this demonstration of the song “Chest And Horns” from the band’s brutal 2009 release The Great Stone War.

Hot, Hot Uhgada

Wally Schnalle
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s August 2006 Issue

Long ago, in a column perhaps long forgotten, I introduced DRUM! readers to what I call the uhgada (so named because if you say “uhgada” over and over really fast, it sounds like the lick). This handy little pattern (Ex. 1) is a friend to many drummers and can be used in a myriad of ways. The most common is orchestrating it around the drums at various rates of speed for great fills and solo spots. It’s also a first-rate seasoning for spicing up your grooves. Ex. 2 shows this three-stroke wonder executed on the & of 1 between the hi-hat, snare, and bass. Ex. 3 is a double-stroke application of the uhgada.

DRUM! Notation Guide

3-Against-4 Bebop

Peter Erskine
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s August 2006

Here’s a fun and rhythmically exciting bit of coordination for you to master at the drum set. Select a medium/comfortable tempo, and play Ex. 1 with your bass drum and hi-hat. Repeat several times.

Ex. 2 is the same rhythm – that is, a hemiola pattern that takes three bars to cycle or come back to 1. In this case, the first notes you’ll play will be on beat 2 of the first bar. Repeat.

Now add your hands, playing the small tom with the right hand and the snare drum with the left hand (Ex. 3).

Once you get comfortable with Exs. 1–3, try moving your hands around the kit (playing on different toms) as well as increasing the tempo (Ex. 4). A good target tempo would be the quarter-note at 200 bpm. Hold on!

DRUM! Notation Guide

Inverted Beats

By Matt Byrne Published in the February 2008 issue of DRUM!

Let’s mess around with some inverted beats between the kick, snare, and hi-hats, as well as with some beats that incorporate left-foot patterns on the hi-hat. The first set of beats is of straight sixteenth-notes where the double hits alternate between the ghost-note hits on the snare and the double hits on the hi-hat. The groove and overall feel of these beats comes from the execution of the ghost notes. The next set of beats also features straight sixteenth-notes, however, I’ve replaced the snare hits with the kick drum, and vice versa. The last set of beats features variations of the first set, but here I’ve added the left-foot hi-hat. These hits, combined with the kick drum, are accented.

Inverted Beats Exercises

DRUM! Notation Guide

Matt Byrne bashes for the Grammy-nominated heavy metal/hardcore band Hatebreed. In his spare time he is working on his special ed./elementary ed. teaching degree. http://www.myspace.com/mattbyrnedrummer

Hotlicks: The Early Drummers Of Rock And Roll

By Brad Schlueter
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s May 2008 Issue

Rock and roll began as a fusion of R&B chord patterns, boogie-woogie piano rhythms, and a strong backbeat, which made the music exciting and danceable. Other artists mixed popular country influences with R&B, creating what was later dubbed rockabilly. But this music was more than rhythms and chord progressions. Culturally, it marked the beginning of the slow change in race relations in the U.S. and the gradual acceptance of minorities, first as entertainers and athletes, by the white majority. In this era, the music was often recorded directly to acetate, which forced the musicians to get it right on the first take. Let’s take a look at some of the drum parts that launched a musical revolution.

DRUM! Notation Guide

“Maybellene” by Chuck Berry

This gold record from 1955 was Chuck Berry’s first hit and shows why this talented guitarist and showman became one of the stars and catalysts behind rock and roll. “Maybellene” was closely based on Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys’ western swing song, “Ida Red,” and featured a guitar solo that showed off Berry’s double-string bends, signaling the new sound of rock and roll. It became a racial crossover hit and was even covered by Elvis before his rise to stardom. On the song, we hear the two-beat feel (accents on 2 and 4) of Jasper Thomas’ drum groove that would become a rock and roll staple. He plays this beat without fills throughout the song, proving all you really have to do is groove well.

“Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry

This was one of Berry’s many hit songs and its intro has carved itself into all our heads. It was on “Johnny B. Goode” that Berry first employed the new studio technique of overdubbing to record the guitar solos on this song. Fred Below recorded the drums on many of Berry’s Chess Records hits, and like much of the music from this era, this song has a light swing feel that falls somewhere between a sixteenth-note and a triplet feel.

“Keep A Knockin’” by Little Richard

Most drummers don’t know that John Bonham based his intro to Led Zeppelin’s “Rock And Roll” very, very closely – or perhaps just plain stole it – from Charles Connor’s intro to Little Richard’s song “Keep A Knockin’.” Like “Rock And Roll,” the intro is all in 4/4, and starts on the & of beat 3, though some drummers prefer to think of it starting or ending with a measure of 3/8. It definitely helps to count it out. If you listen to the two songs back to back, there are subtle differences, but it’s obvious that Connor’s stellar drumming made a huge impact on Bonzo.

“Rock Around The Clock” by Bill Haley & the Comets

This classic slice of Americana was one of the very first rock and roll hits, and it features an interesting drum part – or a couple of them. The intro section has unison hits on the snare drum with the rhythm section. During the body of the song there appears to be a couple of simultaneous drum parts – one playing a shuffle on the rim of a drum (notated on the high tom rim) and the snare kicks, and the other playing the hi-hat – though it’s possible one drummer played the entire part. Session drummer Billy Gussak was used for the recording of this track instead of Haley’s regular drummer, Dick Richards. The bass drum (if played during the recording) is inaudible in this section, though could be played on counts 1 and 3 or on all the downbeats. The hi-hat part gets busier later in the song, and was probably played with a stick, though I wrote it here for drummers who want to test their left-foot coordination.

“Blue Suede Shoes” by Carl Perkins

This song was one of rock’s first hits that also performed well on pop, country, and R&B charts, and was the first Sun release to sell a million copies. Out of friendship, Elvis delayed the release of his version until after Perkins’ original single had peaked on the charts. The beginning of this song has some 6/4 measures, which, according to drummer W. S. “Fluke” Holland, were the result of the band’s inexperience rather than an intentional compositional choice. The breaks later in the song revert to 4/4. Fluke went on to join Johnny Cash for a two-week tour, which lasted for the next 40 years. He also recorded all of Cash’s hits and was the first drummer to play a full set of drums at the Grand Ole Opry. We’ve notated the rim part as a tom rim, though it might have been played on the snare rim, and if there was a bass drum part, it isn’t audible.

“Great Balls Of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis was one of early rock’s most dynamic and scandalous performers, who mixed boogie-woogie, R&B, and gospel music to create his exciting and raucous songs. He was kicked out of Bible school for playing the Devil’s music, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that his hit, “Great Balls Of Fire,” was considered blasphemous when it was released. There actually are only two instruments on this recording: Lewis’ piano and voice, and the great drumming of J.M. Van Eaton, who was one of Sun Records’ session drummers and played with many musicians of the era, including Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. It has a straight-ahead rock and roll groove and memorable intro that’s worth checking out. The snare notes sound like he was hitting the rim of the drum instead of the head.

“Ain’t That A Shame” by Fats Domino

You may be more familiar with Cheap Trick’s remake of this early rock hit than the 1955 original, but Fats’ voice and superb piano playing, coupled with the deep pocket of Earl Palmer’s drumming, made this song a classic.

“I’m Walkin’” by Fats Domino

This song’s funky intro will get your toes tapping and Earl Palmer’s two-handed snare RLRL groove is another great drum pattern every drummer should know. The handclaps on the counts 2 and 4 keep the feel upbeat and moving. He plays this variation of a train beat with a light swing and a syncopated bass drum note on the ah of beat 2 in every other measure, which makes his groove ever-so-funky.

“A Little Less Conversation” by Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley was known for fusing R&B and country together, but this song is pure rock and roll. However, if you’re only familiar with Junkie XL’s remix of this song you’ve missed out on the funky drum fill that kicks off this cool track. The fill may sound a little odd since it starts on beat 2 – the sticking used was probably RL LR RL LR. The song has a boogaloo groove that’s got a nice little ghost note on the e of 2. The tasty fill in the third measure uses a RRL RRL sticking. DJ Fontana was Elvis’ drummer for 14 years and recorded well over 400 songs with the King, including this one, and he continues to record and tour.

“Little Sister” by Elvis Presley

For this twangy rock and roll song, DJ Fontana chose to play a twist beat (snare on 2 & and 4) over and over. This transcription shows the economical way DJ sets up the first break.

“Bo Diddley” by Bo Diddley

This tribal groove is based on a Latin 3:2 son clave, which as many of you know, is a rhythmic pattern whose accents fall on 1 (2) & 4 2 3. The original recording is of very poor quality and I can’t make out a bass drum part at all, but was a bit surprised to detect the two-tom melody that is usually ignored. Drummers often play the classic groove on the floor tom and play either the clave pattern or straight quarter-notes on the bass drum. It can also be played as a N’awlins second-line groove on the snare drum with rudimental flourishes. Unfortunately, I couldn’t source the original drummer from the 1957 session.

“Not Fade Away” by Buddy Holly

Here’s another version of the Bo Diddley beat. The accents vary from a 3:2 son clave pattern at the intro, though the first two bars of the verse outline the clave more closely. For this song, drummer Jerry Allison thought outside the box and played one (a box) instead of his drums for the recording of this classic rock track. Question: can a cardboard box be properly called a cajon?

“Peggy Sue” by Buddy Holly And The Crickets

Originally titled “Cindy Lou,” drummer Jerry Allison suggested a new title for the song and also offered an unusual and signature sixteenth-note tom-tom groove that helped the song stand apart from other songs on the radio. More than a drummer, Allison cowrote “Peggy Sue,” “That’ll Be The Day,” “Not Fade Away,” and “More Than I Can Say,” though the band’s manager altered the songwriting credits. Years later, the drummer married Peggy Sue Gerron, the high school sophomore the song was named after. Allison never changes the drum part during the song, but occasionally adds brief crescendos to this two-and-a-half minute tom roll.

“The Twist,” “Let’s Twist Again,” and “Slow Twist” by Chubby Checker

The twist beat is a classic drum groove that features a snare pattern of three notes that fall on 2 & and 4, adding a little syncopation to the standard rock beat with backbeats on 2 and 4. Ironically, neither “The Twist” nor “Let’s Twist Again” uses that drumbeat. However, Checker’s duet with Dee Dee Sharp on “Slow Twistin’” does employ the beat the dance style is associated with. Ellis Tollin was the creative drummer behind these slyly suggestive songs.

Polyrhythm Practice

Peter Erskine
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s January 2006 Issue

Peter Erskine has played with Weather Report, Steps Ahead, and the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and holds an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee School of Music. petererskine.com

Polyrhythmic dexterity and ambidexterity are two essential skills to have when playing modern music. Being able to hear complex rhythms in your head is a good start, but it’s also good to practice various patterns “against” one another. The following will enable you to superimpose 2-against-3 or 3-against-4 rhythms with ease in any musical setting. Starting with your hands, you can also practice with your feet or any limb combination. Interested in more complexity? Use this same method to build up superimpositions using 5s, 7s, and 9s.

Hi-Hat Seasoning

Wally Schnalle
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s January 2006 Issue

DRUM! Music Editor Wally Schnalle is a drummer, composer, and teacher based in the San Francisco bay area, and has performed with Eddie Gale, Ernie Watts, and the San Jose Symphony Orchestra. itrhymes.com

The hi-hat can do much to the groove even before you start hitting it with a stick. If you’ve been playing some of my previous columns, you’ve become familiar with my reminder to keep the hi-hat going on beats 2 and 4. In most cases, this gives the drummer a strong connection to the quarter-note pulse. The four hi-hat patterns notated below will serve as a steady pulse, but they can also change the feel of the groove. The beat in Ex. 1 is just one possibility for you to try. Feel free to use your own.

Glen Caruba: Mastering Conga-Diddles

By Jared Cobb
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s March 2008 Issue

So you thought paradiddles were strictly for drum set players, eh? Well, back in the ’90s, Puerto Rican conga sensation Giovanni Hidalgo blew everybody’s minds by applying drum set rudiments to conga technique, and redefined the boundaries of that age-old discipline. In this exercise, DRUM! columnist Glen Caruba shares a number of paradiddle variations for conga players.

Slamming Syncopations

Matt Byrne
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s January 2006 Issue

This month, we’re going to throw four over five. What do I mean by that? Simple. Here are some variations on pretty cool patterns that I’ve been messing around with between the kick and snare. They have a feel similar to the paradiddle and play out in the odd time of 5. Start off executing each pattern slowly and smoothly. Once your feet are playing comfortably, throw a straight four pattern on the bell of your ride cymbal. It’s a brainteaser at first, but it creates an awesome feel when you get it going.

Matt Byrne bashes for the Grammy-nominated heavy metal/hardcore band Hatebreed. In his spare time, he is working on his Special Ed./Elementary Ed. Teaching degree. You can email Matt at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Terence Higgins’ Diddle Egg Five Video

By Terence HigginsPublished on July 9, 2010

Dirty Dozen Brass Band drummer Terence Higgins introduces the diddle egg five, a hybrid rudiment that combines a paradiddle-diddle followed by an eggbeater and two diddles — one on each hand. First Higgins takes it slow, and then, as it speeds up, he begins applying it in beats and fills around the kit. And that’s when things get crazy.

Roy Haynes Hot Licks

Trading Tough Sixes

By Wally Schnalle Originally published in the June/July 1999 issue of DRUM! Magazine

Roy Haynes has “been there-done-that,” and at 73 year’s young, he’s still doin’ it. His playing these days has the kind of fire and vitality that often eludes older musicians. He also swings harder than many younger drummers in their so-called prime. Years ago he created his own voice on the drums to which he has remained true. Haynes’s playing has always been immediately identifiable and continues to be a benchmark to which many others aspire. A tight snare and abundance of tasteful activity on it have always been evidence that Haynes was in the driver’s seat.

A true legend in drumming and jazz, Haynes’s playing credits as a sideman and a leader read like a who’s who of jazz history. He has shared the stage and recording studio with jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Chick Corea and Pat Metheny. With those kinds of credits and a career that spans over 50 years, it seems we should be able to get some technical advice from Haynes’s years of experience, but he is hesitant to give guidance. “When I started I was very natural,” he says. “I didn’t have people to tell me what to do and what not to do. Today we have a lot of information out there, so if I told somebody how to play something I might confuse them.” But I didn’t give up, because Haynes can play. Plus, I want to be playing in my seventies, as well.

“I started playing professionally in the early ’40s,” he says. “In those days we had more natural players. Today somebody just wakes up and decides they want to be a drummer and starts studying. In the old days it didn’t happen like that. Today everything is there for you. We didn’t have that, so you had to be kind of raw, innovative and creative. At different times, I can get different things out of the instrument. I’ve never had the kind of technique that they talk about, so I have to make up things. My technique is mostly natural.

“If I’m playing jazz, which is all I play anyhow, it really has to swing. The heartbeat has to be there. When I play, I try to give it some feeling and not make it cold by just playing something that I’ve practiced. I play according to the environment I’m in and what’s being played by other people around me. For instance, take Coltrane. [To accompany] what he is playing, you’re going to have to develop something new in what you’re playing. When I get a player like that, a guy who’s really listening, and we’re going back and forth, that development can happen.”

I see. We just have to make it swing and play with Coltrane!

When trying to learn from a master like Haynes, sometimes words aren’t quite enough, so let’s check out some of his music. Haynes released his the album Praise, in 1998, which contains recordings of Haynes in solo, duet and on up to sextet formats, with a wonderful cast of younger players, including Kenny Garrett on alto and soprano sax, Haynes’s son, Graham, on trumpet, David Sanchez on tenor sax, Dwayne Brown on bass and longtime musical associate David Kikowski on piano. Haynes has a special relationship with Kikowski. “I don’t like to work real steady, so David does his own projects and works with other people. When I get ready to do something I’ll give David a call and he’ll cancel other things because he likes to be there. He understands my concept. If I screw up musically he’ll know what it’s about, and I like that because it’s loose.”

The third tune on Praise is “Israel.” “I knew John Carisi, who wrote that tune, from the ’40s and I like the composition,” he explains. “It reminds me of those times in the ’40s when we would hang out in New York. It’s a minor 12-bar form and I like the way Miles did it.” This arrangement of the tune is fertile ground for exploration of this master’s drumming as he trades solos with fiery pianist and musical mate Kikowski.

Once again, in an attempt to glean a few secrets from the master, I asked about his concept for trading. “I usually respond with my own thing,” he says. “Sometimes I leave some space there. That has something to say as well. I like to get them fired up so they throw things back at me, which will make me go another direction. It’s a back and forth. I don’t analyze it. We’re talking to each other by making music. I play and that’s it. Whatever comes out is as sincere as possible and if it works, good. The dialogue we had when trading speaks for itself. We didn’t know in advance that we were going to do this, so what you hear is what was going on.”

Oh, I get it — shut up and play.

The transcriptions on pages 94 and 95 are four examples from “Israel.” The first two six-bar phrases come in answer to six-bar phrases from Kikowski at the beginning of the track, as they trade half choruses of this 12-bar tune. The following 12-bar phrases are from later in the tune, when Kikowski and Haynes trade full choruses.

As it is highly unlikely that any of us will get the chance to play with Coltrane (unless there’s a great jam session in the afterlife) or anybody who plays in the same league, we have to take our musical development where we can get it. Hopefully these transcriptions of a true jazz drumming master will help the effort.

DRUM! Notation Guide

Haitian Voudou Drumming

Jim Donovan
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s May 2007 Issue

Enslaved Africans in Haiti were resilient enough to retain their musical heritage while continuing to use it in their struggle to survive. Nago is a traditional Haitian piece that has its roots in Nigeria. The rhythms are played on a set of drums called rada, which are conga-shaped drums of three different sizes: maman is the largest, segon is the medium size, and boula is the small one. The drums are played both with hands and sticks. The other two instruments in this ensemble are the ogan (an iron bell) and the ason (a gourd rattle). When approaching the kit patterns, experiment by focusing on the hand patterns while just keeping time with your hi-hat pedal. Once you have this, then you can integrate the kick drum. Check out master Haitian drummer Frisner Augustin and his La Troupe Makandal at makandal.org, as well as the book The Drums Of Voudou by Lois Wilcken.

Brazilian Basics

By Peter Erskine Published in the June 2006 issue of DRUM!

The best way to learn any style of music is by attentive listening. It’s also possible to get hints from patterns and stickings. Here are some ways to interpret Brazilian-music subdivisions.

It’s best to think of Brazilian beats as in 2, with the underlying accent on the second beat. Ex. 1 uses a RLRL sticking, and this gives no feeling to the rhythm without some effort; however, Ex. 2 begins to suggest a samba right away. Play Exs. 2–7 on a closed hi-hat as written, and then play Exs. 2, 7, and 8 with the bass drum doubling the right hand in unison (keep the feel in the right foot the same as in the right hand). Experiment with the subdivisions, and compare your results with recordings of great Brazilian drummers.

Creative Congas

By Brad Dutz Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2005 Issue

Brad Dutz has played with Alanis Morrisette, Kiss, Willie Nelson, Tribal Tech, David Benoit, Steve Smith, Rickie Lee Jones, and Jeff Bridges; recorded movie soundtracks for Prince of Egypt, Molly, Doug’s First Movie, Star Trek 5, Ocean’s Eleven, and All The Pretty Horses; can be heard on the TV shows King Of The Hill, Family Guy, and Mouseworks; teaches at Cal State Long Beach, and performs clinics on hand percussion and mallets. He has also written two instructional books and released a series of videos for beginning hand drummers.

This month I have sketched some conga examples to practice odd times. If you are not a conga player you may adapt these examples to drums by just reading the stickings underneath the notes. I have used p=palm, f= fingers, s=for slap, T=for tone, and a few lower notes for a second drum. If you don’t have congas, use different parts of a drum kit for the different hand sounds.

The first line is a simple 5/8 that reverses your hands every bar, and the second line is a 7/8 that does not switch your hands, so I have written it twice.

My favorite is the third line, which is a combination of lines one and two – a very interesting 12/8. Line four is different from the others because you are now using some single strokes. The last line is fun because we all need to play in 13/8 more often.

Try many different tempos and always use the metronome.


Cindy Blackman: Playing The Breaks

By Wally Schnallle Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine’s December ’99 Issue

Talk with Cindy Blackman, and the name Tony pops up almost immediately. “Sometimes people say, ‘You talk about Tony an awful lot,’” she admits. “I can’t help it. He’s done so much for music and the drums. Tony is my hero.”

Tony who? Are you kidding? Tony Williams, of course. The man who in his teens began changing the face of jazz drumming while playing with Miles Davis. Williams’ influence touches all drummers, whether they know it or not. However, those aware of his musical history need only hear a snippet of Blackman’s jazz drumming to hear more than the usual trickling down of influence.

“I was about 16 years old, living in West Hartford, Connecticut, and Tony played a drum clinic in the basement at Creative Music — Bob Gatzen’s old shop — where they had a little playing area,” Blackman remembers. “I saw that and it just tripped me out. Tony was incredible. His technique was blistering. The sound of his drums was amazing. His musicality with all that technique was mind boggling, and his intelligence on top of that was incredible. I had heard him on record and was extremely impressed and excited by what I had heard. That’s why I went to hear him.”

At this point some of you may wonder: “Jazz? Isn’t Cindy Blackman the drummer in the Lenny Kravitz videos?” Well, yes she is. But that’s only one side of this busy multi-faceted musician. Blackman also leads her own jazz band and has put out at least eight albums as a leader over the past decade. Drumming with Kravitz does keep her busy, though. Especially when they tour.

“When we did our last tour we toured for about a year and a half,” she says. “We only had a week off here and there, so I wasn’t home very much. I remember at one point we were gone so long I came home and I’d forgotten which key opened my door. I had to remember how to get into my own apartment. I love it though. I love being busy. I love being on the road. I love playing. I love travelling. It gets tiresome but I love it.”

And when she’s off the road with Kravitz? What else? “My band has already recorded another CD, and I actually go in this weekend to mix it. We’ve had a nice period recently. When we got done playing in San Francisco we got a call to play a private party for President Clinton, and I go to Europe in a couple of weeks doing an electric project.”

Her most recent album, Works on Canvas, is strong evidence of her aggressive Williams-influenced jazz drumming style as well as her skills as a bandleader, composer and arranger. The CD features 12 tunes, six of which are Blackman originals, with the rest arranged by the entire band.

Blackman learned firsthand the importance of letting your bandmates contribute to the music. “I have been fortunate enough to see a few leaders up close that I thought were incredible leaders, like Art Blakey,” Blackman says. “He was a wonderful bandleader. Miles Davis, although I didn’t see him in the ’60s, was another great leader. All the great bandleaders were great in my opinion because they’re strong enough to lead but smart enough to know that for the music to grow people have to have a certain amount of freedom.

“In my situation I like to give some direction but I also like to leave the playing field open for other people to direct me or just give their own input because that’s how it grows. I like people to come to the table with whatever they’ve got and then we shape that and deal with it in a musical sense.”

And as for Art Blakey, she did more than just observe him as a bandleader. His influence was a little more personal. “I had a really close relationship with Art Blakey, like a father and daughter. I never had formal lessons with him but he taught me a lot.” Hardcore jazz fans might also be surprised to learn how many ingredients she has brought to her own music from her work with Kravitz. “At this point I add more of the elements that I get from his group into my own group because I’m not so shy to do it now. Because I’m playing that music a lot, I hear things that way too. There are elements in there that I like. If you’re playing honestly, that happens. Things become a part of you. And I do play honestly.”

One of Cindy’s arrangements on the CD, the lovely ballad “My Ship,” is a wonderful example of how she is able to use her own distinctive voice as a drummer and bandleader, while giving the members of her band the room to have their input. “I just used a piece of that tune because that’s a tune that’s so well known, or should be because it’s so beautiful, that you don’t really need to play the whole tune to get the gist of it,” she explains. “I just took a piece of the tune and changed the harmonies. I told the guys what I was looking for and just let it go at that. We developed things together. Structurally it’s unconventional. Harmonically it’s unconventional and the feeling is unconventional. I like to think of ways I haven’t heard things played before and approach them from that direction.”

Speaking of unconventionality, while Blackman’s CD is primarily an acoustic jazz date, she does employ some electronic keys. This may cause jazz traditionalists to turn up their noses, but that’s how she hears it and it integrates into the recording very well. “I love textures and having different layers of sound and things happening,” she says. “My favorite period of music is the ’60s because there was just so much incredible and innovative music that happened in that period that hasn’t really been surpassed at this point. But I do think that some great things happened later as well. And I do think that the use of electronics can mesh and not detract from the beauty of acoustic music if done in a certain way.”

The transcriptions are from a tune entitled “My Isha” off of Works on Canvas, which was penned by her piano player Carlton Holmes. “That tune has no melody,” Blackman says. “We just start playing, and we’re playing over a certain form, and the last four bars of the form are always mine. Sometimes I walk through it. Sometimes I play solo drums through it, doing fills. It’s fun. I remember that one of the engineers said, ‘I don’t know about that tune. There’s no melody. Why are you going to do a tune with no melody?’ I think it’s hip enough and it’s cool enough, and if you listen to what the guys are playing they’re playing melodically enough when they’re trading that to me you don’t need a melody. So it worked out fine.”

As the tune’s 24 bars cycle around, each pass alternates between piano and sax solos. Whenever it’s her turn to solo, Blackman listens closely to her bandmates. “I draw ideas from what the last person soloing is playing as well as trying to mix in my own ideas,” she says. “If you do that it’s got a musical continuum because you are playing off of each other. You’re listening to everything. You have to be aware of things that are happening.”

These transcriptions are of Blackman’s four-bar musical statements in the order they appear in the song.

Most importantly, Blackman likes to push the envelope further whenever she plays. “As Art Blakey said, ‘If you don’t make a mistake you’re not trying.’ No matter how great you play, if you’re just playing and coasting and everything is perfect, how hard are you really trying? Are you really trying to push yourself as far as you can go? I don’t think so. I think you’re coasting.”

Tiger Bill’s Speed Lesson #76: Backsticking Speed Tricks of the Trade - Part 1

By Tiger Bill Meligari Published July 2, 2010

Backsticking was originally developed for use by drum corps drummers to add visual excitement to their performance. The goal of the next three lessons are to help you apply backsticking to the drumset not only to add an exciting visual effect but for the sound effect as well. Let's start by looking at the written notation and then the video demonstration.

Video Lesson
There are many variations in backsticking in addition to the one I demonstrate on the video. I encourage you to research them all and find one that you feel most comfortable with. As with any sticking pattern, the key is to practice very slowly at first. Don't be in a rush to gain speed or you may find your technique becoming sloppy. The difference between the amateur and the pro is precision and control at all times!

Practice Tips
Once you can perform this backsticking pattern cleanly and up to speed, work on it again with the sticking reversed. Just because you are using backsticking doesn't mean that you should feel any added tension anywhere in your arms or wrists. Try to stay relaxed while flipping the sticks around. The backsticking pattern I'm using is made up of single strokes, which are particular difficult to play while backsticking but it's a great place to start. Once I show you some tricks of the backsticking trade in the next lesson, you'll be able to perform this exercise much faster with a lot less effort! If you find you're having trouble playing cleanly and without getting tense, refer to my Web site at www.TensionFreeDrumming.com.

Feel free to email questions on this month's lesson to me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

For free drum lessons, and expert drumming advice, visit www.TigerBill.com.

Until next time: Have fun and stay loose!

Tiger Bill Meligari

Squeeze Your Agogo

By Glen Caruba Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2007 Issue

Although native to Brazilian and samba rhythms, agogo bells can be adapted to virtually all styles of contemporary music. If you come across a set that does not have a wing nut for mounting, chances are it is a hand held design in which the handle can be squeezed so that both bells hit together.

Start with the bells in one hand and a stick in another. On the first of four beats, hit the high-pitched bell with the stick (A). On beat 2, squeeze the bells together (B). On beat 3 and 4 hit the low bell then repeat (C). Try different combos of grooves utilizing this infectious squeeze technique, and nothing will stop your “go-go” anytime soon.

A

B

C

Double Bass Basics

By Matt Byrne Published in the September 2006 issue of DRUM!

In this lesson we’re going to go over some double bass basics. First off, balance and posture are very important, so your setup is key, with the throne being your anchor point. Sitting too close or too far from the kick drums will throw your balance off, causing you to lean in and hunch over or lean back and push off your pedals. Sit at a distance that feels naturally comfortable, with your feet relatively shoulder width apart. The exercises I’ve provided are pretty straightforward but will help build stamina, endurance, and independence in your legs. Start with the standard sixteenth-note pattern in Ex. 1. Exs. 2 and 3 are slightly trickier variations, with straight eighth-notes on the hi-hat and the snare mostly on 2 and 4. Focus on playing each bass drum with equal volume and intensity. Get kicking!

Double Bass Basics Exercises

Matt Byrne bashes for the Grammy-nominated heavy metal/hardcore band Hatebreed. In his spare time he is working on his special ed./elementary ed. teaching degree. http://www.myspace.com/mattbyrnedrummer

Messing With Time

By Mike Cosgrove Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2005 Issue

This month’s exercise is based off of a basic sixteenth-note groove with backbeats on 2 and 4. The hi-hat is accenting every third sixteenth, providing a 3-against-4 feel. It starts differently each time, and will take 12 beats to get back to the original 1.

Think of each one of the three bars as A, B, and C. Play them all starting A, B, C; B, C, A; then C, A, B. Also, play each individual line repeating itself: just A, just B, and just C. It will have a weird repeat but you’ll get a different feel.

You can also add bass drum and hi-hat notes on or around the 3-against-4 accent flow. These are just baby steps to more elaborate grooves epitomized by people like Tool’s Danny Carey and many other drummers who like to mess with the time. It’s all about feel, so take your time to let it become natural.

Remember this is just an exercise, so make it your own by jacking it up!


Mike Cosgrove writes, records, and tours both with Alien Ant Farm and independently. He has studied with various teachers and also gives drum lessons in Southern California. Every morning for breakfast, he enjoys a heaping bowl of Cocoa Pebbles.

Paradiddle-diddle Fills

By Wally Schnalle Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2005 Issue

Wally Schnalle is the Music Editor for DRUM! Magazine as well as a drummer, composer, and teacher based in the San Francisco bay area. He has released three solo albums, and has performed with Eddie Gale, Francis Wong, Ernie Watts, and the San Jose Symphony Orchestra.

Paradiddle-diddles are a handy little pattern. The main reason is that, as you can see in Ex. 1, the paradiddle-diddle ends with two double strokes. When executed cleanly, it’s actually less work than all singles and you get new melodic content. They can of course be played right- or left-hand lead, but here we are using them with a right-hand lead.

The fills contained here are just some starter ideas. Play your own groove for the first part of these four-bar phrases, then as you play the written fill, don’t forget to keep your hi-hat going and keep the time solid. Once you’ve learned the paradiddle-diddle pattern you should re-orchestrate it in as many as possible ways and in a variety of rhythmic environments.


Staggered Double Bass

Matt Byrne
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s May 2007 Issue

We’re going to touch on a cool double bass pattern that I’ve been jamming on as of late. I’ve been messing around with running some cool staggered and choppy patterns with my feet instead of just the standard, straight sixteenth-note rolls. This is a great concept to add to your repertoire of double kick chops and something to tease your brain with. Each beat varies between half-notes, quarter-notes, and eighth-notes played on the ride cymbal, while we run the sixteenth-note double bass pattern underneath. The snare hits also vary in each beat. They are executed on the 1 and 3, 2 and 4, and 1, 2, 3, and 4. In the following examples, I begin each kick pattern with my right foot, however, you should try beginning with your left. It’s also a good idea to try alternating by beginning every other pattern with your left.

Be A Sponge

By Matt Byrne Published May 2005

I’m a firm believer in watching and learning from any drummer that you come in contact with. One positive of being in a band that tours so much is that I come in contact with a wealth of drummers, all of whom have their own style, technique, and overall approach to playing the instrument. It’s great to sit down and talk shop with any one of them, because I’ve found that as solid as you may think you are as a player, there is always someone else out there with something to show you.

Recently I hung out with my buddy, Mark Messina, who is the drum tech for Chevelle and Drowning Pool, and is a hell of a drummer in his own right. We were trading off some beats and whatnot, just being typical drum nerds. I showed him this triplet beat that I had been playing around with, and it so happened that he had his own version of it. We both decided that people would have fun with this.

Pick a solid, comfortable tempo to work with. The ghost notes are very important when playing the straight beat on the snare. They create that “shuffle” feel. When playing the second version of the beat, don’t play off only one tom. Try to move around the entire kit, hi-hat and ride cymbal included. This will make for an array of sounds in the beat and will help your independence around the drum set. Enjoy!


Matt Byrne is the drummer for heavy metal/hardcore band Hatebreed. He resides in Beacon, New York, where he teaches drumming to a handful of students. In his spare time, he is working on his Special Ed./Elementary Ed. Teaching degree. You can email Matt at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Matt McDonough: “On The Move” by Mudvayne

By Jared Cobb
Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s March 2008 Issue

With By The People, For The People, Mudvayne took the greatest hits album concept one step further and let their fans vote online to pick which tracks to include on the retrospective release. Thankfully, their fans are a knowledgeable lot and chose mostly rarities, live performances, and B-side demos.

One of those B-side rarities is the party basher “On The Move,” a relative relic written and recorded under pressure and in uncharacteristic haste, according to drummer Matt McDonough. “This is an old, old song. We recorded this about six years ago and I haven’t played it since then. It was a bonus track for our second record, The End Of All Things To Come, back in 2002. Obviously you have your whole life to write your first record, but for your second record it’s kind of like, ‘Write another one guys. Let’s go.’ So it was our first attempt at writing under pressure, writing quickly, and writing under the obligations that come with a record deal.”

By some miracle, the band was a full week ahead of schedule and was already in the studio, working the bugs out its 12 new songs while awaiting the arrival of their producer. “Suddenly management announces that we need bonus material to use on the Japanese release of the record and other special versions,” McDonough says. “And we had no extra tracks at the time. We write very slowly and meticulously, it’s a pretty painful process, and we were caught off guard.

“So ‘On The Move’ and ‘Goodbye’ were written in the studio and we tracked and recorded them with a friend of ours [producing and engineering]. They’re basically demos that were recorded during the writing of the songs. Normally we have months to work on the songs and rehearse them, fine-tune them and compose them, before we actually track them. With ‘On the Move’ it was all on the fly – writing, tweaking and recording all at once.”

Oftentimes a band’s best moments are those impromptu snapshots captured in studio and “On The Move” certainly has become a favorite among diehard Mudvayne fans. Not bad at all for a last-minute pitch-in. “We had just come off of 22 months of touring, and had never toured before, so Chad [Gray, vocals] had the idea to do Mudvayne’s version of a party song – and I say that tongue-in cheek. So we went up-tempo with syncopated bass and tried to make it real groovy and hooky.

“The highly syncopated double-bass work was kind of a signature of my early writing. And the bass drum is obviously very attached to the bass guitar. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to hear what’s bass drum and what’s bass guitar because Ryan [Martinie]’s playing style is very percussive.”

Listening to the track for the first time in years brings some nostalgia to McDonough and he enjoys comparing his earlier ways – from playing to writing to drum tuning – with his current techniques. “It’s interesting how my writing style has changed and the tonality of my drum kit has changed. And because this wasn’t recorded as well as we probably normally would’ve liked, there are things I’m playing that get a bit lost in the mix. For instance, during the verses I’m alternating between an open and closed hi-hat and it sounds like I’m just hitting an open hat.

“If we wrote this song today I probably would approach the verses and choruses from the same angle because the song requires that up-tempo, syncopated, hook-oriented style. The split choruses are a pretty typical thing for the way I write. There will be one guitar riff for the chorus and I’ll write a melodic arrangement with two different parts, even though the guitar might not change. It gives the chorus a feeling of sections, so to speak. I’m getting better at it, but for a while I was the guy in the band known for writing ten parts to everyone else’s one. I might write four different drum parts for each separate guitar riff and try to make it fit.”

If you somehow survive the verses and choruses, we wish you the best of luck getting across the bridge with its outright bizarre tom work and rolls. “The drum part in the bridge sounds more like buzz rolls, but it’s probably double-stroke rolls that sound different due to lower snare tunings and that demo audio quality. The overall phrase is double-stroke rolls, which come out sounding pretty much like buzz rolls on the toms. And I remember that was pressing the envelope for me at that time as far as how fast I could play that.

“It was unusual for me to write a part that was based on double-stroke rolls on the toms. I probably wouldn’t write it that way today. I was young and wanted to let everybody know how fast I could play. Now I don’t feel like I need to play so many notes so fast all the time. I feel more confident. As a band, we’re more in a hard rock mode right now, especially with a lot of the stuff on our upcoming album. I’m really enjoying playing more open and relaxing and letting the songs breathe for themselves.”

But you up-and-comers need not shy away from the heavy ink on these pages. McDonough offers a few choice tips on mastering the track. “Obviously this is a very kick-intense song, so focusing on the kick drums is probably the foundation of learning this song. When I was a younger player I would break my kit down and just use a kick drum, snare, hi-hat, and ride. I’d just focus on the phrasing and play songs without any of the fills. You can get caught up in listening to all the fills when you really need to focus on the verses and choruses. So just get a strong grip on the kick/snare patterns before you start working on the various fills and crashes.”

"On The Move" - Part I

"On The Move" - Part II

"On The Move" - Part III

Sextuplet Chops

By Wally Schnalle Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2006 Issue

Sextuplets are six-note groupings that fit in the space normally occupied by four notes. The patterns presented here help your hands develop fluidity between single and double strokes in a sextuplet context. Ex. 1 is only singles. Use it to get used to the pattern. It’s one I learned years ago in drum corp. Ex. 2 uses one double stroke per sextuplet creating a double paradiddle pattern. Exs. 3 and 4 use two double strokes each. Note the paradiddle-diddles in Ex. 3. The last example is all doubles but should sound as clean as the singles. Be sure to play them right- and left-hand lead as the sticking indicates.


DRUM! Music Editor WALLY SCHNALLE is a drummer, composer, and teacher based in the San Francisco bay area, and has performed with Eddie Gale, Ernie Watts, and the San Jose Symphony Orchestra. itrhymes.com

Richie "Gajate" Garcia: Peruvian Pointers

By Richie "Gajate" Garcia Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's April 2007 Issue

This month, I’m going to present two authentic Peruvian cajon rhythms – the valse (Ex. 1) and the lando (Ex. 2). Neither should be played at a fast tempo, but the valse is generally slower than the lando. So don’t rush! Feel the pulse at around 80 bpm. Once you’re comfortable with each pattern, try reversing the sticking. That way, you’ll be able to perfect open and tap tones with each hand. To get an idea of how these rhythms sound in a group context, listen to recordings by artists such as Eva Ayon and Susana Baca.

RICHIE "GAJATE" GARCIA has played with Phil Collins, Diana Ross, Hiroshima, and John Denver; recorded movie soundtracks; taught at Musician's Institute for ten years, and performs clinics worldwide.

Roots Rock Reggae

By Brad Schlueter Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s August 2006 Issue.

Be prepared to screw your head around. You’re about to enter a rhythmic world where up is down and front is back – at least that’s how reggae feels to hapless rock drummers who have grown used to dropping the bass bomb on the 1 and 3 rather than the 2 and 4. And unlike brush bluffing, you can’t fake your way through the classic one-drop feel, precisely because feel is what it is all about, with grooves that often have the slightest touch of swing that is easy to hear but difficult to play. A little bonus for drummers – reggae tunes often begin with clever fill, and they usually make great use of percussion. Here are some famous examples that underpinned these highly political tracks.

“Legalize It”
Band: Peter Tosh
Drummer: Carlton Barrett

If you couldn’t guess what the title track of Peter Tosh’s first solo record after leaving the Wailers refers to, the cover photo depicts him smoking ganja in a field of marijuana. Doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Rastafarians believe that ganja is a sacrament that brings one closer to God. Ironically, Jamaica has very stringent marijuana laws, so there are quite a lot of songs advocating its legalization. Master reggae drummer Carlton Barrett’s one-drop groove on this song is required learning for every budding student. There’s a subtle swing that’s essential to getting Carlton’s laidback feel.

“Higher Than High”
Band: Steel Pulse
Drummer: Steve Nisbett

Steve Nisbett plays a simple one-drop groove with the bass and snare on 3, and a little triplet hi-hat figure at the end of each bar. His big fill in the eighth measure is simply a snare hit and crash on 3. It perfectly suits this simple melodic song. He embellishes it a bit more later in the tune, but this is another great feeling, yet very simple groove worth learning.

“Calling Rastafari”
Band: Burning Spear
Drummer: Shawn “Mark” Dawson

This song is from Burning Spear’s (a.k.a. Winston Rodney) recent Grammy award–winning disc of the same title about unifying separate offshoots of the Rastafari religion. It’s an upbeat, cheerful tune peppered with brass and a slow groove that has the kick on 1 and the snare on 3. Check out Shawn “Mark” Dawson’s opening fill that’s played with the left hand playing rim-clicks while the right fills in on the snare and toms.

“Lion”
Band: Burning Spear
Drummer: Nelson Miller

A song about animal conservation, “Lion” opens with a common reggae snare fill and features a “steppers” groove that’s characterized by playing the bass drum on the quarter-notes with the snare anchoring the pattern on 3. This has syncopated rim-clicks that dance underneath the relatively nonmelodic vocals that are the trademark of Burning Spear.

“Guns And Roses”
Band: Lucky Dube
Drummer: Isaac Mtshali

South African singer Lucky Dube is one of the world’s most popular reggae artists, and like many others uses reggae to express his views on race, politics, and spirituality. On the song “Guns And Roses,” Isaac Mtshali plays some fusion-esque patterns that might be more expected from Dave Weckl than on a reggae disc. He makes great use of his China and splash cymbals to color this tune. Isaac was also the drummer on Paul Simon’s cross-cultural Graceland record.

“Dread, Dread”
Band: Sly And Robbie
Drummer: Sly Dunbar

Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare are the best-known reggae rhythm section in the world. They’ve played together on thousands of recordings for a huge range of reggae artists. The fill at the intro is ametric, so the rhythmic notation is an approximation. Dunbar likes to mix acoustic and electric drums together, so the kit on this track has an electronic hi-hat that sounds as if it includes a triangle sample mixed into it. The toms are big, deep, and dead.

“Now That We Found Love”
Band: Third World
Drummer: Willie Stewart

Third World’s take on this O’Jays disco cover tune helped bring them international attention. The song maintains a strong, danceable quality, but adds real drums, a touch of reggae flavor, and a predominant bass line that helped establish the tune in dance clubs around the world. The tempo is bright, and like a lot of reggae, its feel lies somewhere between a straight sixteenth-note and the triplet feel chosen for the transcription. Willie Stewart plays a funky driving groove yet still manages some subtle tom embellishments that make this one a classic.

“Simmer Down”
Band: The Skatalites
Drummer: Lloyd Knibbs

No discussion of reggae would be complete without mentioning its predecessor – ska. The Skatalites existed briefly, but their influence is still strong today. Drummer Lloyd Knibbs plays an uptempo rimshot-driven disco groove on this tune about 15 years before disco was created. If that wasn’t innovative enough, he immediately follows it up with the ride pattern Bill Bruford used on King Crimson’s “Great Deceiver,” which was later borrowed by and is often mistakenly credited to Neil Peart. The late Carlton Barrett always credited Knibbs as one of his great influences.

“Exodus”
Band: Bob Marley
Drummer: Carlton Barrett

“Exodus” features some of the tasty hi-hat work the genre is famous for, provided by the superb Carlton Barrett. He was Marley’s drummer from 1969 until the reggae legend’s untimely death in 1981. He is often credited with creating the one-drop groove that he so expertly demonstrates in this tune.

Toy Dancing

By Billy Martin Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's August 2009 Issue

This is a funk beat inspired by a Central African pattern that you can find in my book Riddim: Claves Of African Origin (page 68). I prefer to call this type of pattern a clave because in Spanish clave translates as “key.” And, that rhythm is key to what makes this beat funky and musical — not the bass drum and snare alone. In this situation, I like to play the clave pattern on the hi-hat or cowbell.

The notation here is within a simple one-bar phrase. But there is more to it than what is written. The feel and nuance of how I play can get lost in translation. In the video for this lesson (at drummagazine.com), I’m playing this beat with variations. I start this pattern on the hi-hat and switch to cowbell while maintaining two-on-the-floor and backbeat snare combinations. I also add fills when I feel it necessary and make variations on the clave itself. You can follow that with your own approach or cop what I do. Whatever gets you playing.

Even without the video, you can just play what is written and come up with your own funky flavor. You can also hear (and see) recordings of Medeski, Martin, And Wood perform this under “Toy Dancing” on our Best Of Blue Note Records compilation in the bonus DVD of the Fourplay mini-documentary.



Medeski Martin And Wood drummer Billy Martin (aka illy B) has recorded more than 60 albums, with Bob Moses, Iggy Pop, John Scofield, The Lounge Lizards, Dave Burrell, and many others. billymartin.net

Trippy Triplets

By Wally SchnallePublished October 2006

This month, we’re going to take two odd-time motifs (Ex. 1) and place them within straight-time triplets. The patterns are orchestrated between a cross-stick on the snare and a mounted tom, but you may want to practice them on a single drum at first. Once you’re comfortable, try playing these exercises against a standard jazz ride rhythm (Exs. 2–3). The two-voice melody will really help spice up a 4/4 beat. Good luck, and don’t stop here. Play these rhythms all over your kit!

DRUM! Music Editor WALLY SCHNALLE is a drummer, composer, and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has performed with Eddie Gale, Ernie Watts, and the SAn Jose Symphony Orchestra. itrhymes.com

More Fancy Footwork

By Peter Erskine Published October 2006

A few months ago, this column explored some basic hemiola patterns that can be played on the kit, all of which were anchored by the bass drum and hi-hat. Continuing in that vein, let’s dive into some more challenging footwork.

First practice the bass drum and hi-hat rhythms (feet only!) with a metronome (Exs. 2–8). Ultimately, these rhythms will be played while the leading hand plays the ride cymbal pattern on the cymbal. Your phrasing will want (and need, by necessity of speed) to change from the triplet feel to a more straight-up-and-down eighth-note feel on the ride cymbal as you employ these rhythms (Ex. 1).

While Exs. 2–4 are rhythmically identical, they each begin in a different place within the three-bar pattern or cycle. It is best if you can play each of these on any beat of the bar (e.g., downbeat, upbeat, or on beat 2).

The first triplet exercise (Ex. 5) is not so commonly played in jazz, while the off-beat triplet (Ex. 6) is a typical bebop lick. Note that these triplet patterns can act as a doorway to employing some basic, though interesting, metric modulation in your playing.

Kindly watch your balance (both dynamically as well as physically!) while playing these exercises. Have fun, and above all: Make it swing.

PETER ERSKINE has played with Weather Report, Steps Ahead, and the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and holds an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee School of Music. petererskine.com

Foot Pedal Fanatic

By Anthony Geluso Published October 2006

This is not for the faint of heart (or foot), but with a little practice you can keep your feet busy on more than just a single hi-hat and bass drum.

1. This is the pedal setup I use to create different sound and rhythmic combinations in my playing. I decided to go for an ambidextrous setup where I have the same pedals (more or less) on either side.

2. The left side consists of my main hi-hat, a cowbell with felt beater, and left bass drum.

3. The right side consists of my main bass drum, a remote hi-hat, and a jamblock.

Once you find a pedal setup that works for you, try using one foot to play two pedals at the same time, and then try combining rhythms by playing with the toe and heel of the same foot.

Shiko: Idependence Builders

By Jim Donovan Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2008 Issue

Here are some challenging exercises designed to work your four-way independence. I’ve based the patterns for the feet on rhythms from a traditional Liberian piece called Shiko. Double kick drum players can substitute their left kick drum for the hi-hat lines. Mix and match foot and hand patterns to create lots of exercise variations. To make the most of these exercises, it’s best to aim for complete accuracy before doing them fast. Definitely work with a click to help you gauge your timing and stroke accuracy. You can find dozens of traditional rhythms that you can use in this manner on my new DVD titled Rhythmic Foundation: Interactive African Drumming For Everyone, available at JimDonovanMusic.com.


JIM DONOVAN is a current and founding member of the multiplatinum band Rusted Root. He has released three solo CDs as well as four instructional drumming CDs.

Fleshing Out Your Funk

By Wally Schnalle Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2008 Issue

Sometimes all that’s needed is a fat backbeat on the snare and a bass drum pattern that complements the bass line – something like Ex. 1. But other times the groove can be a little thicker or seasoned in a slightly different way that can powerfully affect the music. Exs. 2 and 3 take the same groove and change the feel by changing the hi-hat pattern. This is subtle but very effective. Exs. 4-–6 change the ride pattern to fill in the cracks a bit. These can be helpful to lock in the feel at different tempos. And Exs. 7 and 8 flesh out the snare pattern with some ghost notes. Be careful to keep these low and subtle, as they can be distracting when they get too loud, and the power of your groove may suffer. And of course, all of these ideas can and should be combined in a myriad of ways.


DRUM! Music Editor WALLY SCHNALLE is a drummer, composer, and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has performed with Eddie Gale, Ernie Watts, and the San Jose Symphony Orchestra. itrhymes.com

Going Gota

By Jim Donovan Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2006 Issue

Originally a war dance but now performed mainly for entertainment at community gatherings, Gota hails from the ancient kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa. I find this piece to be a nice introduction for those interested in learning more about the richness of African drumming. Exs. 1–5 illustrate the main patterns for Gota. Learn each phrase and then try playing one phrase on your right hand and another phrase on your left. Eventually get your feet involved and try moving the patterns around your kit. Hours of fun to be had here!


JIM DONOVAN is a current and founding member of the multiplatinum band Rusted Root. He has released three solo CDs as well as four instructional drumming CDs. jimdonovanmusic.com

Beginning Reading And Beating

By Mike Cosgrove Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2006 Issue

This month's exercise is good for beginning players and beginning readers. Sometimes it's frustrating to have to go backwards and learn to read, but I guarantee it'll serve you better in the long run. Basically, you’ll be isolating sixteenth-notes on the bass drum. First, play them before and with the eighth-note or with and after the eighth-note. If you take your time, you'll notice that you've heard all of these grooves before. You can use these in any way after you've got ’em under your belt. Try the different hi-hat patterns I've included in this lesson. Enjoy!


MIKE COSGROVE writes, records, and tours both with Alien Ant Farm and independently. He gives drum lessons in Southern California and loves his Cocoa Pebbles.

APX Clinic: Ray Luzier on No Mercy Tour

By Radim McCue Published June 3, 2010

Maraca Madness

By Richie "Gajate" Garcia Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2006 Issue

Let’s have a shake at three popular maraca patterns that are used in Latin music. Ex. 1 is a salsa pattern that is played at a medium to fast tempo. Make sure you hit the accents clearly. Ex. 2 is a son-montuno pattern that is played at a slow to medium tempo. The dots over the sixteenth-notes indicate a slightly rushed feeling. Ex. 3 is a 6/8 pattern that is played at a medium to fast tempo in the styles of a Peruvian waltz and a Venezuelan joropo. Keep in mind that there are many variations to each pattern, so feel free to explore.


RICHIE "GAJATE" GARCIA has played with Phil Collins, Diana Ross, Hiroshima, and John Denver; recorded movie soundtracks; taught at Musician's Institute for ten years, and performs clinics worldwide.

Basic Punk Fills

By Darrin Pfeiffer Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's August 2009 Issue

In this lesson I’d like to touch on a few basic punk rock fills. The first is a straight-ahead sixteenth-note snare roll with accents on the 1’s. The second exercise is a take on the first with a short tom/floor tom fill at the end. The third and fourth exercises incorporate a floor tom/snare build with different fills on the 4. Accents are on the fourth exercise to spice up the build. Remember, try these slow and gradually speed it up.



Darrin Pfeiffer is the drummer for punk band Goldfinger, has his own record label, is a DJ at Canada's biggest radio station, and is an avid drum teacher. goldfingermusic.com

Tiger Bill's Speed Lesson #75: Single Paradiddle Multi Accent Grid - Part 3 Conclusion

By Tiger Bill Meligari Published May 31, 2010

For the past two lessons, we've been practicing the execution of a single and a double accent across single paradiddle sticking. Now it's time to move it to the drum set where it takes on a whole new dynamic and a higher level of difficulty due to the fact that we now have to move around the drums while executing the same sticking and accents. Let's check out the written notation and then the video demonstration that follows.

Video Lesson


Notice how easily I move from one drum to the next while playing all accented notes on a tom and all unaccented notes on the snare drum. To accomplish this, practice slowly at first and gradually gain speed. Never play faster than you can play while maintaining control of each stroke and don't allow your technique to become sloppy as you move around the drums.


Example 1

Reverse Hands For Additional Practice

Once you can perform the written exercise cleanly and up to speed around the drum set, work on it again with the sticking reversed. The key is to try to become as comfortable and relaxed while moving around the drums as you are when you play on a single drum. If you're having trouble doing this, refer to my Web site at www.TensionFreeDrumming.com.

Feel free to email questions on this month's lesson to me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

For free drum lessons, and expert drumming advice, visit www.TigerBill.com.

Until next time: Have fun and stay loose!
Tiger Bill Meligari

Brush Up On Cajon

By Glen Caruba Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2008 Issue

When you’re tight on space or time and need to approximate the sound of kick, snare, and hi-hat, pull out a cajon and a pair of brushes and use the following strokes to add some different colors to your musical canvas. Keep in mind that these techniques can be used on either the cube-shaped box cajon or the wedge-shaped version (pictured).

1) Try substituting light sixteenth-notes instead of a shaker or a hi-hat.

2) For some swing or Bossa Nova groves try “stirring the soup” like you would on a snare (the cool thing about this is that your accents have a nice bass tone).

3) Go with just one brush, and do combinations with your bare hand of bass, slap, and open tones. With a little practice you can make this sound like a complete drum kit.

The Greatest Grooves Of R&B And Soul

By Brad Schlueter Originally published in the December 2007 issue of DRUM! Magazine

When someone mentions the great music of the ’60s and ’70s do you think of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who? Some of the greatest songs recorded during those important decades didn’t originate from across the pond, but instead can be found in the R&B and soul music that came from Memphis, Detroit, Chicago, and Philadelphia. These soulful songs haven’t grown old and can make today’s music seem sterile and formulaic by comparison. We’re going to take a look at some of the grooves that helped make these songs unforgettable and timeless.

“Try A Little Tenderness” By Otis Redding
Otis Redding’s perfect interpretation of this song could make a dead man dance. The incomparable Al Jackson Jr.’s drums enter with a double-time rim-click feel propelling the groove accompanied by nearly inaudible eighth-notes played on the hi-hat. Later, there’s a surprising drum fill played on the snare and a driving Motown groove with quarter-notes played on the snare and a funky bass drum pattern underneath that builds the intensity throughout the song. At eight-bar intervals, the bass drum part simplifies to a single quarter-note played on count 1 that very subtly emphasizes the word “Tenderness.” The end of the transcription shows the drum break down: sixteenth-notes played over 2 and 4 on the bass drum and a simple fill that leads into the fade out. If you haven’t heard this song and Redding’s incredible vocal performance lately, do yourself a favor and listen to it. Every second is a pleasure.

“Shotgun” By Jr. Walker & The Allstars
The musicians on these tracks weren’t credited, and I’ve found two different credits for the drumming on this song. Either Motown studio drummer Benny Benjamin or Pete “Pistol” Allen provided the instantly recognizable intro fill to “Shotgun,” which is a good example of how a drum fill can become a song hook. Play the song without that fill or change it and you’re simply playing it wrong. Notice the constant eighth-note bass drum pattern used to drive the song. Reportedly, Jr. Walker performed the vocals on this classic track only because his singer never showed up.

“Respect” By Aretha Franklin
“Give it to me when you get home!” This song’s overt sexuality used the word “respect” as a euphemism for sex and was clearly a feminist anthem about women’s sexual equality. Or maybe it was just about being randy. Surprisingly, it was written by Otis Redding, who made a fortune on its royalties. The Muscle Shoals rhythm section on this track features Gene Chrisman on drums.

“Hip Hug Her” By Booker T. & The MG’s
The musicians in this group were the house band for Stax records and created a number of well-known songs of their own like “Green Onions,” “Time Is Tight,” and this track. Here, economical drummer Al Jackson Jr. plays a simple funky groove for the song along with some sixteenth-note fills at the break.

“Use Me” By Bill Withers
This incredibly funky groove from drummer James Gadson proves a great drummer doesn’t need to play even a single fill to make a song memorable. His percolating rim-click and bass drum rhythms with open hi-hat barks helped make this a drumming classic.

“Ain’t No Sunshine” By Bill Withers
Okay, I’m a little partial to the talents of James Gadson and Bill Withers. This great melancholy song also uses a sixteenth-note hi-hat pattern, but this time with a rim-click on 2 and 4 and another funky yet simpler bass drum pattern that fits the song perfectly. In the “I know” section, the bass drum starts on the busy side and then gradually simplifies during the nine bars of the transcription, ending by repeating that offbeat e ah bass drum syncopated figure that we first hear in the verse.

“Theme From Shaft” By Isaac Hayes
Both the movie soundtrack and theme song won Oscars, a first for an African-American composer, yet Isaac Hayes was already vastly successful as one of the most influential soul songwriters of his era. This catchy theme has a well-known drum part that’s absolutely integral to the song. Most of the tune uses accented sixteenths on the hi-hat with occasional hi-hat barks for spice. A bass drum part is added later to emphasize the horn parts. The last measure is the basic groove of the vocal section. Drummer Willie Hall deserves the credit for this classic track. He’s a bad mother … can ya dig it?

“Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” By The Temptations
Every drummer should know the fill that introduces this song. Using a six-stroke roll (RllrrL) for the sextuplet naturally lends itself to the following attack and quick crescendo that create the dynamic shape of the fill. Some drummers play an eighth-note on the tom followed by a single triplet, but there are two ghosted snare notes immediately following the first tom hit that are felt more than heard. The Funk Brothers were the rhythm section on this track, featuring the talents of drummers Benny Benjamin, Uriel Jones, and Richard “Pistol” Allen during this period.

“Midnight Hour” By Wilson Pickett
In the years before click tracks, the concept of time was a little loose, as the intro to Wilson Pickett’s R&B classic “Midnight Hour” illustrates. The last tom fill is rushed, though the band follows the drummer closely, making it come together at the verse. If I wrote this out exactly as it was recorded, the last measure of the top line would be in 15/16. I recently had to play the song, so this is a “corrected” version showing what I believe was intended and what a drummer covering the song should try to play.

“Let’s Stay Together” By Al Green
This hit song features an unusual twist on a common beat. Drummer Al Jackson Jr. played counts 2 and 4 on a tom instead of the snare drum. This little variation gives the song a unique sound that’s stood the test of time.

“What’d I Say” By Ray Charles
The movie Ray reveals how this great song was created: It was improvised in front of an audience to fill out a set. Ray’s great left-hand bass line inspired Milt Turner’s remarkable mambo groove that’s become a pattern every drummer must learn. For the fill shown in the second line, the sticking is R RR L R L R L L.

“I Heard It Through The Grapevine” By Marvin Gaye
This song was recorded with Benny Benjamin, Pete “Pistol” Allen, and Uriel Jones playing together and dividing the drum and percussion parts between them. We can see a pared-down hi-hat and kick groove, a tom on 2 and 4, and a tambourine roll that lasts through the intro that transitions to a muted bongo part. A couple of minutes into the song, a full drum set part kicks in for four bars.

Left-Hand Exercises

By Richie "Gajate" Garcia Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2008 Issue

In my last lesson I provided a drum set pattern to be played on a cajon. To better help you work on your independence, play the following exercises on the cajon with the left hand and then play the other rhythm on any instrument, including a shaker, a tambourine, cowbell, hi-hat, or ride cymbal.


Richie “Gajate” Garcia has played with Phil Collins, Diana Ross, Hiroshima, and John Denver, recorded movie soundtracks, taught at Musician's Institute for ten years, and performs clinics worldwide.

Accented Triplet Illusions

By Peter Erskine Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's August 2009 Issue

Playing three triplets on the snare drum to every one quarter-note on the bass drum is a fairly basic skill for drummers. If we begin to add accent schemes that suggest other time signatures, however, the stakes are raised. But, then again, so are the musical possibilities! Let’s jump right into a fine suggestion of seven by accenting the steady triplet pulse in a 2-2-3 pattern (Ex. 1). Please note that in bar four, the 2-2-3 sequence changes to a 2-2-2 pattern in order to keep the phrase four measures long. Suggested stickings: alternating hands as well as right-hand lead (on each accented note). Now try playing the same snare part but with the bass drum playing a steady rhythm of eighth-notes. Two-against-three, with a 2-2-3 accent scheme in the hands. Why? Stay tuned for more explorations. Meanwhile: have fun practicing and mastering this.



Peter Erskine has played with Weather Report, Steps Ahead, and the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and holds a honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music. petererskine.com

Six Handy Notes

By Wally Schnalle Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's August 2009 Issue

This column explores the six-stroke roll sticking. I say “sticking” because rhythmically it can be interpreted in different ways. The pattern is RLLRRL (or the opposite, LRRLLR). The first example shows the accepted rhythmic content for a six-stroke roll. Ex. 2 shows another version as sixteenth-note triplets with all the note values being equal. Whichever way you phrase them, these are handy patterns to use around the kit. Exs. 3–6 are some orchestrations around the kit that I like to use. Try these and then come up with your own. And don’t forget to try them with both the of the different phrasings.



DRUM! Music Editor Wally Schnalle is a drummer, composer, and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has performed with Eddie Gale, Ernie Watts, and the San Jose Symphony Orchestra. itrhymes.com

Drumming Details Part 2: Snare Drum Backbeats

By Charlie Waymire Published May 20, 2010

Welcome to part two of Drumming Details ! In part one we looked at the hi-hat and how it can affect our sound and feel which, in turn, has a profound affect on the feel and vibe of the song. In this installment I’m going to talk about the snare drum and how we play our backbeats, specifically rimshots and center of the head.

Option #1) Rimshot: The rimshot produces a nice fast and sharp attack. Not as much body but it will definitely cut through even the heaviest of guitar riffs.

Option #2) Center of the Head
Playing center head will have less attack and therefore be less aggressive. However you will have more of the body of the drum with the potential to get a much fatter sound. If you’re not use to playing rimshots it will take some practice getting a consistent sound.

Likewise if you’re a rimshot only player, playing center of the head can feel very light and hard to get a good dynamic. One way around this is to simply flip your stick around and play your backbeats with the butt end of the stick. It will give you a nice fat, center of the head, sound while still having some weight behind it. Now ultimately it’s up to you how you choose to utilize these two styles of playing backbeats. I always start by simply listening to the song. If you use your ears, and are really listening, the song will tell you what to play. If you’re coming up with new parts for a song explore both techniques to see which one works best.

To get a feel for how these two techniques sound I've included a loop from the verse of one of my iGroove Practical Play-Alongs called “Wonderful”. It’s kind of a mid-tempo classic rock style groove that’s sound great with either of these techniques. Be sure to download the loop to practice with and check out the accompanying video as I demonstrate each technique sounds.

Play-Along

Download the mp3 file.

Remember, it’s not what you play but how you play it. The difference is in the details.

In the third and final installment we’ll talk about the bass drum. See you next month!

Charlie studied music at the McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, MN and Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California where he graduated with “Rock Drummer of The Year” honors. Following graduation, he was signed to Universal Records with the hard rock act, Speak No Evil and toured extensively throughout the United States. He has since toured Europe with his band JKB and has achieved critical acclaim through his work with his Rock-Fusion trio, EGH, with the CD releases Live at MI and Itʼs About Time. Charlieʼs also stays busy writing, producing and mixing for his production company Abrasive Productions and various TV shows including Malcolm in the Middle (Fox Television) at his studio in Hollywood, CA. For PIT, Charlie teaches private lessons, Live Playing Workshops, Rock Drums & Rhythm Section Workshop. For more lessons and information about Charlie check out www.charliewaymire.com! More Lessons available at http://www.drummagazine.com

© 2010 Charlie Waymire. All Rights Reserved. Basher Beatz Music (ASCAP) http://www.CharlieWaymire.com"

Old School Gear: How To Tuck Calfskin Heads

By Jeff Stern Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s September 2007 Issue

It wasn’t always so easy. Before the invention of Mylar drumheads, drummers had to keep special tools beside their drum keys and wrenches, and possess delicate skills that ventured beyond paradiddles and flams and into the world of woodcraft. Instead of taking a minute or two to replace a broken head, it would take hours of work to prepare a single head made of calfskin. So why in the world would anybody want to play on calfskin heads when synthetic ones are so user-friendly? Easy – because it is the most reliable way to attain an authentic vintage drum sound, if that’s what your music demands. Today a handful of tanneries provide calfskin heads that are already mounted on a flesh hoop. But those diehards who insist on doing it on their own should set aside a day to follow the proceeding step-by-step instructions for tucking a drumhead. Before getting started you need to prepare the raw material, which is delivered as a stiff disc. Soak the head in tepid water until it is completely pliable – which can vary in time depending on the head, and can take as much as a day – and then turn the page.

Step 1. Lay the drumhead flat (a Formica table works well) with the playing side facing down. Use a squeegee to remove excess water.

Fig.1

Step 2. Center the flesh hoop on the drumhead.

Fig. 2

Step 3. Fold the edge nearest to you over the hoop.

Fig. 3

Step 4. Roll the hoop up toward you so that it is perpendicular to the table. Slightly lift the hoop and tuck the drumhead under the hoop. Fig. 5 shows how the first edge should look after tucking the drumhead beneath the hoop.

Fig. 4

Fig.5

Step 5. Lay the hoop back down on top of the head.

Fig.6

Step 6. Tuck the opposite side of the head, and fold the drumhead over the hoop.

Fig.7

Step 7. Use the tucking tool to push the drumhead underneath the hoop.

Fig.8

Step 8. Repeat Step 7 by folding the drumhead over the hoop and tucking the head. Complete four quarters, then fold and tuck halfway between each quarter point, continuing to tuck opposite sides of the head to keep it centered. Fig. 10 shows how the head should look after it has been tucked at eight points.

Fig.9

Fig.10

Step 9. Tuck the rest of the drumhead by pushing the skin underneath the hoop. Fig. 12 shows how the drumhead should look after all of the loose skin has been tucked.

Fig.11

Fig.12

Step 10. Examine the drumhead to make sure that all of the material is pushed under the hoop. Push any untucked material under the hoop with the tucking tool.

Fig.13

Step 11. Carefully pick up the drumhead and turn it over, so that the playing side faces up.

Fig.14

Step 12. Using the side edge of the tucking tool, pull the tucked material underneath the playing side to the outer edge of the hoop, so that it moves outward. It should look like Fig. 16 when you are finished.

Fig.15

Fig.16

Step 13. Lift the drumhead so that it is standing on its edge. Using the side of the tucking tool, pull the underlying material that was previously pulled to the edge down with a scraping motion. Repeat the process until all material has been pulled down along the outer side of the hoop.

Fig.17

Step 14. Lay the drumhead on a shell and gently push down so that the flat edge of the drumhead touches the bearing edge.

Fig.18

Step 15. Put on the counterhoop and tension rods to set the desired collar. Gradually add tension by tightening down the counterhoop on opposing edges. Measure the distance between the counterhoop and drumhead, and make sure that it is consistent around the head. The amount of collar will depend on the type of drum onto which it will fit – the larger the collar, the less adjustment will be available to you for future tuning.

Fig.19

Fig.20

Fig.21

Inside The Drumming Of Elvin Jones

By Dan Sabanovich Originally published in the August/September 2004 issue of DRUM! Magazine

Elvin Jones was not only one of the most original, innovative, and influential drummers the world has ever seen, he was also a musical genius far ahead of his time. In his early years he was often criticized for playing unconventionally, and to a great extent, his critics were correct – Elvin never played the obvious. But that, among so many other qualities, made him unlike any drummer that preceded him, and changed the direction of jazz drumming forever.

Jazz bassist Ron Carter might have put it best when he stated in the 1979 video documentary Different Drummer: “The only way to illustrate or accurately define Elvin’s contribution is to play a recording of a pre-Elvin Jones drummer, play a recording of Elvin Jones, and then play a recording of a post-Elvin Jones drummer. I think these three examples would best illustrate all of Elvin’s contributions to the drums better than words could ever say.”

So is it even possible to describe Elvin’s style in words? As Carter suggested – it’s not easy. Elvin didn’t just play the drums in his own unique way, he heard the drums differently as well. Whenever Elvin sat down at his kit he played with authority, conviction, and pure raw emotion. His drumming was extremely natural and free flowing, bursting with spontaneity and endless creativity.

Much of Elvin’s playing can be compared to the “sheets of sound” that jazz critic Ira Gilter used to describe John Coltrane’s solo on “Giant Steps.” In other words, Elvin’s complex, ever-changing style could at times be compared to a wall of sound, which seemed as if two or three drummers were playing at once.

His phrases often avoided the standardized musical constraints of downbeats and barlines. His groove was relentless, and ride cymbal phrasing was unprecedented. He possessed a keen melodic instinct, an uncanny ability to create and shape musical colors and textures, an individual touch and sound, and endless energy. Most drummers can only dream of playing the rhythmic juxtapositions and superimpositions that came so easily to Elvin, who – rightly or wrongly – was often described as the most polyrhythmic drummer in jazz history.

“Play The Music.” During our private sessions together and in drum clinics, Elvin would emphasize that the drum set should be used to “play the music.” His point was that drummers should always have a musical reason for the drum parts they play, rather than resorting to a series of random licks that don’t relate to the musical moment or composition.

Always a strong advocate for knowing the melody and musical structure of a composition, Elvin said, “The drummer should know as much about the composition to be performed as does the pianist, bassist, and the horn players.” He would also suggest that knowing the lyrics could be very helpful in shaping a musical composition. “After knowing this kind of musical information one can then begin to construct and orchestrate a musical drum part that has some substance along with a musical shape to it.”

With that in mind, we felt it was valuable to demonstrate the fascinating way that Elvin orchestrated his drum part to compliment a song’s melody. Elvin’s composition titled “Three Card Molly” really captured my imagination. I will never forget the time back in May of 1979 when Elvin stayed at my home. I asked if he could show me how he orchestrated that particular drum part, and he graciously sat down behind my drum set and began to demonstrate his rhythmic phrasing of the melody. Needless to say, I asked if he could please play it slowly so I could try to grasp the complexity and nuances of his drumming. With my tape recorder running, I stood there and watched in amazement the work of a true drum genius.

Concerning the following musical transcription, it’s very important to understand that the drumming of Elvin Jones is beyond any transcription. Musical notation has its limits, especially when it comes to jazz performance. One cannot notate such significant and personalized characteristics as pure emotion, human spirit, truth, and intensity, or that incredible loose and relaxed feel that was such an important part of that unmistakable Elvin Jones sound.

Performance Notes. “Three Card Molly” is made up of two different melodic phrases. The A phrases are eight measures in length, while the B phrase (or bridge) is four measures long. Compare the lead sheet melody with the drum transcription and notice how every note of the melody has been orchestrated with Elvin’s unique use of triplet phrasing. The accents notated on both the melody page and the drum part should help provide you with a basic reference point.

Elvin masterfully interprets the “contrast” phrase at letter B, creating almost primal patterns using toms and bass drum. This, along with his shifting accents, both complements and shapes the rising and falling tension of the melodic line. His rhythmic phrasing during the bridge is quite polyrhythmic and highly syncopated, yet he always makes it groove and swing so damn hard – it’s just phenomenal! As mentioned earlier, Elvin plays some things that are beyond notation, and his part during the bridge is one of those instances. The A and B phrases clearly demonstrate Elvin’s uncanny ability to come up with unique textural and rhythmic phrases that “play the music” as only he can.

First let’s take a look at the melody:

Now, here is Elvin’s drum part:

In Closing. This transcription provides a very small glimpse into the world of a musical genius, and the most unique and masterful jazz drum innovator who has ever lived. I hope you will study and enjoy it, and benefit from his ideas. Any drummer would do well to study Elvin’s sound and musical vocabulary through his recordings both prior to his years with John Coltrane and after.

As for me, I’m proud to say that Elvin Jones was my friend, colleague, and a very important mentor. I love you and will miss you always, Elvin! I won’t forget you or what you’ve shared with me. I am a better person for knowing you, and am indebted to you forever.

Dan Sabanovich has had an active career as both a jazz musician and educator at San Jose State University. He has played with Charlie Byrd, George Cables, Pete Escovedo, Clare Fisher, Tom Harrell, Joe Henderson, the Bobby Hutcherson/Woody Shaw Quintet, and the Steve Czarnecki Soul Jazz Quintet. He can be contacted via email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Double Time Your Toys

By Glen Caruba Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's June 2007 Issue

Use this simple stick technique to roll on your mountable percussion toys and accessories with one hand, while keeping your other hand free to play other instruments.







Start by gripping a pair of sticks as shown, so that they form a V. Place one stick above and the other below your bell, block, or tambourine. Work your hand straight up and down quickly creating an open roll effect by hitting the top and bottom of the instrument. Also try keeping a steady groove, and before you know it you’ll be playing faster sixteenth- and thirty-second-note rhythms with one hand than you ever imagined you could.

A Jazz Funeral

By Terrence Higgins Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's June 2009 Issue

The Jazz Funeral is a New Orleans tradition that derives from the cultures of West Africa and also serves as the incubator for second-line drumming. On the way to the cemetery, it is customary to play what is called a dirge. The dirge originated from old military bands during the Civil War. This very slow cadence is played during the funeral procession from the church to the grave site and is also accompanied by a mournful and solemn old negro spiritual such as “Just A Closer Walk With Thee.” but on the return from the cemetery, the band plays upbeat traditional tunes such as “Didn’t He Ramble” or “I’ll Fly Away” and the celebration begins.



Terrence Higgins is a long-standing member of the legendary Dirty Dozen Brass Band and one of New Orleans' funkiest drummers, specializing in New Orleans second line, funk, and R&B. He also leads his own funk band, Swampgrease.

Two Sides Of Vinnie Colaiuta

By Brad Schlueter Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's June 2006 Issue

Vinnie Colaiuta is a musical chameleon who possesses astounding technical and polyrhythmic talents, yet still plays with incredible musicality. He has the uncanny ability to blend into most any musical situation yet always creates something new and interesting with his phenomenal skills.

While Colaiuta has spent countless hours practicing, transcribing, and studying other great drummers, he has learned the ability to restrain himself from using his tremendous skills inappropriately. For that reason, he has proven himself not only within the narrower framework of great drum technicians who play principally for other musicians, but also on the broader field of pop music playing for the masses.

Recording with artists ranging from Frank Zappa to Sting, from Faith Hill to Megadeth, his wide stylistic range not only reveals him to be a drummer who’s comfortable in many genres, but also as one who is willing to takes chances. But through it all, he’s consistently shown himself to be not just a great and interesting drummer but a great musician as well. As a result, nearly every tune he’s recorded can serve as a drum lesson to the attentive listener.

These excerpts were chosen partly because they reveal a glimpse or two of his musical brilliance and frightening technique, and also because none of these transcriptions has been published before.


“Carlos, You’re Blowing My Mind”

On the jazz group Wishful Thinking’s CD Train Of Thought, Colaiuta plays less of a textural role than his predecessor David Garibaldi did, taking a slightly more aggressive approach to playing the group’s songs. For this transcription, we’ll look at a short solo he played. Colaiuta leaves a hole and enters on count 2, with his toms separating the notes into seven-note groupings that flow over the 4/4 meter. He switches to playing groupings of five notes in the second line, giving the impression of acceleration, though the tempo doesn’t budge. His sextuple triplet lick that follows may have been played with a RF-RLRLL-RF-RLR sticking (where RF = right foot, R = right hand, and L = left hand). He plays some broken flams (grace note on one surface, main note on another) for another interesting texture. The percussionist solos with timbales and crashes, played polyrhythmically over triplets in the rhythm & ah 2, ah 3 &, 4 & ah, until Colaiuta joins him again in the last measure.


“Birds Of Fire”

Guitarist Jeff Richman rearranged a selection of the seminal fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra’s songs and assembled a stellar group of musicians to perform them on the disc Visions Of An Inner Mounting Apocalypse (a play on several of the band’s CD titles). On the great tune “Birds Of Fire,” Colaiuta takes a solo over a 9/4 vamp. This section of the tune can just as easily be counted in 18/8 since the underlying eighth-notes are arranged as 3-3-2-3-3-2-2. Parts of this solo are played as notated, other phrases are slightly slurred, due to the different stickings he uses to create these patterns. Here and there Colaiuta’s soloing is reminiscent of Billy Cobham’s phenomenal drumming from the original tune.


“Splatch”

Jeff Richman also recorded a tribute to the songs of Miles Davis with a similar group of musicians on the disc Fusion For Miles that shows off Colaiuta’s interesting approach to grooving. On the song “Splatch,” Colaiuta plays a couple of interesting patterns. The first one notated in the top two lines is a pretty conventional Afro-Cuban groove. In the following two lines, he plays an angular groove with a cymbal pattern that flows polyrhythmically over the time signature, implying a slower 3/4 metric modulation. The cymbal pattern is similar to the timbale break shown in the Wishful Thinking transcription, though it starts in a different place. It sounds great in the song, even though it’s only there briefly.


“Jean Pierre”

Here’s another song from the Fusion For Miles disc. The tempo is slow, and the groove is ridiculously deep. The time signature is notated here in alternating bars of 5/4 and 4/4 but could also be written as one longer bar of 9/4. At the transition into the 6/8 section, the eighth-note speed remains the same, making it seem as though the backbeat has briefly shifted to the & of 2. The outro groove feels equally unusual.


“Billion Dollar Babies”

Colaiuta played this version of “Billion Dollar Babies” on a tribute disc to Alice Cooper called Humanary Stew. He starts the tune with a powerful flam-based groove, before laying down his great pocket behind George Lynch, Bruce Kulick, Phil Lewis, and Stu Hamm. Notice how his thirty-second-note bass drum ruffs and short fills add lift without cluttering up the groove.


Buddy Rich Memorial Scholarship Concert DVD

What do Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl, and Steve Gadd have in common? One thing is they all performed brilliantly together on the Buddy Rich Memorial Scholarship concert DVD. At one point, all three drummers take the stage together, play a tune, and trade solos. Colaiuta plays an absolutely jaw-dropping four-bar drum break. This break is not only a great example of testosterone-fueled drumming, but is an incredibly difficult passage to play anywhere near the tempo at which Colaiuta rips it. The stickings are included, since I could see them in the footage. If you haven’t seen this selection, buy it. It’s a must-have for fans of great drumming.


“Truth Be Told”

Colaiuta is not just a great jazz, studio, pop and country musician. He’s also a great metal drummer who makes muscular drumming sound easy. His work throughout Megadeth’s most recent disc, The System Has Failed, proves it. Every track has smart and powerful drumming, with enough impressive double bass work to satisfy the hardcore among us. “Truth Be Told” starts with a drum solo in 6/8 before changing to the half-speed verse groove in 15/8. Colaiuta makes it all sound as challenging as a walk in the park.


“Don’t Ask Me”

This track off Nik Kershaw’s The Works has perplexed drummers for years. Take a cheerful synth-laden pop tune, throw a completely off-the-wall fill into the middle of it, and you have a perfect Vinnie moment. The first couple measures reveal the fill, which is followed by his equally enjoyable groove. Check out the way his hi-hat bounces around the backbeats.


“Tardinha”

Warren Cuccurullo’s Thanks 2 Frank features some Zappa alumni improvising some great musical moments. On the tune “Tardinha,” Colaiuta plays a blistering fill that will surely make lots of drummers shake their heads and mutter to themselves incoherently.


“50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”

Paul Simon’s humorous song “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” featured a funky rudimental groove by Steve Gadd that became a classic by virtue of it being both original and brilliant. On German singer Gitte Haenning’s version, Colaiuta plays a very different pattern that suits this hip-hop interpretation of the tune perfectly, rather than just mimicking Gadd’s groove. Colaiuta still manages to work a rudimental roll into the verse groove, perhaps as a nod of acknowledgment to Gadd.


“Lions”

Saxophonist Frank Macchia’s Mo’ Animals is full of changing moods and time signatures, and Colaiuta enters this track with a quick fill and funky groove that deftly navigates the alternating feels of five and six.


“Rhinos”

Frank Macchia’s tune “Rhinos” has lots of great Vinnie-isms for us to enjoy. Here are two short but great fills. The first has a polyrhythmic feel of six over eight, created by accenting every sixth thirty-second-note in this run. The second fill uses syncopated flams ascending the toms to create tension, until his flam and bass drum note relieve it.

Nongo

By Richie "Gajate" Garcia Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's June 2007 Issue

The nongo pattern comes from the family of Arara rhythms, and it is also part of the repertory of some rumba groups. This pattern is played in 6/8 and is normally played on batas. I chose this exercise primarily because it works well to help strengthen independence. Work out each part separately first. Then, as you get comfortable, try to combine the parts. You will need three drums: quinto, conga, and tumba. This can be tricky, so be patient!



Richie "Gajate" Garcia has played with Phil Collins, Diana Ross, Hiroshima, and John Denver, recorded movie soundtracks, taught at Musician's Institute for ten years, and performs clinics worldwide.

Playing The Zones

By Anthony Geluso Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's June 2007 Issue

If you want to expand your arsenal of sounds without draining your wallet, take advantage of the tonal variations available from playing zones on your drum. Here are a few options.



1) Center Zone. Powerful attack, quick decay.



2) Middle Zone. The most resonance, great area for buzz rolls. More snare response when you play directly over the snares.



3) Edge Zone. Great to use when playing quietly. Expect little snare response.



4) Snares Off. While not technically a “zone,” it is a very different sound option. Use this when playing African, Latin, or other ethnic rhythms. Try playing the three zones with the snares off or on your toms for other sound possibilities.

Right-Lefts On The Kit

By Peter Erskine Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's June 2007 Issue

It’s always a good idea to revisit the basics. The following examples are studies in coordination that check your ability to play clean unisons between the hands and feet.

As always, it’s best to start at a moderate tempo and then work your way up and down the tempo spectrum. Check your body’s relationship to the kit: How is your posture? Can you play these exercises with both heels remaining down on the pedals? How steady is the pulse when the pattern switches the lead hand? How comfortable are you moving around the kit, especially when crossing your arms over, as in Ex.2? Strive for good tone, steady time, and fluid motion.



Peter Erskine has played with Weather Report, Steps Ahead, and the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and holds an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee School of Music. petererskine.com

Funky Paradiddle Ostinatos

By Wally Schnalle Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's June 2007 Issue

This month’s column completes an exploration we started in a July, 2005 (issue #109) column entitled “Harmonic Hand Ostinatos.” (An ostinato is pattern of notes that is repeated over and over.) In that lesson we created ostinatos with the paradiddle sticking (see Ex. 1A). Here we are going to complete the mission by using all of the paradiddle inversions (see Ex. 1B, 1C, and 1D). Learn these stickings well, as the vocabulary will serve you in a myriad of musical situations.

In the first measure (A) of each of the following exercises we orchestrate one of the paradiddle inversion stickings between the snare drum and hi-hat, which creates a linear ostinato in the hands. In the following three measures in each exercise (B, C, and D) we have the right hand’s ostinato pattern remaining the same and the left changing with each new measure. Cycling through the rhythms created by the paradiddle inversion stickings is how we get these left-hand patterns. This creates some funky harmonic ostinatos, meaning more than one instrument is sounding at the same time. The bass drum is added on beats1 and 3 to help the patterns sound like grooves, but you should explore more bass patterns on your own. And make sure the ghost notes are really quiet or these will not be funky. Your stick should rise no more than one to two inches off the head.



Music Editor Wally Schnalle is a drummer, composer, and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has performed with Eddie Gale, Ernie Watts, and the San Jose Symphony Orchestra. itrhymes.com

Odd-Time Samba

By Billy Martin Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's June 2009 Issue

I was never great at grasping odd-time concepts, and I still sometimes struggle with them. A big factor relies on who is writing the music and how the player interprets it. But either way, you should make it work within your style and the given musical context. The first odd-time groove that felt good to me outside of “Take Five” (Desmond/Brubeck/Morello) was a samba in seven (7/8). Because I was playing so much Brazilian samba in my developing years, it became second nature for me to adapt samba’s in seven, six, and five.

If you are comfortable with playing samba in eight (4/4), switching to 7/8 time is not much different. All you’re doing is simply removing the last eighth-note section of the measure. The groove feels similar with a slight “skip” in time. The relationship between the bass drum and hi-hat is the foundation in this example. The snare (side-stick) pattern is a clave (rhythmic key) that adds the defining flavor in this Brazilian recipe.

Don’t forget to play constant sixteenth-notes on the ride cymbal with your leading hand. First play the pattern in eight (Ex. 1). After you feel comfortable with that, switch to seven (Ex. 2), and then to five (Ex 3).

The next advanced step would be to keep your hi-hat foot playing the 4/4 feel, where you’ll find your hi-hat foot falling back into place after two bars. The first bar of hi-hat notes fall on the & (as written) then the second bar falls on the downbeats. Other advanced ideas would incorporate bass drum and snare variations of your own design. This is only the beginning, a launch point from which you can develop your own unique way of making it work.



Medeski Martin and Wood drummer Billy Martin (aka illy B) has recorded more than 60 albums with Bob Moses, Iggy Pop, John Scofield, The Lounge Lizards, Dave Burrell, and many others. billymartin.net

How To Tune Drums

By Gene Okamoto Published March 25, 2010

Talk to ten different drummers and you’ll get ten different ways to tune drums. The reason is that there’s actually no wrong or right way to tune a drum, or right or wrong pitches to tune it to. So the best I can do is share the ways I tune drums. As the product manager at Pearl Drums, I actually use two methods: Method A is the quick one that I generally use at trade shows when I need to tune a lot of drums, and I use Method B to tune my own drums. Sometimes I combine the two.

Both methods include four steps: (1) preparation, (2) seating the head, (3) getting the head in tune with itself, and (4) fine-tuning. Steps 1, 2, and 4 are the same in both methods; only step 3 is different.

Learning how to tune effectively takes practice, and I recommend practicing on drums that are relatively easy to tune, such as 10" six-lug or 12" six-lug toms. The skills you master from tuning these drums can be applied to all other drums.

Fig. 1: Remove all tension rods

1. Preparation. Start by removing all the tension rods on one side of the drum (Fig. 1), then remove the head and counterhoop (the rim or hoop of the drum).

Fig. 2: Check the fit of the head

Especially if you’re installing a new head, check the fit of the head in the counterhoop (Fig. 2). The head should fit into the counterhoop like a glove or with just a little bit of play. If you have to force the head into the counterhoop the drum may be difficult to tune and the sound could be choked.

Put the head on the drum and center it squarely to the shell The head should fit loosely on the shell – if it fits tightly it might choke the sound. Mount the counterhoop and center it to the head. Make sure the head and counterhoop aren’t lopsided relative to the drum.

Fig. 3: Tighten the tension rods using a crisscross pattern

Tighten the tension rods with your fingers to make sure none is cross-threaded. Use the crisscross pattern in Fig. 3 to ensure that the head stays square to the drum.

Fig. 4: Use a drum key to finish tightening the tension rods

When the tension rods are finger tight, switch to your drum key and continue tightening using the same crisscross pattern (Fig. 4). You may hear cracking noises – don’t worry, this is normal.

Fig. 5: Tap the head at each tension rod

Periodically tap (Fig. 5) the head at each tension rod to hear the progress of your tuning. I like to softly hit a “rimshot” with my finger however, many drummers prefer to use a stick or the end of a drum key. Whichever method you prefer, try to hit the head at the same spot near each tension rod for consistency.

Tighten the head until all the wrinkles disappear, then tighten it some more until the pitch is a little higher than what you normally tune to. Now you’re ready to seat the head.

Fig. 6: Seat the head

2. Seating The Head. Tap the head, and this time, memorize the pitch. Press the center of the head with the palm of your hand like you’re giving the drum CPR (Fig. 6). You may once again hear cracking sounds from the head – this is normal. Tap the head again and compare the pitch you just heard to the pitch you memorized a second ago. Did the pitch drop noticeably? Are there wrinkles in the head that weren’t there a moment ago? If you answered yes to either question, the head needed seating.

Retighten the head and remove the wrinkles if any are present. Press the center of the head and compare the pitch again. Repeat until the pitch drop is minimal and the wrinkles don’t reappear. (When this is achieved, the head is seated adequately.) Turn the drum over and seat the head on the other side.

Be sure to control your strength when seating heads. If you push too hard you can dent the head or even cause damage to the drum. Start with light pressure and apply only enough to do the job.

It’s also important to know the strength of your heads. The thickness of heads is measured in mil; 1mil equals a 1000th of an inch. To put this in perspective, a typical sandwich bag is 1mil thick. The thickness of Remo’s thinnest head is 2mil, and though Remo’s material is a lot stronger than a sandwich bag, it’s still very fragile. I recommend seating 2mil, 3mil, 5mil, and 7.5mil heads by pressing on the counterhoop instead of direct pressure on the head.

Heads that are 10mil and thicker can be seated with direct palm pressure, but again, start with light pressure and apply only enough to do the job.

3. Tune The Head To Itself. Once the heads are seated you can proceed to the next step and get each head in tune with itself. The goal is to get the same pitch all around the head to achieve a clean tone with the least amount of annoying overtones.

Method A: Tap the head at each tension rod and listen to the pitches. If the pitches are the same all around the head, the head is in tune with itself and you’re done with this head. Chances are, however, some pitches will be high and others will be low relative to each other. If they are, do the following.

At each location where the pitches are “low,” tighten the tension rods by about an eighth of a turn. As your tuning skills improve, you’ll develop a feel for how large or small your adjustments need to be. As you zero-in on the final pitch, only tiny adjustments are required.

Tighten only the tension rods where the pitches are “low.” Don’t make any adjustments to the tension rods where the pitches are “high.” I normally don’t seat the head when bringing the head up in pitch; however, it doesn’t hurt to do so. I always seat the head when bringing the head down in pitch.

Tap the head again at each tension rod and listen to the pitches to see if the head is in tune with itself. Are the pitches the same? If yes, the head is in tune with itself. If not, repeat the steps until the pitch is the same all around the head.

Note: The pitch of the head will get higher and higher as you repeat this process and the final pitch may be higher than you want. We’ll adjust this later.

Turn the drum over and tune the other head to itself by following the steps previously described.

Method B – “Tuning In Opposites:” I learned this method from a drummer named George Rutter and it works by lowering the pitches that are “high” and raising the pitches that are “low” until they meet in the middle at a common pitch.

As in the example above tap the head at each rod and listen to the pitch. Some are likely to be "high" and others will be "low." Then you loosen the tension rods by about an eighth of a turn where the pitches are “high” and tighten the tension rods by about an eighth of a turn where the pitches are “low.”

4. Fine-Tuning. should be able to tune the head up or down and still keep it in tune with itself by turning the tension rods tighter or looser to the same amount. An analogy is a zoom lens on a camera: Once it’s in focus, you can zoom in or out and still be in focus. However, it’s nearly impossible to turn tension rods with 100-percent accuracy, so it may be necessary periodically to get the head in tune with itself.

With two-headed drums, there are only three ways to ensure that the top and bottom heads are tuned relative to each other:

1. The two heads can be tuned to the same pitch.

2. The top head can be tuned tighter than the bottom.

3. The top head can be tuned looser than the bottom.

Tuning the top and bottom heads to the same pitch gives a pure tone and relatively long sustain. Tuning the bottom head lower than the top allows you to tune to your drum “low” while still maintaining good stick response off the tighter top head. Additionally, the sound will “pitch-drop” or “growl” as the drum is played harder. Tuning the bottom head tighter than the top produces a “shallower” sound and shorter sustain. The sound will also “pitch-drop” or “growl” as the drum is played harder.

Fine-Tuning Toms. Now you have the necessary elements to tune all the toms in your kit. You can tune the smallest one first and progress to the largest, or tune the largest drum first and progress to the smallest, or start in the middle and work you way outward – it doesn’t matter. Just remember that each drum has a range of pitches where it sounds best and if you try to force a drum to tune higher or lower than its range, its sound will be less than optimal. For example, if you start with your smallest tom and tune it too low, by the time you get to your largest tom, the pitch may be too low for that size. You may need to get a larger tom or tune all your toms higher.

Take a tom whose heads are seated and in tune with themselves. Tune the top head close to the final pitch you desire by raising or lowering the tension rods as equally as possible. Tune the bottom head using one of the three top/bottom head relationships described earlier. Seat either head if necessary.

The most difficult of the three top/bottom head relationships is tuning both heads to the same pitch. Tuning in opposites is helpful in this situation. If the top head is higher, loosen it and tighten the bottom head. If the top head is lower, tighten it and loosen the bottom head. Seat the heads and get them in tune with themselves as necessary. Repeat this process until the top and bottom heads are the same pitch.

Mount the tom to your kit. The weight of the drum on the tom mount may change the tuning slightly so compensate accordingly. To hear the pitches more clearly, I touch the center of the head lightly with a finger while tapping the head at each tension rod.

A lot of drummers like to tune their toms the interval of a fourth apart. If you sing the “Bridal Chorus” (Here comes the bride…) the interval between “here” and “comes” is a fourth. Once you have your intervals, try to get the resonance and sustain to be as similar as possible so your toms sound like boom, boom, boom, boom, and not boom, boom, blat, boom.

Once you find pitches you like, it’s a good idea to identify them by using a piano or other pitched instrument and write them down. This way, you can tune your drums to their former glory the next time you change heads.

Be aware that drums sound lower as you move away from them. You may have a killer sound in the close confines of your garage but in a real-world situation -- like in a club or on stage where your sound has more room to mature -- your drums may sound muddy. If possible, have someone play your kit while you listen from the audience’s perspective and tune them if needed.

The goal of getting your toms in tune with themselves is to eliminate annoying overtones so you can play them wide-open without muffling. However, if muffling is needed, “ring type” mufflers like Remo RemOs, Evans E-Rings, and Noble & Cooley ZerOrings are very effective in reducing or eliminating unwanted overtones. Self-muffled heads such as Remo Pinstripes, Evans EC2, and Aquarian Performance II are also excellent.

Fine-Tuning Bass Drums. The bass drum can be tuned the same way as toms with the same top/bottom tuning relationships: both heads tuned the same, the back head tuned tighter than the front, or the back head tuned lower than the front.

I personally tune the resonator head (front head) lower than the batter (back head) to get depth while maintaining good rebound from the tighter batter head.

Bass drums usually require some sort of muffling to control sustain and the simplest mufflers are pillows or blankets. However, if you want a cleaner look, visit your favorite drum store to see and test the wide variety of self-muffled drumheads and other types of mufflers that are available.

Fig. 7: Placement of airhole

It’s also popular to put a hole (Fig. 7) in the front head to reduce the amount of “boom” and/or to allow a microphone to be put into the bass drum. As a general rule: the smaller the hole, the fatter the sound; the bigger the hole, the flatter the sound.

Fine-Tuning Snare Drums. Put your snare drum on a snare stand. I use a hose clamp (hardware or auto-parts store variety) as an improvised “memory stop” on my stand to allow the basket to spin like a turntable for easy access to the tension rods.

Tune the top head to the approximate pitch that you want, get it in tune with itself, and seat it if necessary. Like toms and bass drums, you can tune the bottom head three ways relative to the top. Most drummers tune the bottom head tighter than the top; however, experiment with the other two tuning possibilities to find which one you like best.

Fig. 8: Wrinkles in snare head

Speaking of the bottom head, the bottom bearing edge on snare drums has two “cut-outs” called snare beds that allow the snares to lie flat against the head for optimal snare response. When tuning the snare head, you’re likely to encounter wrinkles at the snare beds (Fig. 8). There are two schools of thought on how to deal with them. One school says, “Tune the head to itself, and if you get wrinkles that’s OK.” I’ve heard of symphonic players tuning this way and using a hair dryer to take the wrinkles out. The other school says, “Tighten the head tighter at the snare beds and take the wrinkles out even if the head is not in tune with itself.” Both ways are valid, however I prefer the second method, and taking the wrinkles out. Try both methods and see which one works best for you.

I always tune my snare drum to the same pitches: I tune the snare head to the “G” above middle “C” and the batter head to the “E” or “F” below the “G” depending on my mood. I got these pitches from Paul Yonemura, a good friend and a great drummer who has perfect pitch. While listening to Ed Shaughnessy and Joe Morello tune their snare drums, he discovered that both tuned their snare heads to “G” and that Morello tuned his batter head to “E” and Shaughnessy tuned his batter head to “F.”

Just for fun, try giving these pitches a try. If they work, great! If they don’t, at least you’ll have a starting point to find pitches that you like better.

With careful tuning you should be able to play your snare drum wide-open. However, if you need muffling, you can use one of the ring mufflers mentioned earlier to eliminate unwanted overtones.

Final Words. Practice tuning to get proficient and fast, and experiment with different heads, muffling, and pitch relationships to build a mental “encyclopedia” of sounds. There will come a day when a musical director, bandmate, or producer will ask you to get a particular sound and when he or she does, you’ll be ready.

Funk Seasonings — Part Two And Three

By Wally Schnalle Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's June 2009 Issue

This lesson is going to deal with funk basics and contains. Ex. 1 shows the basic funk groove we are using. I often refer to this as the “meat and potatoes.” We seasoned this basic kick/snare pattern in the last lesson (April 2009) by playing different subdivisions of the beat on the hi-hat. In Exs. 2–4 here we’ve changed the flavor by embellishing the left-hand pattern with some ghost notes. Ex. 2 utilizes plain eighth-notes on the hi-hat. In Exs. 3 and 4 there are two different inversions of a three-note pattern containing one eighth-note and two sixteenth-notes per beat on the hi-hat.



DRUM! Music Editor Wally Schnalle is a drummer, composer, and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has performed with Eddie Gale, Ernie Watts, and the San Jose Symphony Orchestra. itrhymes.com

Double Bass/Double Crash Power Fills

By Matt Byrne Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's June 2009 Issue

We are going to work on combining powerful booming double bass with the ear-shattering cut of crash cymbals. These types of fills are both musically and visually awesome! Alternate the sticking throughout each fill, leading with your dominant hand. Right foot goes with right hand; left foot goes with left hand — totally in sync. But don't just crash on one cymbal. Move it around the kit a little bit. Use the China, splashes, hi-hat, whatever you want. And nobody’s keeping you chained to the snare — spread the love around the drums too. Start out playing each fill as an exercise, at a slow tempo, until you can play it smoothly. Once you get comfortable, increase your speed. Next, play a simple four-on-the-floor rock beat and execute the fills every couple of measures. This will allow you to play the fills in a song context. Vary the tempos and experiment with different beats.



Matt Byrne bashes for the Grammy-nominated heavy metal/hardcore band Hatebreed. In his spare time, he is working on his special ed./elementary ed. teaching degree.

myspace.com/mattbyrnedrummer

Photo Lesson: Efficiency Of Motion

By John Natelli Reprinted from the January 2007 issue of DRUM! Magazine

An important part of drumming is learning to play without wasting energy. Let’s take a look at a typical drum setup and how to efficiently move from one drum to the next.

1. Start off with sticks in your hands. Your arms should be relaxed at your sides.

2. From the elbows, lift your arms until your sticks are in playing position. You want your snare to be at the height where the sticks naturally fall.

3. Slowly move your hands up to the toms, keeping the sticks below the center of the heads. Overextending is a waste of energy.

4. Your floor tom should be about the same height as your snare — again, where your sticks naturally fall.

Kate Schellenbach: Pure Pop

By Kate Schellenbach Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s November 2000 Issue

Kate Schellenbach has played drums with Luscious Jackson, Kostars, Indigo Girls and the Beastie Boys.

Double it Up

As rock and pop drummers, we often resort to the same old trick when building dynamics: playing eighth-notes on the hi-hat during the verse and switching to eighths on the ride cymbal during the chorus. That’s all fine and dandy but it really gets boring after a while. I’ve noticed that funk drummers can effectively vary their dynamics by staying on the hi-hat

The first time I caught this was listening to the outro during the song “Stand” by Sly and the Family Stone (Ex. 1). The switch from eighth-notes to two-hand style sixteenths is super funky and energetic and lifts the song to another level. I noticed this concept again during the song “You’ve Got the Love” by another super funky outfit, Rufus, featuring Chaka Kahn. After discovering these ear-opening examples, I tried to cop this hi-hat maneuver during the song, “Alien Lover” by my band Luscious Jackson. One of my all-time favorite examples of this concept appears in the rocking song, “Eternal Life,” by Jeff Buckley, where the addition of sixteenth and open hi-hat accents really pumps up the groove.

In the following examples, the only change from one measure to the next is the addition of sixteenth-notes to the pattern. You can instantly hear the tension build and increase in movement in the groove without even really changing the core pattern. It may be seem like a subtle change but it can be really effective and an excellent addition to your repertoire.

When switching from eighths to sixteenths two-hand style, make sure not to rush, as the tendency can be when playing twice as many notes. Practice to a click or metronome if possible. Experiment with adding additional dynamics by opening the hi-hat in different spots in the pattern.

Tiger Bill’s Speed Lesson #74: Single Paradiddle Double-Accent Grid - Part 2

By Tiger Bill Meligari Published May 3, 2010

This is a workout that's designed to help you improve your ability to place two accents anywhere within a given sticking pattern. The pattern I'm using is a rudiment known as the single paradiddle and we will be permutating double accents throughout each single paradiddle. If you missed last month's lesson where we permutated a single accent across the single paradiddle, practice that one before working on this. This permutation is also known as a grid. Let's check out the written notation and then the video demonstration.

Video Lesson


Notice how both of the accents stand out clearly without affecting the sound of the unaccented notes in the paradiddle. The two distinct sound levels is what makes the difference between the amateur and the professional drummer. Practice slowly at first and gradually gain speed but never play beyond the point where you can maintain control of each note including the distinction between the two different dynamic levels.


Reverse Hands For Additional Practice

Once you can perform the written exercise cleanly and up to speed, work on it again with the sticking reversed. If you find you're having trouble playing the accents cleanly and without getting tense, refer to my Web site at www.TensionFreeDrumming.com

Feel free to email questions on this month's lesson to me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

For free drum lessons, and expert drumming advice, visit www.TigerBill.com.

Until next time: Have fun and stay loose!

Windmill Stroke

By Mike Cosgrove Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's April 2007 Issue

Mike Cosgrove writes, records, and tours both with Alien Ant Farm and independently. He gives drum lessons in Southern California and loves his cocoa pebbles.

In this lesson, we are going to develop what some drummers call the “windmill” stroke – so named because of the way your arms look when you’re shredding around the toms or moving from your toms to your snare.

Exs. 1-–4 whip your hands into shape by mixing together sixteenth- and thirty-second-notes. Practice each one at a moderately slow tempo, approximately 90 bpms. Get comfortable with this stroke on the snare, and it shouldn’t require too much energy to execute on your toms.

For a super-heavy-sounding windmill, try replacing one sixteenth-note on the toms with your bass drum (Exs. 5–8). Once you become relaxed and confident, play through all eight exercises without stopping, and be sure to keep time by playing quarter-notes on your hi-hat. Then mix them up as you wish!

Jim Donovan: Guinean Grooving

By Jim Donovan Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's April 2007 Issue

Jim Donovan is a current and founding member of the multiplatinum band Rusted Root. He has released three solo CDs as well as four instructional drumming CDs. jimdonovanmusic.com

Exs. 1–6 are drum-set adaptations of common bell patterns found in traditional Guinean music. These rhythms sound best on the kit when you create two-bar, four-bar, and eventually eight-bar phrases. Learn each measure slowly with a metronome, and then begin combining the patterns to create different grooves. And for some sonic variation, turn your snares off and substitute a tom for the hi-hat and ride patterns. Good luck!

Messersmith & Watts: Sounou

By Scott Messersmith and Dave Watts Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's April 2007 Issue

Drummer for The Motet, Dave Watts is also the primary composer and arranger of all the band's music. He has most recently performed and recorded with Keller Williams, Kyle Hollingsworth, and George Porter. Scott Messersmith grew up in New Orleans as a freelance percussionist and in 1997 moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he and Watts met and together planted the seeds of The Motet. They have studied Cuban, Brazilian, and West African music traditions and have brought these influences to the forefront of The Motet's music.

Round up all your drum buddies to play this piece, a five-part rhythm called sounou. It comes from the Kaarta region of Mali and is traditionally performed at celebrations such as weddings and parties. Exs. 1 and 2 introduce the pattern’s foundation instruments – the dun-dun, sangban, and kenkeni. African in origin, these drums are similar to Western bass drums (though, of course, played with sticks). The kenkeni is the smallest of the three and often includes a mounted bell (Ex. 2). Two djembe parts (Exs. 3 & 4) help thicken the groove, and we’ve modernized the whole piece by adding a funky drum-set beat in Ex. 5. Ex. 6 is a djembe lick that can be played at the beginning or the ending of the rhythm. For some authentic sounou sounds, check out recordings by master drummers Abdoul Doumbia and B’kaye Kouyate.

Morgan Rose Plays “Broken Down” From Sevendust’s Seasons

By Don Zulaica, transcription by Wally Schnalle Originally published in the February/March 2004 issue of DRUM! Magazine

Morgan Rose has admitted his tendencies to “overplay,” [“I overplay a lot anyway, but I really get to overplay on this one.” Vol. 10, #7] but on Sevendust’s fourth studio album Seasons, the drummer lays down one tasty groove after another. But don’t take that to mean that he isn’t getting his licks in.

On the song “Broken Down,” he opens with an infectious beat-box pattern that originated from, well, an old beat-box. “That was a beautiful thing,” Rose gushes. “[Guitarist] John [Connolly] wrote that song and had a drum machine on there, and I really liked that sound. We had an old-school Alesis … primitive … just a step above the original Casios. It had a really cool sound, and originally we used the beat that was on the machine. When we went in to track the song, we actually tracked the chorus alone, so I only played on the chorus and we let the drum machine be the verse. That was the way I liked it.”

Producer Butch Walker convinced Rose to try to re-produce the beat organically, using a 24" kick drum, a 12" x 4.5" Tama steel snare, and two 10" Zildjian Z splashes as hi-hats. “The Alesis had a really primitive sound to it, and they wanted me to play a beat that was similar to what we had put on the machine, yet have it obviously sound like a human playing it. We came up with the idea to have it be a mixture between being something a little more hip-hop on the beat, but using more of a John-Bonham miking technique to try to get that ambience.”

Bonham ambience from splash-cymbal hi-hats? “We were predominantly using room mikes in this tiny vocal booth, and all I had was the kick and a snare and these hi-hats. And they sounded terrible. It’s just not advisable to be using 10" splashes as hi-hats. But Butch said, ‘No, let me go in the room and dial in.’ And he came up with that sound, kind of hip-hop-meets-Bonham type of sound. They sounded considerably darker in the room, like ‘this just isn’t going to work.’ You know, cymbals sound good to the ear when they’re wide open, and then you put it on tape and it’s a completely different sound. You can manipulate it in so many different ways.”

The beat itself is loaded with sixteenth-note flurries and hi-hat barks, and you might think they were played as double strokes. “They’re singles,” he emphasizes. “Normally I play stuff like that as singles, because I use sticks that have dual butt ends, so you’re not getting a lot of help [when you play doubles].”

For the chorus, Rose flushes out a washy quarter-note pulse, giving lots of room for Lajon Witherspoon’s vocals to soar. But right before the chorus kicks in there’s a tension-creating rest, or as Rose calls it, a breath. “That’s the ‘money shot’ on the song,” he explains. “The feel reminds me of having your teeth clenched. The sound of the hi-hats and some of the movement between the hi-hats and the snare with those sixteenth-notes off of it, it feels a little uneasy to me, and when you get to the chorus it’s that [exhales] breath.”

After the second time through the chorus, you’ll also notice that Rose does some funky tapping on the drum rims. You longtime Sevendust fans may remember this from earlier albums.

“On our first album I did a lot of rim use,” he admits, “and hadn’t done it since then. When we got to that part [of “Broken Down”], I wanted to do something different, do a different sound. It was kind of a flashback to our first record, and the fact that Butch had helped produce some of our first songs. So it was a little bit of a tribute to him. We went back in time.”

You don’t have to go back in time to work out some funky hip-hop and slammin’ rock grooves. You can give your best shot to “Broken Down” right now.

Maria Martinez: Afro-cuban Innovations

By Marian Martinez Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s November 2000 Issue

Maria Martinez has performed with Barry White, El Chicano, Emmanuel, Angela Bofill, Rita Coolidge, Nell Carter, Johnny Paycheck and Klymaxx. She wrote the Latin drumming curriculum at PIT and has published two books: Brazilian Coordination for Drumset and Afro-Cuban Coordination for Drumset.

Some Songo Ostinatos

First let me point out, the songo style of drumming is more of a concept than one particular “beat.” Songo is a blend of folkloric and contemporary Cuban styles with elements of funk and jazz. In many ways, songo is the “jazz” of Cuban drumming.

The songo ostinatos in this lesson are popular grooves often played in the Latin-jazz style of music. The ostinatos will help coordinate the suggested songo grooves against the two-bar bass drum phrases. The ostinatos are written in 3+2 rumba clave, but they can also be played in 2+3 by starting on the second bar. Although the clave rhythm is not always played on the drum set, it is important to always be aware of the clave while playing the songo style. The examples in this lesson are excerpts from my Afro-Cuban Coordination for Drumset book/CD package published by Hal Leonard.

Begin by practicing one of the ostinatos written below until you are comfortable playing it. To accomplish the correct feel, play the ghost notes on the snare drum as softly as possible.

Gavin Harrison's Hot Licks

By Brad Schlueter Originally published in the December 2006 issue of DRUM!

Through his excellent drumming books and DVD, Gavin Harrison has made a mission of teaching drummers how to play polyrhythms, beat displacements, and metric modulations, which collectively will confuse the hell out of your bandmates even as you come down on the 1. If you’ve never heard Harrison play, you might assume from the last sentence that his drumming would be self-indulgent and busy, as he endlessly screws around with the beat. You couldn’t be more wrong. Harrison is a great groove drummer, and his playing always feels perfect. He has incredible dynamics and taste, but always enhances the arrangement with enough spice to keep things interesting – a fact proved on every song he plays with Porcupine Tree, a band that blends the introspection of Radiohead or Coldplay with heavier progressive influences of Tool or A Perfect Circle. The following excerpts come from the band’s latest release Deadwing, an excellent recording with the drums up front in the mix. Harrison gave us lots of stellar drumming moments to enjoy. Let’s dig in.

"Halo"

In this song, Harrison starts with another cool funk groove that makes great use of dynamics and hi-hat openings, and ends with a six-stroke-roll fill. At the chorus, he moves his right hand to his ride cymbal, and uses his left hand to play the open hi-hats. This disk has lots of odd-time sections, and in this song, there’s a part that alternates measures of 9/8 and 8/8, though you can just as easily think of the second measure as 4/4. The second time through the pattern Harrison plays a sparser pattern on a sloshy hi-hat, and adds some double bass ruffs to raise the difficulty level even higher.

"Shallow"

Harrison plays a simple snare pickup into his funky verse groove. This part feels great because of his perfect time, and tasteful use of buzzes, ghost notes, and hi-hat openings. “It’s basically a heavy Bonham kind of groove,” Harrison says. “I like to add in little embellishments in a subtle way just to keep it moving along.” The pre-chorus and chorus have an unusual three-measure phrase length that somehow doesn’t sound that odd. Notice how he plays the cymbal accents in the pre-chorus, and then fills the same pattern with more bass drum notes in the chorus.

"Lazarus"

The first time I heard this cool fill, I replayed it about six times. But until I slowed it down, I could have sworn each bass drum riff started with a rest, and only had three notes in it. At half speed I thought I could make out a softer first note that makes the pattern even more difficult. But after running the transcription past Harrison, we had to reverse course yet again. “It does start with a rest,” he clarified. “There are two kick drum notes and one floor tom note before the snare accents. A difficult one to notate. I think it’s quite unusual to start a fill with a thirty-second-note rest, so probably your mind just sticks one in just to keep from going crazy!”

"She's Moved On"

These two fills lead into two different churuses of this haunting song. File these under absolutely incredible!

"The Start Of Something Beautiful"

After Harrison reviewed all the transcriptions in this article, he did something no other drummer had ever done. He asked us to include one more little snippet of the song “The Start Of Something Beautiful.” Hey, we aim to please, so here’s what he had to say about it: “This song starts in 9/8 and moves into 5/8 for the chorus. I’ve always been interested in odd-time signatures when you can make them groove and have a natural flow. When it works it sounds good and you don’t always realize what the time signature is. When it doesn’t work you end up with a jerky complicated uncomfortable feeling, which I try to avoid.”

Alien Ant Beats

By Mike Cosgrove Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2005 Issue

Mike Cosgrove writes, records, and tours both with Alien Ant Farm and independently. He has studied with various teachers and also gives drum lessons in Southern California. Every morning for breakfast, he enjoys a heaping bowl of Cocoa Pebbles.

Messing With Time

This month’s exercise is based off of a basic sixteenth-note groove with backbeats on 2 and 4. The hi-hat is accenting every third sixteenth, providing a 3-against-4 feel. It starts differently each time, and will take 12 beats to get back to the original 1.

Think of each one of the three bars as A, B, and C. Play them all starting A, B, C; B, C, A; then C, A, B. Also, play each individual line repeating itself: just A, just B, and just C. It will have a weird repeat but you’ll get a different feel.

You can also add bass drum and hi-hat notes on or around the 3-against-4 accent flow. These are just baby steps to more elaborate grooves epitomized by people like Tool’s Danny Carey and many other drummers who like to mess with the time. It’s all about feel, so take your time to let it become natural.

Remember this is just an exercise, so make it your own by jacking it up!

Hardcore Chops

By Matt Byrne Originally Published in DRUM! Magazine's May 2005 Issue

Matt Byrne is the drummer for heavy metal/hardcore band Hatebreed. He resides in Beacon, New York, where he teaches drumming to a handful of students. In his spare time, he is working on his Special Ed./Elementary Ed. Teaching degree. You can email Matt at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

BE A SPONGE

I’m a firm believer in watching and learning from any drummer that you come in contact with. One positive of being in a band that tours so much is that I come in contact with a wealth of drummers, all of whom have their own style, technique, and overall approach to playing the instrument. It’s great to sit down and talk shop with any one of them, because I’ve found that as solid as you may think you are as a player, there is always someone else out there with something to show you.

Recently I hung out with my buddy, Mark Messina, who is the drum tech for Chevelle and Drowning Pool, and is a hell of a drummer in his own right. We were trading off some beats and whatnot, just being typical drum nerds. I showed him this triplet beat that I had been playing around with, and it so happened that he had his own version of it. We both decided that people would have fun with this.

Pick a solid, comfortable tempo to work with. The ghost notes are very important when playing the straight beat on the snare. They create that “shuffle” feel. When playing the second version of the beat, don’t play off only one tom. Try to move around the entire kit, hi-hat and ride cymbal included. This will make for an array of sounds in the beat and will help your independence around the drum set. Enjoy!

Ginger Zyskowski: Sure Sight-Reading

Ginger Zyskowski has performed with Ella Fitzgerald, Rich Little, Jack Benny, the Mills Brothers, Milt Jackson, and played percussion for the National Touring Company of Jesus Christ Superstar - 25th anniversary tour. She also owns the Professional Drum School in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Drummers do it in All Directions

Sight-reading is important to all musicians, and a plan for including sight-reading in your practice time is essential. Often, sight-reading is overlooked in the practice studio because it can seem tedious and boring. Here is a system to make sight-reading more fun and that can be used by any musician.

This system is what I call ‘drummers do it in all directions!’ It works best with music measures lined up evenly on the page, such as beginning snare exercises or basic rhythm patterns. Some books that can be used along with this system are The New Breed by Gary Chester, Syncopation for the Modern Drummer by Ted Reed, and Understanding Rhythm by Michael Lauren.

To apply this system, read your music in the following directions:

  1. Left to right, the standard reading method.
  2. Up and down, start at top left measure; read down to bottom by column measure; go right to next column measure and read up to the top in a column. Continue this pattern to the end of the page.
  3. Z pattern, start at top left measure and read to end of first line; go down to the next line and read backward from right to left. Continue in this “z” pattern to end of page.
  4. Hand-to-hand, start at top left measure; read the first line with right hand only; read the second line with left hand only. Continue alternating hands on each line of music.
  5. Zigzag, start line one-measure one; line two-measure two; line three-measure three; line four-measure four; and continue to end of line and go backwards down the page.
  6. Backwards, start at bottom right measure and read from right to left including reading the rhythms backwards.
  7. Two-pagers, open out two pages of music and read line one across both pages, then line two across both pages, and continue to the bottom of page 2.

Sue Hadjopoulos: Latin Rhythm

By Sue Hadjopoulos Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s November 2000 Issue

Sue Hadjopoulos has played with Joe Jackson, Simple Minds, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson and They Might be Giants.

A Study in Rumba: Guaguancó

As a percussionist, I became well known for my fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms with pop and rock music on Joe Jackson’s classic 1982 CD, Night & Day. Recently I recorded Joe’s latest CD, Night & Day II. On the new CD I once again combined the traditional guaguancó rhythm with his modern classical rock and pop rhythms, recording the entire Latin rhythm section for the songs, “Helluva Town” and “Happyland.”

Guaguancó is probably the most visible of the three styles of rumba: yambú, guaguancó and Columbia. Because guaguancó has a very complex polyrhythmic structure and myriad variations and subtleties, it is understandably difficult to notate. The fusion of the African and Cuban cultures with their accompanying religions, resulted in complex rhythms that were passed down through oral tradition. It was only until recently that there were even transcriptions available, as these rhythms were learned “from the streets,” not at any school. Add to that a wide variety of forms and interpretations of rumba coming from different geographical locations (such as Havana or Matanzas style), and you can see why a simple two-measure transcription cannot begin to do the rhythm justice. The fact of the matter is that rumba and guaguancó are not static forms, but constantly evolving rhythms with new modern mutations coming out of Cuba all the time.

I decided to notate this traditional guaguancó for a rhythm section where there are three individual conga players. However, in modern Latin and pop music, the segundo and tumba conga parts are combined and played by one player with two or three drums. The quinto or high conga improvises throughout the guaguancó according to the structure of the song as a call and response, and in traditional guaguancó, also plays off of a dancer’s movements. On Joe’s CD I played the quinto parts on the bongo.

The Segundo (second or middle conga) plays a rhythm called “tres golpes” (three hits). The characteristic sound of guaguancó comes from the segundo open tones which are played on the two-side of the clave (second measure). This is considered the correct way to play guaguancó. However, you may find some Latin records from the early 1950s or before, with the segundo pattern reversed, with the open tones being played on the three-side of the clave. No one I’ve spoken to seems to know why or when the rhythm changed for good. On Joe Jackson’s song, “Target” from Night & Day, I played the guaguancó beginning on the three-side.

Rumba clave or Afro-Cuban clave (3-2) is a two measure rhythmic pattern beginning on the three-side and differs from son clave (3-2) by having an anticipation on the and of 4. What I have called the cascara rhythm (when it is played on the shells of the timbales) is traditionally played with sticks (“palitos” or “pailas”), on a piece of bamboo or a woodblock. Bombo means bass drum and refers to a “kick” drum accent. I did not play the shekere or the bombo on Joe’s CD but felt it should be included in the transcription as integral parts of traditional Guaguancó.

Transcription by Rosa Soy

10 Ways To Sound Like Stewart Copeland

By John Natelli Published April 15, 2010

The time and place that saw Stewart Copeland’s emergence was in the midst of an artistic cleansing. Punk had its grip on London and was attempting to exorcise rock and roll of an increasing tendency toward artistic self-indulgence. Ever more complex musical forms and extended soloing were beginning to distance much of rock’s original demographic from the music, and audiences were finding it harder and harder to relate to the often-excessive lifestyles and eccentric behavior of its practitioners.

Copeland had recently parted ways with the progressive outfit Curved Air and began to see promise in the burgeoning punk scene. By early 1977 he was rehearsing with his newly formed group, The Police, who were about to quickly outgrow the stylistic constraints of the very scene that had just given birth to them.

It’s fair to say that by the end of that decade Copeland had developed a sound so fiercely distinct that his playing had become as recognizable as John Bonham’s had been ten years earlier. Of course, the music industry was a much different place then; the possibility of an artistic innovator being a contributing member of the undisputedly biggest band in the world still existed. Yet, it seems that Copeland’s impact would have been just as strong and immediate regardless of the era in which he’d emerged.

1. FIND YOUR INSTRUMENT AND STICK WITH IT

To some extent, every great player’s ability to develop and maintain his or her own sound depends partly on a meticulous choice of gear. While some choose to keep a large arsenal of items in rotation, others develop one highly specialized setup that works to emphasize their natural abilities. Copeland, claiming to have used the same exact snare drum on all five of the Police’s studio albums, is an example of the latter. That legendary drum, “of unknown provenance” as Copeland has claimed, having been exactly reproduced by the metallurgists at Tama as a 14" x 5" chrome-over-brass with a 1.5mm-thick shell, accompanied more or less the same Tama Imperialstar and Paiste outfit for the better part of the drummer’s recorded legacy. Copeland, Tama’s longest-standing endorser, evidently found exactly what he was looking for in the company’s product early on in his career: extreme durability and just the right tone for his musical voice. So while the production techniques may differ from one Police record to the next – from Zenyatta Mondatta’s dry, close-miked sound, to the ultra-crisp punchiness of Synchronicity – the gear remains largely the same.

2. ABSORB YOUR SURROUNDINGS

Not everybody is lucky enough to have grown up in places like Egypt and Lebanon with the exotic rhythms of the Middle East slowly making an irreversible imprint on their subconscious. Copeland’s musical instincts, partially as a result of having spent his formative years in Beirut, were culled from a variety of sources as disparate as American pop, traditional Lebanese music, and big band. But it was reggae more than anything else that, for Copeland, united rock and roll with the drop rhythms and missing beats of the Arabic grooves he had heard as a child. By the time punk exploded in London in 1977, Copeland happened to be in the right place at the right time, and immediately found an outlet for his fierce intensity as a player.

3. BLAZE YOUR OWN TRAILS

Far and away, Copeland has been one of the most successful pop musicians at internalizing his influences and tastefully reflecting them in his own work. It’s clear to all fans of The Police that reggae and its related styles, as well as jazz, had a profound impact on his approach to the instrument. The uniqueness of his story is that, while much of what Copeland plays may be informed in some way or another by these styles, it rarely sounds as if he’s actually playing either. He manages to come away from his influences with specific technical and musical aspects that appeal to him, while leaving some of the more identifiable characteristics of those styles behind. As a result, this method of picking and choosing has only worked to strengthen Copeland’s own personal style into something completely original and inimitable. What we wind up with is a body of work that constantly challenges our notions of what rock music could be by having absolutely no regard for boundaries whatsoever. The Police’s music of embodies this sense of fearlessness right from the very beginning with the band’s earliest hit, “Roxanne” – rock’s first tango.

4. EMBRACE THE SMALLER THINGS

At a time when record engineers were trying their hardest to make drums sound as huge as possible and people were attempting to use 14" and 16" floor toms as their rack toms, Copeland was headed in the exact opposite direction. Instead, he looked to achieve volume and projection with smaller, tightly tensioned drums and higher-pitched, quicker-speaking cymbals. Among other things, he was able to do this with his 13" hi-hats and the help of Tama’s innovative 1978 creation: Octobans, a set of eight (octo) 6"-diameter, single-headed drums distinguished by long, tube-like shells of varying lengths, which determined the pitch of each drum. Copeland made profuse use of, and did much to popularize, these and other similarly new products debuting at the time, such as the splash cymbal. Inspired by a mini toy cymbal he had acquired, Copeland even helped encourage Paiste to develop its first version of a modern splash (one that could withstand the abuse he was known to inflict upon his unlucky gear). Zenyatta Mondatta’s “Driven To Tears” features prominent use of both splash and Octoban.

5. DISCOVER YOUR VOICE AND BUILD A VOCABULARY

In many Police recordings the hi-hat seems to be the main percussive voice through which Copeland is able to sing his rhythms – perhaps even the centerpiece of his kit. A number of his most popular performances were anchored by hi-hat parts that have so much character they seem to be a member of the group. What’s more, the 13" hi-hats Copeland chose to record with were a particularly special ingredient in the music, speaking in a clear, high voice with lots of attack, and always cutting right through the mix. Not only did they have their own unique sound, but they also allowed him to articulate certain figures in a way in which other hi-hats might not have been as well suited (another example of Copeland’s excellent choice in gear that works to emphasize his playing style and natural abilities). As in speech, when people tend to favor certain words and phrases over others, these figures can be thought of as rhythmic words in Copeland’s musical vocabulary. More than any other “word,” Copeland really likes to say the one in Ex. 1 (notated along with its inversion). It can also be seen in the second full bar of Ex. 2b, and famously introduces the hit “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.” Much of his legendary hi-hat work relies heavily upon this figure and its various displacements.

6. ACQUIRE AN ACCENT

It’s no secret that Copeland has a certain fondness for decorating a groove in all manner of accents. Sometimes they contribute to a very specific pattern, or “part,” as in the case of the chorus groove in “Don’t Stand So Close To Me,” where the ride bell provides a paradiddle-inspired hook (Ex. 2a). In many other instances, though, these accents are distributed throughout phrases rather spontaneously, adding to the often impulsive, off-the-cuff feeling that a Copeland performance can create. This tends to have the added effect of blurring the lines between groove and fill. Take a look at the passage that opens “Demolition Man,” where Copeland intersperses tricky hi-hat work with random accents on the bell of a crash (Ex. 2b). Also notice the sheer variety of ideas happening in the span of those four bars; at first glance each measure seems as if it could belong to its own song. When others attempt this type of playing on a pop recording, they run the risk of coming off as too busy, even distracting. In Copeland’s case, though, this type of unrestrained musical expressiveness sounds as natural and honest as a simple backbeat.

7. GET OVER ONE

This could be the single most defining element of Copeland’s rhythmic sensibilities: The man never fails to take the listener off guard with his unforgiving treatment of beat 1 of the first measure of any given phrase. While the rest of us, in all likelihood, are choosing to end every phrase with the same tired fill followed by a bass/crash on the first beat of the next, Copeland instead goes right into beat 1 with a tasty hi-hat flourish, or perhaps an accented hi-tom, or perhaps he plays right up to the edge of beat 1 with something more intense, and then leaves us suspended with a big, gaping hole where we would expect that huge downbeat accent we’re so used to hearing. Oftentimes, he chooses to shift the dynamic climax of a fill to the & of 4, leaving 1 blank before he kicks back in with the groove. Once you become comfortable with this concept, you will find that you have discovered one of the major keys to Copeland’s approach to rhythm in general. In fact, his playing is so colored with this technique that you could arguably find an example of it in almost every recorded Police song. Ex. 3a, 3b, and 3c illustrate some very memorable instances of this.

8. IMPLY OTHER METERS

The good thing about the existence of time signatures is that they provide endless opportunities to color outside the lines. In other words, like rules, it seems the only real purpose they serve is to be broken. Copeland favors what are known as “three-over-two” and “three-over-four” polyrhythms. The three-over-two – sometimes referred to as a “hemiola” – works by taking a passage with a 6/8 two-feel and superimposing a three-feel on top of it by implying 3/4 (or vice versa). The groove that introduces the superb “Murder By Numbers” does exactly that (Ex. 4a), albeit in 12/8 (so we would need to cut the measures in half before attempting to examine it). In the span of half of one of those 12/8 bars, the right hand and bass drum play a strong two-feel, or dotted quarter pulse, yet the rim-click pattern in the left hand clearly outlines triple meter with a quarter-note pulse. Brilliantly arranged, these roles are shuffled around in the chorus, where the bass drum picks up the three-feel against the two-feel now in the hands. Ex. 4b shows two measures of this rearrangement plus another example of the three-over-two polyrhythm, this time in the context of a fill as opposed to a groove. The three-over-four polyrhythm on the other hand creates a whole different effect by accenting every third eighth-note in a 4/4 passage. This technique is most effectively used when extended over the span of a couple of bars, as in Ex. 4c, where Copeland does this with a crash cymbal at the end of a phrase. He purposefully puts the first crash/accent on the & of 1, knowing that two bars later he’ll be able to conveniently end the polyrhythm on the downbeat of 1 of the new phrase.

9. LIBERATE YOUR RIGHT FOOT

Of all his drummerly attributes, Copeland’s right foot may be the least discussed. While his bass drum playing does not necessarily define his sound, there are, as expected, some definite Copelandisms to consider. Ex. 5, from the chorus of “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” reveals a couple of interesting things. To begin with, Copeland’s right foot tends to assert strong independence from his right hand, especially during groove material. Notice how the ride cymbal accents sit right up in counterpoint against the bass/snare pattern. Explore this passage more in depth by slowing down the tempo and isolating the ride part. Then do the same thing with the bass/snare pattern (paying close attention to the bass drum’s accents and ghost notes). You’ll discover that the two parts share little in common but create a nice obstinate effect when put back together. Another characteristic here – and this may or may not be conscious for Copeland – is that he frequently plays his right foot at three distinct dynamic levels within any given phrase: soft, normal, and loud (notated as ghost, standard, and accented notes). While this isn’t the most glamorous point of analysis, with a little focus it has the ability to enhance the sophistication of anyone’s feel in a much more subtle way than, say, adding more notes.

10. TAKE CLICHÉS AND TURN THEM ON THEIR HEAD

Sometimes musicians will inadvertently reveal a sense of humor through their playing. One can sense that, when seated behind a drum set, Copeland’s famously dry wit is never too far away. Among his more clever pastimes is to take some of the staples of rock drumming – the basic backbeat, the descending tom fill, and so on – and play them all wrong. What else could be the motivation behind the inside-out grooving of “Reggatta De Blanc” (Ex. 6a), where Copeland plays a typical half-time feel no less than a full beat behind the rest of the band? I’m sure we all remember hearing “Reggatta De Blanc” for the first time and scratching our heads at this simple rhythmic illusion, not to mention the thoroughly disorienting rim-click fiasco that opens the track (even with Copeland counting us off). Other tomfoolery can be seen in places like the transition out of every chorus in “Wrapped Around Your Finger” (Ex. 6b). As if in reverse, this fill begins at the lowest point in the kit and ends at the very top with a splash and moves into beat 1 with a hissing open hi-hat.

DRUM! Notation Guide


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