Shuffle/swing

This is the third in a series of three quick lessons which will focus on three areas of drumkit playing:

1)Paradiddle beats
2)Compound time - 6/8
3)Swing/shuffle notation

In this third quick lesson, I am going to demonstrate two examples of playing something with a shuffle or swing feel to it - where the normal 'straight-eight' subdivision of two notes is replaced by three notes, or a triplet. In these examples, the first and third notes of a triplet are played in place of the typical 'half' notes played in a subdivision of 2, creating the swing.

1) This first example is a basic swing or shuffle beat:







and here is a video demonstration:




2) Here is a slightly more difficult example:








and here is a video demonstration:




These are only ideas, aimed at developing some sort of approach to the concept. Hopefully, you will be able to use these examples to sharpen your own skills and create your own ideas.

Compound time - 6/8

This is the second in a series of three quick lessons which will focus on three areas of drumkit playing:

1)Paradiddle beats
2)Compound time - 6/8
3)Swing/shuffle notation

In this quick lesson, I am going to give two examples of beats on 6/8, which is a form of compound time. The phrase compound time describes a time signature where the upper number of the two numbers which represent the time signature is a subdivision of 3, instead of 2, which is known as common time.


1) The first exercise is a simple example of a 6/8 beat:






Below is a video demonstration:






2) Here is a slightly more difficult example:







along with a video demonstration:




These are only ideas, aimed at developing some sort of approach to the concept. Hopefully, you will be able to use these examples to sharpen your own skills and create your own ideas.

Paradiddle beats

This is the first in a series of three quick lessons which will focus on three areas of drumkit playing:

1)Paradiddle beats
2)Compound time - 6/8
3)Swing/shuffle notation

Here, I am going to give two examples of paradiddles between the hands on the hi-hats and snare, with the addition of the bass drum to turn these patterns into full beats.

1) The first exercise is a relatively easy example, written here:






and here is a video demonstration:






2) This is another example of a paradiddle beat, however this one is a little more difficult. Here it is, written:






And here is a video demonstration:






These are only ideas, aimed at developing some sort of approach to the concept. Hopefully, you will be able to use these examples to sharpen your own skills and create your own ideas.

Fun drum lick

I got the idea for this pattern by listening to two different drummers: Aaron Spears and Dennis Chambers. Spears' playing with Usher and Nelly is fantastic and is full of tasty grooves which drive the music. Chambers' playing with Victor Wooten is full of feel and dynamic taste.

You could say that Spears' playing to Nelly at the Modern Drummer Festival was the catalyst for this pattern. Having also studied Chambers' various grooves on his 'In the Pocket' video, I thought it might be an idea to try and combine some ideas from the two artists.

This is just my take, in the form of a transcription here:







and a video demonstration here:




Enjoy!

Warm-up exercise

Hello!

This is a great little warm-up exercise that I use in order to get my wrists and fingers feeling loose but in control before a gig.

It's basically a combination of a five-stroke roll, with a five stroke ruff following it, only the ruff has a twist. The four notes preceding the fifth are actually two sets of double strokes.

Here is the transcription:







As you can see, I have noted the fingering, which requires you to alternate the pattern between the left and right hand.

I find this a really worthwhile exercise to perform before gigs and in my own spare time. It's a really good control exercise because, at first, you really have to make an effort to separate the rolls properly. Also, it's a more fun way to practice your double strokes!

Below is a video demo:

Linear playing

The concept of linear playing is classically derived. Back in the 1950's, composers gave rise to the concept of 'pointillism', where orchestral instruments were played one-after-the-other in order to create a linearly distributed origin of sound.

In drumming terms, the concept revolves around each limb striking a different part of the kit at different times and never at the same time.

There are two patterns I'm going to demonstrate here - a more basic example of this linear pattern, played at 105bpm, with just normal velocity hits and accents on the snare, as transcribed here:










I have also written out the second pattern, which is what you should use the first pattern to develop towards, uses both ghost notes and accents, and is played at 135 bpm:









Note the difference in notation in the second example.


I recommend practicing these to a click-track - surprisingly difficult with linear beats!


Here is a video demonstration:

"Take Five"

I wanted to try and encapsulate the feel for the timing of this classic jazz piece by copying Dave Brubeck's take on it. It's in 5/4 time and the actual pattern deviates from this one a fair bit during the song. This is just one bar of the verse pattern, yet hopefully enough to give some idea of this song's feel.










Above is a written transcription of the piece, which I hope will be useful to anybody wishing to learn this. The ghost notes don't come through as ghost notes on the video, as my electric kit is set to trigger that way. As soon as I find a way to sort this, it shall be done!