This is an item for teachers, I suppose. It’s good to have more than one way of teaching things. There’s no reason for a student to have to struggle with something just because your preferred […]
Category: Reed interpretations
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 […]
Four on the floor drill – 01
This is a little lightweight thing that came out of practicing along with that recent Fela Kuti loop. I was playing four on the floor in a half time feel, with some variations on the […]
Progressive Steps to Syncopation – an itemized critique
I spend so much time talking about how great Ted Reed’s Progressive Steps to Syncopation (commonly known as “Syncopation”) is, and how you can do everything with it— and should— and how it’s the only book you […]
Heavy funk drill
Going from Ndugu-actual to Ndugu-esque. This is a 70s style funk drill that dovetails nicely with some other things we’ve been doing lately— see the other links in that linked post. I think jazz drummers […]
Syncopation exercise in 3/4: quarter / dotted-quarter spacing
Another Ted Reed-style syncopation exercise, designed for a special purpose. This one is in 3/4, with all notes spaced two or three 8th notes apart— quarter notes or dotted quarter notes, or their equivalents with […]
Rock unisons drill
I’m very big on drills with the hands in unison these days. It strengthens the left hand, and is excellent training for playing singles solidly, in time, without rushing. This is a very basic rock drill […]
Rhythms for Reed samba method
A special selection of syncopation rhythms for use with this multi-post samba method in progress (the main post is still to come), but obviously you can do other things with it. It would be good for […]
Reed samba method – basic exercise
This is the first in a multi-post series outlining some ways of using Progressive Steps to Syncopation to do a samba. I usually use actual Brazilian rhythms for that, but many of the rhythms in […]
Syncopation exercise: singles, doubles – 2-3 8th intervals
Another original syncopation exercise. The last one had single notes, spaced one or two 8th notes apart. This one has one or two notes in a row, one or two 8ths apart. Both are really […]