Open-Handed Drumming

Most right-handed drum set players have been taught to play the snare drum with their left hand while crossing their right arm over their left arm to play their hi-hat. This works quite well and I play like this — most of the time. For a different perspective, I also have practiced playing “open” — with my left hand on the hi-hat and my right hand on the snare.

There are some great drummers that play this way all the time: Billy Cobham; Lenny White; Will Kennedy; Carter Beauford; Dom Famularo; and Ben Perowsky easily come to mind. There are many others!

So, try not crossing your arms, move that ride cymbal over to the hi-hat side and see what happens. This is big fun and can really play with your brain! Start with a very simple groove and go slow. For even more fun, try to start every drum fill with your left hand as well. Also, crash with your left hand without creating a flam with the bass drum. Drum fills and crashes with the weaker side can also be played without playing in this “open” style.

Even if I play the exact same groove, somehow it tends to sound different when I play in this fashion. It certainly feels different, and sometimes that’s a good thing!

Counting Out Loud – Part Four

This is the last part (for now) on my thoughts about counting and playing drum fills.

Why play a drum fill anyway? It’s important to play for the music first and foremost. Drum fills are great when done musically. There should be a reason for them — not just because you can do one or one hundred of them! Listen to your favorite recordings and pay attention to when the drummer plays a fill. Listen again and then ask yourself why the drummer played that particular fill at that moment.

It does get easier as you practice it. There are only so many rhythms out there, yet infinite ways to combine them. Repetition is key as well — as long as you’re playing and counting correctly. Muscle memory plays a large part of all this so please start slowly with the goal of making very few, if any, mistakes. If you play the same thing over and over, your body will remember it. It has been said and often repeated, that practice makes perfect. However, it has been my experience that practice makes permanent.

In the previous post, I said that making mistakes is OK. I truly believe this. However, the goal is to play what you hear and/or what is written. I have found that the more I practice “mistake-free,” then the more I perform without those mistakes. I find that if I am not concentrating on a high enough level, then that is usually when I play something that I did not intend to play. (I plan on discussing this more at a later date.)

If you have a way to record, then do that too. You could even record yourself with a metronome while counting out loud. When listening back to yourself, play along with that and count along. Your recording will act as a guide for you.

Playing with music is a great tool as well. Most recordings are done with a click track and also fall into eight bar phrases. You could begin by playing what the drummer has played — start with something fairly easy and not too fast. Get comfortable playing your time with the drummer’s time and try to cop the feel of the song. After that, you could try playing different rhythms and slightly more complicated rhythms, but sing/count the phrases. Work out some drum fills that you can play over and over and then see about varying them.

Count out loud when you listen to music as well. Even more complicated music has a pulse that can usually be felt through even very difficult passages (try clicking your sticks). If you can, get used to hearing these ideas and counting/singing along with them. You’ll then find it easier when you’re behind the kit.

Lastly, a good teacher is also helpful — if that’s in your budget. Please feel free to send specific questions my way via email. I’ll make sure that I get back to you!

 

Counting Out Loud – Part Three

If the drum fill doesn’t get played correctly, then that’s OK. Make sure to start slowly and try again. That’s what practice is about. The main goal is keep playing and counting without changing the counting. Once that is achieved, practice the exact same drum fill a number of times until it is second nature. Make sure that the groove stays steady and strong the entire time, especially during the fill. The goal is to make sure the fill is grooving as hard as the rest of the song. Counting will help with this.

The four and eight bar phrases will start to feel very natural and you will be able to feel them without counting. That will be a great feeling and is certainly one of the goals here.

If you play a fill that may not be what you intended to play (a “mistake”), try to continue counting and get back to the groove.  (I will discuss “mistakes” in more detail in another post.) Get used to not stopping the time even if you have to stop playing momentarily. There can be some confusion inside of yourself after playing something other than what you intended to play. That is normal. However, my suggestion is to practice as if you are playing with other musicians. The band is not going to stop because of this. They don’t know what you intended to play. Practice with a click – the time doesn’t stop!

That being said, if you continue making the same mistake over and over, then stop and figure this out. There could be numerous reasons for this, including attempting rhythms that you’re not ready for yet.

Counting Out Loud – Part Two

My prior post talked about counting out loud – first on the snare drum and then moved on to talk about counting while playing the drum set. I left off talking about drum fills and counting. Please see that post and then continue here.

At the end of the eighth bar, try a simple drum fill while counting. Try starting the fill on beat three of the eighth bar. One idea that I like is to simply keep the groove going and move the right hand away from the hi-hat to a floor tom. Don’t change the rhythm of the right hand (eighth notes) – simply change the sound source. For a more dramatic and powerful drum fill, keep the left hand on the snare drum and add it to the eighth note right hand rhythm. Both hands playing the same rhythm (eighth notes in this case) is a very powerful sound.

The goal is to have the fill finish on beat “1″ (the downbeat) of the first bar of a new eight bar phrase. To do this, play a crash cymbal and bass drum together on the downbeat of the new eight bar phrase. Don’t be in a hurry to move the right hand back to the hi-hat at this point. The crash cymbal will ring for a while, so there’s no need to immediately start playing the eighth notes on the hi-hat. The “and” of beat one should be counted, but it’s not necessary to make sure to play it. This can mainly be determined by the tempo of the music, however, even at slower tempos there is not a need to play the “and” of beat one of the new phrase.

Leave out the bass drum during the drum fill, making sure to only play it at the end along with the crash cymbal. Keep counting out loud the entire time. After the crash cymbal and bass drum play on beat one of the new phrase, pay attention to the counting. Make sure that 1+2+3+4+ continues without any problems. Since the “and” of beat one is not being played (for now), the very next thing that will happen after the crash is both hands starting back up with the groove on beat two. The time has never stopped! This is something to get comfortable with as the tendency can be to start over with the counting AFTER the crash. By this I mean, it can be somewhat easy to feel the crash and stop counting temporarily and then restart the counting on a new “beat one” after that nice crash on the real beat one. Take care to practice by continuing the counting no matter what.

Counting Out Loud When Practicing

I have found that many students have trouble counting out loud while playing the drums. It is one more thing to think about, but at the same time, its benefits far outweigh the obstacles involved. I practice and use this technique to this day, especially when I’m sight reading and/or playing difficult music. It is tremendously helpful.

Counting out loud when practicing the drums is something that requires plenty of patience.  To develop this, I find that it’s best to be looking at written music and count that while playing with a metronome.  For some, it helps to start by writing out the counting above the rhythm being played. Do this on the snare drum only at first. Make sure to start with quarter notes and quarter rests before moving on to eighth notes with rests, and then also sixteenths. Learn to count the different subdivisions within one quarter note. Haskell W. Harr Drum Method — Book One is a favorite of mine.

http://www.amazon.com/Haskell-W-Harr-Drum-Method/dp/B001AIOULQ

Using some of the ideas in Haskell Harr as possible drum fills, this idea can be continued on the drum set. Play a eighth note-oriented groove — eighth notes on the hi-hat, 2 & 4 on the snare with a basic bass drum part (1 & 3 to start). Make sure to think and play in four and eight bar phrases in 4/4. Keep track of the bars as you play: 1234, 2234, 3234, 4234, 5234, 6234, 7234, 8234. At the end of the eighth bar, the counting will start over:  1234, 2234, 3234, etc. Try adding the “and” of the beats into your counting:  1+2+3+4+, 2+2+3+4+, 3+2+3+4+, 4+2+3+4+, etc. This is the hi-hat part, but the snare drum and bass drum parts will line up in this counting as well. Write this out and look at it while you play.

Before playing a drum fill, try to hear and sing the rhythm to be played. If the rhythm of the drum fill is more complex than the groove, make sure to change the counting to fit the drum fill. E.g., if the drum fill is going to start on beat four of the eighth bar and you want to play four sixteenth notes, then start hearing/singing/counting those sixteenths before you attempt to play them. My next posting will pick up on this idea starting with eighth note drum fills.

Arm Position

I have recently started making a minute adjustment in my arm position, especially when playing the ride cymbal. This came about after watching Jack DeJohnette’s “Musical Expression On The Drum Set.” Jack references Tony Williams and Elvin Jones and their arm positioning while playing. He also talks about creating a space directly in front of you when seated at the drum set. It’s very cool.

The adjustment is not second nature for me – yet.  I have found that when I play with this “new” position that the flow of the music and the sound are different. There’s even a different feeling – one which I really like. I plan on recording some examples of this soon. This will be part of my library of videos that I am creating for my website. Stay tuned!

Drumming “Tricks”

Recently, I was describing and notating a 3/4 jazz drum pattern for a student. He completely understood it, but at one point he asked if there was a “trick” involved in playing in odd times such as 3/4. (We can talk about “odd” times at length in later postings.) Without thinking too much about it I answered, “no – simply practice it and get used to it.” I guess this could be said for just about anything when trying to learn something new. We both had a good laugh. We went on to discuss listening examples for this drum beat, which I find incredibly helpful.

Very rarely has it been simple for me to learn new things on the drum set. If I’m not familiar with jazz time in 3/4, e.g., then I have had to work long and hard to achieve any sort of comfort level. It’s always helped me to listen to the style I’m trying to master, see it written down, listen some more and play along, and most of all it’s helped me to go see this music performed in a live setting. Those are the only “tricks” I know. Oh, and I’d like to add one more “trick” – try to play with other musicians who are better than you and play the styles on which you are working. That’s been a great way for me to apply the things I’m learning.

Being Grateful

I play and teach drums for a living. I am grateful for that. I get the opportunity to play music with great musicians. When teaching, I am blessed to be able to pass on my experiences and knowledge in an effort to help other drummers/musicians. My goal is to keep doing this for as long as I am able.

I also want to continue to grow as a musician by being around others who also want to grow. There’s a nice feeling when a fellow musician inspires me to reach for something. I really like that. I try to do that with my students, as well. When I see that happening, then I know I’m doing my job as a teacher. My experience is that it’s a two-way street: I can grow and learn from students as they are learning from me. I have found that the dialog of music is such that being a good listener is required of me. I want to constantly listen and learn, and then pass that skill on whenever possible.

Striking a Balance

I have found that it’s not always easy for me to find a balance in life: between the day-to-day stuff; staying healthy (working out); having fun; practicing the drums; teaching; gigging; and whatever else may come along. I always say that I’m happy for any headaches I have, and I truly mean that. I feel so fortunate to have what I have, and I try not to take that for granted. More and more, I want to concentrate on striking a balance with everything. For me, I seem to be the happiest when I can do it all! That doesn’t mean I get to do it all every day, but that’s the goal. By applying structure to my daily routine, I am able to at least give myself a chance of reaching the goal. OK – now it’s time to get off the computer and try to make this a well-rounded day.

Recording in the Studio – Live!

Today, I had the pleasure of playing and recording some fun fusion music! We recorded live and even though it took a little while to find a good level for the entire band, I think that it was well worth the effort. I really enjoy creating and capturing musical moments like we did today. Music is just such an amazing thing and I count my blessings.

My drums ended up sounded great. My Yamaha Phoenix kit was so much fun to play and it really sings. I started out with my Brady snare drum, but quickly changed it out to my Yamaha Steve Jordan snare and was happy that I did. (I think it’s time to change that Brady snare’s batter head.) On one tune, I changed the Jordan snare to a my Yamaha Maple Custom piccolo and that was cool. The last tune was asking for that Yamaha Steve Jordan snare.

Over the next few days, I’ll be listening to these recordings. Regardless of how they turned out, I am ready to do it again – real soon!!!