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 playing jazz. This article is a follow-up designed to fill any gaps of information in the first part and to fine-tune the techniques set forth previously. ADVANTAGES OF THE CIRCULAR RIDE MOTION When you use a circular ride motion, as illustrated in the artwork here, there’s limited up-and-down motion. When you play the ride in just one spot, the stick must come up and down as many as four times. With the circular motion, the stick comes downward once, moves across the cymbal laterally, and then comes up on beats 1 and 3. This makes for a smoother sound, and it allows you to play faster tempos because of the […]

August 2012 Issue