Here’s a basic method for doing a generic, Afro-Cuban-derived Latin feel using the book Syncopation. We’ll be taking rhythmic patterns out of Reed, and using them as our bell pattern, playing them with the right […]
Category: Todd’s Methods
Reed interpretation: fast within slow — alternative sticking
Here’s another set of stickings for that last “fast within slow” Reed interpretation. The major thing we’ll be using is the sixtuplet form of the six stroke roll— or the “Swiss” sixtuplet, as I sometimes […]
What’s going on: my recording of Ornette Coleman’s Mothers of the Veil
While I was traveling recently, I got a note from a reader who had very kindly purchased my CD Little Played Little Bird, the music of Ornette Coleman, asking for some analysis and explanation of […]
Reed interpretation: fast within slow
Our philosophy around here is to never stray too far from Reed without good reason— I have to relearn that every few years. So here’s a thing for beginning to develop the Jack Dejohnette-style “fast within […]
Todd’s tom tom thing — part 1
This is something that has come up organically in my own playing, which I’ve been trying to get a handle on more systematically— we saw a little bit of this before with my “quasi-African” tom […]
Todd’s methods: Reed with RB and BR
Playing Latin styles, you end up using a lot of sticking combinations of RB and BR— B meaning both hands together— so here’s a basic way of using Ted Reed’s Syncopation to work on that. […]
Doubling up a ballad feel with Syncopation
Happy new year, everybody. I’m practicing a lot of slow tempos lately, so here are some Reed interpretations that will be familiar to all jazz students, written out to suggest double time during a ballad. […]
Todd’s 11-note pattern: some examples in 4/4
One of the earlier things we did was a pretty exhaustive, four-page write up of an 11-note pattern which has for some time been coming up spontaneously in my playing. I’ve been working on it […]
Kerrigan syncopation exercise in 6/8
I guess there’s no getting around it: we’re all about the 6/8 these days— there’s a whole bunch more of this on deck. This is a Chuck Kerrigan syncopation exercise, from his very useful Syncopated […]
Exercises for developing a common Reed interpretation
Following up on the Key to right hand accented triplets post, here is a set of exercises for getting my recommended stickings together: Get the pdf