I’m not great at playing superfast tempos. I can sound really good at the magic Roy Haynes tempo (half note = 143, which sounds very cooking to normal people), with diminishing results as we get […]
Category: Todd’s Methods
Reed method: 32nd note linear lick
Another easy little practice method, for playing soloistic stuff, using Progressive Steps to Syncopation, which you can play in conjunction with this other recent item. This one uses a favorite Gary Chaffee linear lick that sounds […]
EZ 32nd note Reed method
Well— cut time 16th notes, which are 32nd notes functionally, if “common time” is our reference point. Perhaps a subject for another occasion. This is a very simple drill for playing fast singles in context as […]
Rock drill
Here’s a rock drumming practice system, that is related to my harmonic coordination improved method, and also this post on developing rock fills. I’ve been using it with students of all ages, and have been […]
Harmonic coordination improved – triplets
Here’s the triplet-based companion for the harmonic coordination improved warm-up. It’s a less miserable and soul-destroying, more musically relatable way of playing exercises of the type found in the harmonic coordination section of Dahlgren & […]
Ruff bossa on the drums
This is something I was working on with a Skype student* recently: ideas for practicing Alan Dawson’s “ruff bossa” method on the drum set. …first, nobody ask why it’s called ruff bossa, because I don’t […]
Tresillo rhythms – EZ rock orchestrations
UPDATE: pdf link works now. I’m doing too many things this week. I’ve been running some students through this, and it sounds good. A more accessible version of my funk control series. Some basic rock […]
Filling a Mozambique
This is something I was working through with a student recently: filling during a Mozambique groove. Latin grooves need to be worked out more than other things, so it’s a good idea to break it […]
EZ fill developer
This might be more of an item for teachers. This is a sketch of a method I’ve found to be effective for teaching younger students to play fills, and play them in time, with both […]
Harmonic coordination improved – preparation
UPDATE: Here are some additional notes on practicing this. For some time I’ve been trying to work out a way to practice the very difficult “harmonic” coordination section of Dahlgren & Fine’s 4-Way Coordination without […]