Jazz Drummers Workshop
Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
Jazz Coordination Studies
Jazz-oriented independent coordination is basically the ability to play any rhythmic idea with your left hand and/or right foot, without ever breaking the time flow being played by the right hand on the ride cymbal. Below are some exercises designed…
Action Figures
Approaches for Big Band Rhythmic Articulation This month we’ll explore ways of approaching and articulating ensemble rhythms. As drummers, we obviously can’t perform note lengths with the same exactness as a horn player. We can, however, use the many long…
Improve Your Bottom Line Part 3: Bass Drum Comping in 5/4
Welcome to the third and final installment in this series on bass drum comping. This time we’ll be working in 5/4. The phrases included here are intended to help you develop dynamic balance with your bass drum foot in unison…
Improve Your Bottom Line — Part 2: Bass Drum Comping in 3/4
Continuing with the concept introduced in the last issue, this article explores bass drum comping ideas in 3/4. The phrases included here are intended to help you develop dynamic balance with your right foot in conjunction with your three remaining…
Improve Your Bottom Line Part 1: Bass Drum Comping in 4/4
Drummers depend on the bass drum to help drive the band and provide depth to their time feel. Throughout the 1920s and ’30s, the bass drum was the “solid four” timekeeper of the rhythm section. Many modern jazz drummers use…
Make It Swing! Part 2: Coordination and Consistency
Part one of my “Make It Swing!” series, which ran in the December 2011 issue, contained excerpts from my book Jazz Drumming Essentials and More. That article was an overview of techniques used to develop a strong swing feel when…
Swingin’ the Clave
Advanced Exercises for Developing Independence In jazz, the ride cymbal is the focal point for creating a flowing, swinging time feel. In Afro-Cuban music, the clave assumes this role. Essentially, clave is to Afro-Cuban music what the ride cymbal beat…
Get Up! Strategies for Playing Fast and Staying Relaxed
It’s widely understood that the faster the tempo, the more relaxed your body needs to be. In some cases, however, players psych themselves out when playing fast, which in turn affects their confidence in the ability to compose beat and…
Focus on the Hi-Hat The Classic Swing Sound
Before small groups reigned supreme and the ride cymbal became king, the beacon in jazz timekeeping was the hi-hat. Jo Jones with Count Basie and Ray McKinley with Glenn Miller were masters of the hi-hat. Both players could swing an…
All Together Now! Focus on Unison Exercises
Practicing unison exercises is an excellent way to determine the accuracy and precision of your four limbs as they function together. Like links in a steel chain, the sturdiness of your groove depends on the strength of your weakest limb.…
Syncopation Revisited Part 5: Afro-Cuban Applications
Welcome to part five in our continuing series on ways to interpret the classic Ted Reed book Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer. This time we’ll apply Afro-Cuban ideas to the written manuscript. The following applications can be…
Syncopation Revisited Part 4: Brazilian Applications
We continue our series on ways to interpret the classic Ted Reed book Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer by applying Brazilian rhythms and phrasing ideas to the written manuscript. The following applications can be used with any…
Syncopation Revisited Part 3: 5/4 Applications
We continue this month with more ways to interpret Ted Reed’s classic book Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer. This time we’ll be converting the written manuscript from its original 4/4 form to 5/4 time. The following applications…
Syncopation Revisited Part 2: 3/4 Applications
We continue this month with more of my favorite ways of interpreting the classic Ted Reed book Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer. This time we explore ways of converting the written manuscript from its original form to…
