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Jazz Drummer's Workshop - Rhythmic Conversions
For this lesson we’ll be focusing on the converted triplet material from Part 1 of this series, which ran in the May, 2016 issue of MD. Specifically, we’ll be using the half-note-triplet accent within each rhythmic conversion as a device…
Medeski, Martin and Wood’s Billy Martin
We recently visited MMW co-founder Billy Martin at his home studio, which is a custom-built shed on the drummer’s New Jersey property that he uses to teach, compose, practice, and conduct workshops. The simple, beautiful, four-piece drumkit that lives in…
Drum Soloist - Terry Bozzio
Fills A through D were taken from Frank Zappa Live In New York. The song is
Hi-Hat Splashes - Spicing Up Your Backbeats
The hi-hat foot splash is an under-used voice, especially among younger players. Performing the splash requires getting the ball of the foot and much of the leg involved in the motion. Legendary players like Steve Gadd and Steve Smith are…
Groove Construction - Part 13: Left-Handed Split Grooves
In this workshop we’re expanding a groove concept that I introduced in the January 2017 issue, in which we split the right hand between two voices in various places throughout a phrase. This time we’ll focus on grooves that split…
1,000 Ways to Practice a Single Page - Part 4: Orchestrated Flams on the Drumset
Last month we learned how to interpret a single page of rhythms using flams. In this lesson we’ll apply this concept to the drumset. We’ll practice a few common ways to orchestrate flams on the kit before diving into some…
Playing Melodically - Part 1: “Billie’s Bounce”
In this new series I hope to present my thoughts and pass along some experience and insights on playing jazz. These lessons will largely deal with the symbiotic relationship between playing what the mind hears versus what the hands and…
Septuplet Permutations - Diving Deep Into an Odd Subdivision
I find that the best way to become proficient with a new subdivision is to isolate each partial within the grouping and then combine the partial with all of the other available notes in the subdivision. Using triplets as an…
Hone Your Human GPS - Setting Goals, Defining Problems, and Devising Solutions
I’ve researched how people define GPS as it relates to the human condition, and I think best-selling author Jim Samuels’ philosophy is the simplest and most effective take. Samuels’ formula involves goals, problems, and solutions. We set goals and then…
Jazz Drummer's Workshop - The Music of the Drums - Part 3
This article will cover two related ideas: How to make the study of drum method books musically more useful, and some technical exercises that can he used to aid this development.
Hybrid Setups: Pros? Cons?
In recent years, electronic/acoustic hybrid setups have seen a relatively rapid rise in popularity. And it's easy to see why, considering the dominance of produced sounds and tones in modern popular music and the need to reproduce those sounds live.…
Steve Smith: Journeyman
Although Journey has been around for eight years, tremendous public acclaim has come for the band only recently, particularly gaining momentum within the last three years of existence.
Rock Perspectives - Concept for Two Drum Sets
The year following my high school graduation, one of the big favorites was James Brown and the Famous Flames. At least once a year he came to the San Francisco Bay Area and played all the big auditoriums.
Jazz Drummers Workshop - The Music of the Drums, Pt. 2
Today's music has developed to the degree that anything conceived can be used if it's done musically. The basic drum has changed considerably since the days of the stamped pit and the slit log drums of Africa.
