I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’ve developed quite a robust collection of funk methods here, using Ted Reed’s Syncopation. If you learned them all you should have some real creativity going by now. So here’s […]
Category: syncopation
EZ “harmonic” independence
Fairly EZ. EZ compared to the thing it’s based on. This is something that came out of practicing the harmonic independence section of 4-Way Coordination by Dahlgren & Fine. Looking at that book makes you […]
The hard way
Lately I’ve been noticing a lot of talk about doing things the hardest way possible— among drumming students there’s a great fear of “crutches” and “cheating.” The path of least resistance offends people’s protestant work […]
Todd’s funk drill
I’m pretty sure I’ve posted this somewhere on the site, but maybe I didn’t share it as a finished drill. This is a reasonably easy thing for getting your reading, bass drum chops, effective use […]
EZ linear solo method
Ever find yourself playing too much bass drum? It’s easy to do when, like me, you practice out of Syncopation a lot. And a thing I’ve noticed in doing so many transcriptions is how sparsely many […]
EZ Tony-like method: two variations
We’re calling this “Tony Williams-like” on the thinnest possible pretext, of course— playing it, it reminded me of some things he did on Frelon Brun, is all. These are two even easier things you can […]
Sonny Clark comping
Something a little different: transcribed piano comping rhythms. Played by Sonny Clark on Funky Hotel Blues, a bonus track on the CD release of Sonny Rollins’s The Sound of Sonny. I’ve written out the first […]
EZ bass drum workout and double bass developer
Have I not posted this before? This is a variation on my cut time funk method, strictly designed as a bass drum workout. It also makes an excellent double-bass single strokes developer. This should be […]
Reed method: fast rock – advanced
I hope you— students and teachers— are using my Reed method for playing rock beats. I think it’s one of the better things I’ve come up with— it’s just a more musical way of learning […]
EZ Reed interpretation: another triplet lick
I like these Reed interpretations using the early part of the book. You can just play through fifteen lines of exercises, plus a 16-20 bar exercise, and be done with it. FINITE ASSIGNMENTS, people. Not […]