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Complete live lesson from 4/9/20
Video from the Live Instagram lesson on 4/6/20
In our second FAQ lesson we’re going to cover GRIDS and GAUNTLETS, two powerful tools in music learning and practicing. Integrating them into your playing can streamline your goals and push your playing to places you never would have thought up on your own. Make sure you’ve got your head wrapped around this simple concept because we’re going to use a lot of them - in fact we already have been using a lot of them in previous lessons!
Happy drums to you!
Let's continue our basic hand warmups with Singles Doubles and Diddles. Here's how it goes (8 Right/8 Lefts) 4X 16th notes Alternate 16th notes Doubles Paradiddles - all four inversions RLRR LRLL RLLR LRRL RRLR LLRL RLRL LRLR Start slow, work your way up to about 165-200bpm range
Now available in the store: Microfills Vol 1 We continue our exploration of microfills.
A quick recap: Microfills are sending a small fill through a groove - also known as permutating - the result is a (hopefully) seamless flow.
For an in depth dive into this concept, you can purchase this lesson book in the store now.
Volume 1 is an introduction to the concept, using only 4 notes: 2 kicks and two hands, but obviously this concept can be made much more advanced with a little modification. Try odd figures and odd times, or triplet figures through straight 32nd note grooves. As always, go slow and focus on flow, dynamics and feel. Happy shedding to you!
Lots of new lessons in the store - including 4 new kick workouts and the long awaited Microfills. All items are on sale too, keep coming back to see more full length playthroughs of all lessons.
Here’s Lesson 1 from the book Kick Workouts Vol 1: Unisons. In this book we focus on lining up notes between our hands and feet in different subdivisions. It’s critical that you are able to have clean unison notes in order to make your grooves feel clean yet they’re one of the last things drummers focus on in the shed. We all work on substitutions and basic groove playing, but zooming in on playing notes right on top of each other will shed light on many beginner (and even intermediate/advanced) players’ weaknesses.
Go Slow. Focus on Flow and Dynamics. Speed isn’t the goal, control is.
Happy drums to you all!
Free PDF here
Purchase "Patterns, Melodies and Rudiments" at http://www.thedrummerbrain.com/store
We continue our brief overview of the Syncopation Sets from "Pattern Melodies and Rudiments," with Lesson 15 aka 32nd Notes vs 16th Note Triplets. 32nd Notes are the backbone of all modern chops, especially gospel and fusion. Practically all of the fill vocabulary in modern drumming is dominated by 32nd notes split between the hands and feet. That's why it's critical to spend a lot of time working on this subdivision. One exercise isn't going to build you up, it takes constant and steady practice to get your feel and phrasing even and to gradually work up to blazing fast speed. It's super important to start slow and make sure you're relaxed at all times - you don't want to practice bad habits. Focus on accuracy and big tone. Focus on evenness between the hands and feet. Strive for patterns that are useful but not overused.
This video is only 4 exercises from Syncopation Lesson 15, the full 15 exercises are available in the book "Drumset Pattern, Melodies and Rudiments," in the store at www.thedrummerbrain.com/store.
Happy shedding to you
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Let’s talk about Paradiddle Grooves. Paradiddles are one the most powerful creative tools we’ve got on the kit - they are really just mixed singles and doubles, but the voicing possibilities and combinations are endless.
If you’re not familiar with Paradiddle Inversions, here they are
RLRR LRLL
RLLR LRRL
RRLR LLRL
RLRL LRLR
Of these four, the first (RLRR LRLL) is the most common, however each inversion has it’s own unique flavor - so definitely take time to try out each inversion at different tempos and feels. You never know which inversion might bring a whole new life to your playing.
Once you are fluid with all four inversions, start combining them for advanced grooves. Again, just these four inversions can create TONS of possibilities, and each one has something unique to offer. The more you incorporate diddles into your playing, the more naturally you will start to flow between inversions. Paradiddles are great because they can be a musical idea or they can be a SOLUTION to sticking problems. If you’ve got a great groove idea but you can’t execute the sticking, try playing it with a paradiddle pattern!
Lastly, we explore just a few of the infinite ways you can voice diddles on the kit. A very popular voicing is RH on the ride while your LH alternates between hi-hat and snare. This creates a layered and syncopated pattern that sounds difficult but is relatively easy to play. Keep adding little variations and voices to create depth in your playing.
With all paradiddle grooves, the key to making them come to life is DYNAMICS. You have to be able to emphasize backbeats (or whichever beat should be emphasized) while keeping your other notes down low. Without dynamics you’re left with a big pile of notes with no soul. Keep pushing and exploring until you can bring these patterns to life. We will be re-visiting paradiddles very often!
Happy drums to you!
These concepts and much more can be found in the book “Groove Exercises for the Drumset” available for purchase (digital or hard copy) at www.thedrummerbrain.com/store
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Next up for Rudiments: Swiss Triplets.
An often overlooked rudiment - triplets in general don’t get as much attention as 16th notes in modern drumming, but as you’ll see with just a little creativity you can incorporate Swiss Triplets into a wide variety of fills and grooves.
We start simple with voicings between the snare and floor tom. Two voice systems are a good way to start spreading rudiments around the kit.
Next we combine voicings from part 1 for combinations. Again, just simple modification and creativity can give you an ENDLESS amount of voicings and patterns.
Last a few “Ways to Play” and Advanced Concepts. Since these are triplets they lend themselves very well to shuffle patterns, they can add a lot of new feel and texture to classic grooves like The Purdie Shuffle. Shifting our subdivisions to 16th notes creates a 3:3:2 pattern that can work in funk, second line and Latin feels.
Finally, keep your 16th note feel and start adding kick substitutions for funky syncopated fill patterns. Strings of swiss triplets can create nice odd groupings and displacements
All of this is only a starting place, the true value in these exercises comes from YOUR creativity. How you choose to voice and phrase these exercises is up to you. Technical mastery is only a means to developing your unique voice on the instrument. Take your time and explore.
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Happy Drums to You!
Transcription here
Let’s keep exploring advanced voicings for Syncopation Sets. Lesson 14 is probably the most useful of the four Syncopation Sets: 16th note triplets and 16th notes being the most common subdivision in fills.
Our voicing this time is a Groofill (Groove + Fill) with some tricky kick substitutions:
Our 16th note pattern is RLRK LKRL - voiced for beats 1&3/2&4
Our triplet pattern is RLRRKK RLKKRL - also voiced for beats 1&3/2&4
The key to making patterns like this come to life is breaking up the voices, maintaining a snare on the backbeat and DYNAMICS. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing at 38bpm or 200bpm, if you don’t have dynamics then your feel will be flat and lifeless. Groofills are great for working on dynamics and phrasing, you have to get your ghost notes down and back beats up to keep the Groove part going, but you need to dig in to your toms to get the weight of a Fill. Awesome for rock and pop, but with a little creativity you can work Groofills into almost any style of music.
Go slow, think ahead, run the entire lesson if you’ve got the time or just a handful for a nice workout.
Happy Drums to You!
The rest of the advanced Syncopation Sets as well as lots more material can be found in “Drumset Patterns, Melodies and Rudiments” available in the store
Free pdf here
Let's continue our exploration of Melodies as fills.
A quick recap of how to read melodies for the drumset:
We play the MELODY on one voice (in this case kick and cymbals) while another voice (snare) 'Fills-in' between our melody notes.
This style of reading is sometimes called the Alan Dawson Method - after the famous Berklee jazz instructor, but lots of people teach with some variation of this method. This is the most basic of voicings - For more of a challenge, you can switch voices, add toms or left foot; you can also change your fill in subdivisions. The possibilities are really endless, the hardest part for most students is just getting going. Start at the beginning of Ted Reed's "Syncopation" and work your way up. Fluency is the goal, not sloppy speed.
Sixteenth note melodies are inherently funky - E's and Ah's fit in the cracks of most grooves; so you hear them used a lot more in "Advanced" music, like neo-soul and fusion. But don't let that scare you, start slow and focus on placement - once you're fluent in landing on E's and Ah's your phrasing will start to open up and get off of the 1/4 note and 1/8th note grid.
These exercises plus a lot more are available in the book "Drumset Patterns, Melodies and Rudiments" - which can be purchased at www.thedrummerbrain.com/store
Happy drums to you
Download PDF here
Here's a brief selection of our 32nd Note variations playing through just four exercises from Lesson 6 and 7. This is just a demonstration, and its cut short for time purposes - a proper playthrough would be more like this:
Lesson 6 - Alternate Strokes all exercises
Lesson 6 - Doubles all exercises
Lesson 6 - Inverted Doubles all exercises
Lesson 6 - Paradidles all exercises
Then move on to Lesson 7 and run all four stickings.
Again, this is a LOT of exercises, and again: THATS THE POINT. There are some components of drum playing that require thinking and some things that just require REPS and when it comes to smooth and controlled 32nd notes, you need to play them a lot before they flow.
Throw on some good practice music, like hip hop and take your time - you are developing a vocabulary!
Some notes on the stickings: Doubles and Inverted doubles result in double strokes on the snare, but you could split the doubles between snare and hat for an additional challenge!
Here is where Paradiddles begin to show their true power: the combination of singles and doubles leads to some really funky sounding grooves and also conserves a lot of motion - especially compared to alternate strokes. We will have a deep dive on Paradiddle Grooves in the near future.
Beginners: start at Lesson 1, intermediate to advanced: start at Lesson 4, 5 or 6. GO SLOW. Speed is about flow and grace, not brute force. Happy drums to you!
Free PDF here
Let's start to get into some of the more advanced variations you can apply to the lessons found in "Groove Exercises for the Drumset." (available at www.thedrummerbrain.com/store )
We're starting with 32nd Note grooves - 32nd Notes are used a lot in modern drumming, especially in hip-hop, fusion, jazz and metal. You need to integrate them into your vocabulary if you're going to hang with any 'advanced' level of music.
That said, you should treat 32nd notes (and ALL advanced concepts) like a seasoning - to be used in moderation - too much salt will ruin your whole dish, too many fast crazy notes will ruin your groove. MODERATION is always the key, and that comes from experience and listening to other musicians.
Lets get into the exercises: we start with 32nd notes as alternates on our hat, then we move to doubles, inverted doubles and paradiddles. Every sticking has a different feel and a different sound, so explore each one patiently.
A thorough study would mean going back to Lesson 1 and playing every variation through to Lesson 7 - that's A LOT of exercises to play - advanced players may want to skip straight to Lessons 6 and 7. Whatever you do, GO SLOW and focus on lining up your notes.
You should start filling your ears with these subdivisions too - check out some of the masters: Vinnie, Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, Tony Williams and the modern day pioneers: Eric Moore, Wotjek Deregowski, Justin Brown, Justin Scott - 32nd notes are a huge part of their vocab!
Happy Drums to You!
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A short and powerful warmup exercise. We start with an exercise called countdown, simple premise: 1 Right, then 1 Left, 2 Rights then 2 Lefts etc… Drum line players do this sort of exercise a lot, in this video we go up to 4, but the sky is the limit - go for 20!
Next we fill in kicks: first 16th note triplets, then 32nd notes, then we alternate triplets between right hands and 32nd notes between left hands.
Good for the hands, good for the feet, good for the brain.
Happy shedding!