Here we’re essentially doing straight 8th notes against a broken triplet-feel cymbal rhythm, in a triplet-feel context. For me this is mainly for playing straight 8ths in an Afro 6/8— which I already covered back […]
Category: exercises
A quick and easy jazz solo lesson
UPDATE: Download link works now! This is an easy, non-technical method for learning jazz solos/breaks/trading, which I devised in lessons with an older Skype student. It involves a few basic patterns, and several easy practice […]
Page o’ coordination: Olé – 01
A Portland jazz educator asked me about what Elvin Jones was doing on the tune Olé, by John Coltrane, so I wrote this up. He plays a few different major patterns, and this might be […]
Long rolls, Reed format
A supplemental Reed item— this is about the level of thing I’m capable of right now. Not written out of any pressing need, hahaha, except this is a basic thing it’s not easy for intermediate […]
Accented singles with rumba clave
I was playing along with a loop sampled from the track below, and wanted to have this page to work with. We’re doing accented accented singles— with a three note and five note spacing— along […]
From the zone: cycling patterns
Since I am completely blocked for writing anything other than profane tweets right now, here are a couple of things from the practice room of our friend in Berlin, Michael Griener. It’s a very elegant […]
Velocity patterns in 3/4
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]