Here’s something I’ve been working with, similar to the patterns in these alternative versions of Three Camps. They’re easy to play fast, and so are good for blazing, double-timey playing. These can be played on […]
Category: downloads
Transcription: Max Roach comping
Part 3 of a little mini series, looking at some comping examples by Tony Williams, Mickey Roker, and now Max Roach. This is Max’s playing during Clifford Brown’s solo on Flossie Lou, from Clifford Brown & […]
Transcription: Mickey Roker comping
Mickey Roker’s accompaniment of Dizzy Gillespie’s solo— the first three choruses anyway— on Birk’s Works, from Gillespie’s album Big 4. Roker has a deep groove I associate with musicians who have played a lot of […]
Stick control patterns for jazz
Because some novice jazz students get hung up on the idea of left hand “independence”, here is a little set of exercises for helping coordination between the hands when playing jazz time. We’re using some […]
Tony Williams phrase endings
Some things Tony Williams plays at phrase endings on Moose The Mooche, from the Great Jazz Trio at The Village Vanguard. There’s a lot more to learn from Tony’s playing on this tune, but who […]
3+3+2
I’m really not happy with the quality of the available beginner/younger student drum set materials. For the most part they’re terribly designed. They’re either extremely dull, or they demand too much, or they’re just dumb— […]
Chaffee jazz patterns in a 4:3 feel
Playing the jazz patterns from Gary Chaffee’s time functioning volume as 16th notes in a 4:3 feel. I feel like kind of a horse’s ass writing this— it’s all already in the book. But there […]
EZ Hemiola Funk beats with RLB
Just an easy page of hemiola funk-type beats including the RLB pattern as a fill, that I wrote for my students, who have been having a lot of fun with this series. Write in the […]
NOW AVAILABLE: 2019 Book of the Blog
OK, the 2019 CRUISE SHIP DRUMMER! Book of the Blog is now available for purchase. This handsome 131 page volume includes all of the downloadable materials, transcriptions, and practice methods posted on the site in 2019. […]
Hemiola funk series: easy grooves in 4/4
A page of easy beats based on the hemiola funk thing, that I wrote for my students. I’m trying to stay close to the original basic licks, while changing them slightly to fit them into […]