WEEK 1
Swing Concept: Ride Cymbal Personality
Today', we worked through the jazz swing pattern on the ride cymbal. We will use the phrase “WALK-the-dog” when practicing the rhythms, adding an accent on the first note (WALK).
Exaggerate the dynamic contrast between WALK and the dog (if I could write it with tiny text, I would lol).
Feather the bass, trying not to accent 2 & 4.
Add the hi hat on beats 2 & 4.
Rudiment Practice: Singles Pyramid
We started on line A of this single pyramid exercise I got from a drummer named Clarence Penn. When practicing, add one note in each hand and then repeat the exercise without stopping (i.e. RL RRLL RRRLLL RL RRLL RRRLLL etc.).
*Add the kick drum each time you switch hands.
The focus here is a consistent sound as you go from measure to measure.
Drag Practice: Alan Dawson Rudiment Ritual
We worked through the first two lines of drag exercises, specifically spending time on drags led with our right hand (RH). We played the kick and hi hat with the first line and focused only on our hands for line two. For this week:
Add the kick and hi hat for line two (kick on beats 1 & 3, hats on beats 2 & 4). I will upload a video demonstrating this.
If you get to a place of comfort with line two (hands + feet), work on combining lines 1 and 2 smoothly.
Solo Work + Reading: Rolling in Rhythm
We took a look at the first two lines of the “Rolling in Rhythm” snare solo. I suggest practicing with both match grip and traditional grip to increase comfort. When practicing:
Think of the accents as the melody. That will help transform this from an exercise to a piece of music.
When you feel comfortable with hands only, add the feet beneath (KHKH).
Groove Practice
We talked a bit about some of your influences on the kit. Never let those go! Remember, we are here to enhance what you can already do and build more vocabulary for you to use. We started with “Ace of Aces” (The Fearless Flyers) and you played the entire song. Really nice work! Let’s bring this in again next week!
WEEK 2
