This has been an item of interest for a long time— playing fast in a slow tempo. In a master class Peter Erskine mentioned that Jack Dejohnette was the only drummer he knew who could […]
Category: 12/8
Transcription: Steve Gadd Afro 12/8
Here’s Steve Gadd playing the whole first part of Full Compass, from George Benson’s record Bad Benson— it’s a fully arranged thing, with some drum breaks. It’s an Afro-feel 12/8, modulating to 4/4 at the […]
Embellished filler with RH lead triplets – 01
I’m pretty sure I’ve written something like this before, but navigating my voluminous archives is no easier for me than it is for you. This is a sketch of some ideas in an upcoming[??? -tb] […]
Half time funk shuffle – 01
Here’s a page for my students, working through the basics of a half time funk shuffle groove. It gets mentioned a lot more online than it comes up in real life, but it’s a thing. […]
Reed tweak of a tweak: ending a solo phrase
Here’s a very small but useful tweak of a tweak: remember the Reed system with alternating triplets, hitting the accents on cymbals + bass drum… except we’d leave out the LH cymbal hits? It’s a good […]
Page o’ coordination: Airto’s afro
Page o’ coordination based on Airto’s unique afro 12/8 groove played on the intro of Casa Forte, from Flora Purim’s album Stories To Tell. It’s a good introductory groove for this style— the hands are […]
Counting compound meters
Recently I’ve begun teaching that way of counting 16th notes in compound meters that I mentioned before. It’s going good. I never had a good way of counting those rhythms, so they were always a little mysterious. […]
The paradiddle inversion method, with triplets
Here’s how to fit that late paradiddle inversion system into a triplet or 12/8 environment. For clarity, we’ll base it off the accented triplets pages from Syncopation— pp. 53-58. Advanced students can then figure out […]
Groove o’ the day: Airto Afro 6
An Afro 6* groove played by Airto, on the intro of Casa Forte, on Flora Purim’s 1974 record Stories To Tell. It has some big shot LA musicians on it, including saxophonist Hadley Caliman, who […]