UPDATE: Text updated after I stupidly (but defensibly!) misidentified the drummer as Ndugu Leon Chancler. When you print out the pdf, scratch out Ndugu’s name and put James Gadson. Here’s something great from James Gadson, […]
Category: downloads
A different kind of march
Playing a traditional/military-style march is something we have to do occasionally as drummers, so we may as well learn a few different ways of doing it. This is a hip, interesting take on the concept […]
11 Buddy intros
This is pretty interesting: Buddy Rich playing a drum intro on eleven takes of the same tune: Leap Frog, released on The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve box set. This is an actually an excerpt […]
Transcription: Barry Altschul – Jitterbug Waltz
Here’s a drum solo in 3/4 by Barry Altschul, on a modern arrangement of Fats Waller’s Jitterbug Waltz, from Altschul’s album Irina— a pretty obscure (to me) record you can now download off Amazon. The […]
Single stroke 5s – 32nd notes
A set of exercises I improvised on my leg at the start of a rehearsal yesterday— and this would actually be good as part of a warmup. These are 5 stroke rolls in single strokes, in […]
Stairway to Heaven figure
This is something I did for a student who was looking for some help playing Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. On the out chorus— or whatever you want to call it; the song is […]
Page o’ coordination: 2SB-2BS
Another entry using this slightly different conception of my page o’ coordination series— adding various cymbal rhythms to a repeating snare-and-bass coordination pattern. The cymbal rhythms are good for jazz, R&B, Afro-Cuban, or just general […]
Page o’ coordination: linear pattern for Latin soloing
The 5+3 note phrase is one of the easiest and most useful of Gary Chaffee’s basic linear phrases. If you start phrase on the a of 2, the bass drum part makes a Latin tumbao […]
Page o’ coordination: SBSB – 01
This is an emerging twist on our old Page o’ coordination formula: practicing various cymbal rhythms along with a repeating SD/BD coordination pattern. I’ve found that this opens up some creative possibilities; I’m a very […]
Free Steve Gadd book
Here’s an excellent free book on Steve Gadd by Danish drummer Hans Fagt. Originally released in 1985, it contains the key bits— mainly grooves and solos— from some of his bigger recorded performances, from the […]