Purely exploring an idea that occurred to me during a lesson— this has nothing to do with anything. Except I’m writing a new book about developing the Afro 6 groove, so I’m thinking about the […]
Category: rhythm
Chaffee linear phrases in other rhythms/meters
In the comments of the recent Chaffee linear phrases in 4/4 post, someone asked about other rhythm possibilities for the same phrases. The phrases there were ten notes long, so basically any rhythm and meter […]
Dodge Drum Chart
An interesting item: the Dodge Drum Chart, by Frank Dodge, edited and published by George Lawrence Stone. It was advertised on the back cover of my first copy of Stick Control, so it’s one of […]
Syncopation rhythms – dotted quarter note spacing
A page of practice rhythms, with dotted quarter note spaced notes, and no more than two notes in a row with an 8th note spacing. Most of these are already scattered all over the book […]
What time signature it’s “really” in
A little sidebar on the subject of time signatures, everyone’s favorite topic to be confused about. We’re resolving a lot of little outstanding issues here lately. Time signatures (I prefer the word meter) are a little […]
Very occasional quote of the day: the hands are like monsters
From the late Barry Harris: “Are the hands doing something they’re used to doing, or is the mind leading the hands? Because the hands are like monsters— and they have a separate entity— and they […]
Gaps in our counting system
In the comments on that extremely valuable izquierdadiddles post, a friend of the site from the Czech Republic remarked on stickings in his native language, and on the American system for counting 16th notes: [We] Czech drummers […]
Very occasional quote of the day: ectopic pulse
Film editor Walter Murch talks about Richard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, conducted by George Solti, used in the famous “Charlie’s Point” scene in Apocalypse Now. Late in post-production Decca denied the filmmakers the right […]
Counting the grid
It’s a *mechanical* tool, from way back. I had a conversation with a student about counting subdivisions when you practice— “the grid.” It’s a common thing to do, that I don’t recommend— not all the […]