Hey, who wants some practice rhythms in 5/4? Here are several pages of them. I’m working on a new book, Syncopation in 5/4— companion to my other book Syncopation in 3/4. There are some formatting decisions […]
Category: exercises
Page o’ coordination: Freddie Waits Afro
UPDATE: A student brought it to my attention that according to Wikipedia, Idris Muhammad is the drummer on this track. Which surprises me, but there you go. A combination groove o’ the day and page […]
Alternating triplets displaced
Developing an independence idea that has been happening spontaneously in my practicing— triplets alternating between the snare drum and bass drum, with odd breaks. Play the foot part with the bass drum or hihat. These […]
Stick control exercises, mixed rhythm in 2/4
A page I’m using with some of my students, to learn to fill, and develop basic facility on the drum set. We’ve been doing a lot with parts of my harmonic coordination method— which is […]
Reed tweak: adding flams to a basic method
This is a small tweak on a common funk practice method for Ted Reed’s Syncopation, adding flams to the method in which the right hand plays the book rhythm on a cymbal, and the left […]
Three voice / three note patterns
The sort of thing you write when you’re under quarantine— a library item strictly for maniacs, in the same ballpark of extremity/uselessness as Gary Chaffee’s jazz patterns, from Patterns vol. 3. In fact that’s exactly […]
Hemiola funk series: S3B
Another variation on the hemiola funk thing, with the main pattern ending with a double on the bass drum— a snare hit + 3 bass hits. I continue to tweak the basic template to cover […]
Double paradiddle inversions for drumset
Following up on my big rudimental tantrum post, here’s a little exploration of double paradiddles— I mentioned that a good friend, and one of the most creative drummers I know, Steve Pancerev, is a fan […]
EZ jazz solo method: alternative triplet stickings
Let’s begin expanding the quick and easy jazz solo lesson from the other day— here are some alternative triplet stickings you can use with it. You’ll recall that it consisted of a “stock” pattern element and a […]