From my torn-up original 1982 copy of Syncopation, still in use:
Category: syncopation
Todd’s methods: bongo beat
Here’s an easy system I developed for playing a generic Latin feel very bright tempos: A few notes there weren’t room for on the pdf: – Can be played very fast and very light. – […]
Source tunes for Chapin
Thanks to my man Ed Pierce and the Sep. 1994 issue of Modern Drummer, here (well, after the break) are the source tunes for the long exercises in Jim Chapin’s Advanced Techniques. As you’ll see, […]
Syncopation exercise – Solar
No big woop here, I just happened to need a fairly sparse syncopation exercise, so I wrote this up quickly, and I thought I’d share it. It’s based on the tune Solar, by Miles Davis. […]
16th note fills using Syncopation – part 2
Here’s part 2 of my method for practicing 16th note fills using Syncopation. The goal is to practice reading interpretively, and also to give you a framework for working on the timing of your fills […]
The DNA of swing drumming
I picked up this interesting book- Charley Wilcoxon’s Drum Method– as one of my local sheet music stores was going out of business. I’d been working with Wilcoxon’s more advanced Rudimental Swing Solos, but this […]
Two simple rock applications
You’ve probably noticed by now that I do a lot with Ted Reed’s Syncopation? Here are two more methods which I have developed (along with my Rock beats with Syncopation piece) to introduce my intermediate […]
Basic big band set-ups
Another in the recent series of easy stuff, here is a page of basic set-ups for ensemble kicks on the & of 4. You can apply these to my earlier piece, Kicks and Set-ups Using […]
Todd’s Methods, pt. 3: Rock beats with Syncopation
Most drum books present their stuff fully written out verbatim for the drum set, which is fine for learning patterns, but not for thinking like a musician. This is something I made up to introduce […]
Todd’s Methods, Pt. 2: triplet partials in Syncopation
The second in a series of quick, sketchily-outlined demonstrations of my practice methods. Here I give a couple of my variations on common ways of using Ted Reed’s Syncopation. If you’ve worked with that book […]