In my last post I talked about playing odd time signatures, so here are some examples of odd time grooves for you to play.
Just remember to play it slow and count LOUD!
Let me know how you get on with them.
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People often squirm when you talk about odd times if they’re not massively into them. However, they needn’t be as troublesome as people make out. A good rule to remember is to play a really SIMPLE groove based on that of a 4/4 groove. So for example you have an 8th note hi hat, the “2” and “4” on the snare and the “1” and the “3” on the bass in a 4/4 bar. Now lets use a bar of 7/8, all you need to do is remove the very last hi hat (the “+ of 4”) and count accordingly and you have your new groove. Once you’re used to this you might start to make it a tad more fancy but the fundamental stays the same.
Let’s do the same thing with a bar of 5/4. Take you bar of 4/4 and simply add two hi hats (“5 +”) and put a bass on the “5”. Once this feels less alien simply add in some more bass or snare as you see fit.
As far as fills go you should keep them simple too. Take a bar of 8ths round the kit (snare, hi, mid, floor… two hits on each) and then either add to, or take away from it what is necessary. So for the bar of 7/8 you’d take away the last hit on the floor tom. For the bar of 5/4 you’d add on two MORE hits on the floor tom. Start simple and build once the time feels more comfortable.
Try your own for now and I’ll write up some examples for you to try next time.
Just remember to play it slow and count LOUD!
When we “trademark” genres basically we’re talking about things that make them what they are. Things you use to identify it is THAT genre. We’re not talking about exacts, we’re talking about descriptive words to begin with.
Of course there are no EXACT answers as music has NO RULES, but generalizations can be made.
We can use the following descriptive words as generalizations for Drum ‘N’ Bass:
Sharp/Snappy
Blocky
Tight
Fast/Upbeat
Energetic
Repetitive
Drum ‘N’ Bass is very rarely ever:
Slow
Trashy
Dark
Depressing
Loose and “flowy”!
Light
Chilled
This is what you should try and identify when playing in a genre. See, the way I teach is that there aren’t really “Drum n Bass” grooves or “Pop” grooves and such…. It’s more about HOW you play than what you’re playing. Of course some grooves and fills lend themselves better to different genres, but you can’t say as a rule THIS is a such and such groove and THAT is a such and such fill. You can use them in many genres and simply change how you approach playing it.
So when thinking about playing in a style or genre from now on, think more about HOW you play it rather than WHAT you play. Identify the trade marks and the rest will follow
When we “trademark” genres basically we’re talking about things that make them what they are. Things you use to identify it is THAT genre. We’re not talking about exacts, we’re talking about descriptive words to begin with.
Of course there are no EXACT answers as music has NO RULES, but generalizations can be made.
We can use the following descriptive words as generalizations for Funk:
Bass Heavy
Sharp
Blocky
Tight
Chilled (or at least more chilled than thrash metal!)
Not majorly fast
Laid back
Upbeat
Funk is very rarely ever:
Super fast
Trashy
Dark
Depressing
Bland/flat
This is what you should try and identify when playing in a genre. See, the way I teach is that there aren’t really “Funk” grooves or “Pop” grooves and such…. It’s more about HOW you play what you’re playing. Of course some grooves and fills lend themselves better to different genres, but you can’t say as a rule THIS is a such and such groove and THAT is a such and such fill. You can use them in many genres and simply change how you approach playing it.
So when thinking about playing in a style or genre from now on, think more about HOW you play it rather than WHAT you play. Identify the trade marks and the rest will follow
I was talking to a student earlier and he was telling me how yesterday he had a terrible practice day and how it really p**sed him off! He asked me what he should do when he was having such a day, so I thought I’d write a post about it!
Firstly I told him that we ALL have bad practice days. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been playing, or even what instrument or sport you play, sometimes you just get ‘em! There can be a number of different reasons for them too. Your mind might be a little pre-occupied, you might be tired, achy, feeling a bit under the weather, bored, frustrated, annoyed….. the list is kinda endless! Unless the reason is something physical such as a broken foot (in which case just practice hands!) then there are a few things you can try.
I recommend having a track or two that you LOVE to play, but don’t often play, that really make you smile. They don’t even have to be complicated, fast or energetic. Just track you love to play. (Ideally they’re tracks that you know inside out and don’t mess up on, ‘cos if you do it can make you feel worse!) Give them a play once or twice until you feel more relaxed. There idea here is to elevate your mental state.
Another thing to do is simply to turn off the lights or shut your eyes, take some deep breaths and just PLAY! Nothing specific. Nothing from any music. Just let it out and see what happens! So many people get hung up on a specific when practicing and it annoys them, which in turns makes you think you’re having a “bad practice”. Give your mind a rest and clear it out while playing something random. Give your CONCIOUS mind a break from it while giving your SUB-CONCIOUS mind time to work on it.
Another thing to do, if you feel you’re having a bit of a rubbish day is some simple exercises. Run through whatever exercises you know well. Some might be stick control, some co-ordination, some may involve moving round the kit. Just exercises that you know well. And don’t set yourself goals with them, the doing is enough. All you’re doing is some maintenance work.
Any time spent at the kit is good so don’t worry about having to notice big results every time you sit down. Even if you don’t think you’ve had a productive practice, at least you’ve worked your brain a bit and you never know what seed you may have planted.
So make sure you don’t associate bad feelings with playing the drums, always try to leave on a high so you’ll want to come back.
You may know from reading previous material that I really love my co-ordination exercises. I personally feel a great sense of achievement when I crack them as it’s something you can notice right away.
I’ve given you quite a few co-ordination exercises over the past year, but this is the most tricky one to date.
It’s only 3way co-ordination using both hands and your right foot.
We’re gonna take 3 repetitive patterns (that we’ll loop):
“1e+” “e+a” “1 +a”
To start with you’re gonna put…..
“1e+” on the Right hand (and play it on the floor tom)
“e+a” on the Left hand (and play the snare)
“1 +a” on the right foot (and obviously play the bass drum)
The idea is to keep these going simultaneously and smoothly.
I’d recommend just getting the hands going to start with, then maybe just playing 8ths on the bass drum until you’re confident, then turning that into “1 +a”.
When you’re fine with that arrangement try swapping two of the patterns without changing the other. (e.g. keep the bass drum “1 +a” going and swap the hand patterns over). This is pretty tricky as when thinking about swapping two patterns the third often forgets what it’s doing!
Give this a try and then I’ll give you a more advanced variation of this exercise.
When we “trademark” genres basically we’re talking about things that make them what they are. Things you use to identify it is THAT genre. We’re not talking about exacts, we’re talking about descriptive words to begin with.
Of course there are no EXACT answers as music has NO RULES, but generalisations can be made.
Now “pop” music is so eclectic as “pop” is basically “popular” music, which could include all genres. So to make things slightly easier I’m going to be focusing mainly on what I call processed pop using single artist and boy or girl bands. I’m also talking about how it is on the CD/MP3 file as opposed to the live version.
Here are some descriptive words I’ve put together for “pop”….
Flat
Repetitive/consistent
Un-complicated/basic/simple
Light
Catchy
Un-offensive
Things I wouldn’t really use to describe pop would be……
Dark
Aggressive
Super fast
Trashy
Sinister
When playing pop along to a pre recorded track there are usually very few fills. It’s mainly just groove all the way with the odd small fill here and there. It’s pretty much always in 4/4 and easy to sing and dance to - Think, 10yr old girl dancing in front of a mirror singing into a hairbrush doing the routine dance moves with a group of friends. You can’t do anything too outrageous as it would throw them off what they’re doing. Make what you play clear, easy to bop to and un-surprising. Pop should be very consistent in sound so if using hi hat lifts do try and produce the SAME sound over and over again.
When thinking about playing in a style or genre from now on, think also about HOW you play it rather than WHAT you play. Identify the trade marks and the rest will follow.
When learning to play drums, most people just want to learn how to do LOTS of different stuff. They want to learn how to spin sticks, how to play their favourite groove and fill from their favourite track. They want to learn how to solo and how to play round the kit real fast!
As great as all these things can be, they’re really not all that necessary if you wish to become a pro drummer, especially from a session prospective.
What’s really required from a drummer is a great sense of timing – which usually includes the ability to work with a click - a great sound, the ability to read a bit and being someone who’s great fun to work with.
Being able to solo, spin sticks, play at the speed of light and do all sorts of crazy arse fills doesn’t come into it!
When people I teach have been playing for a while I always advise focusing just as much, if not MORE on HOW they play something as opposed to WHAT they play. A simple groove and fill can sound WAY more effective when played well, than a supposedly complex/impressive groove and fill played slightly ropey.
Steve White said this “Remember, you might play a solo in one song in a 2hr set which lasts 5mins. That means you have 1hr 55mins of some pretty straight forward, solid playing. That’s about a 25/1 ratio. Meaning you should work on the “boring stuff” 25 times more than the fancy “fun stuff”!
Put simply, spend 25mins working of simple grooves, fills and solid time keeping and 1min on spinning sticks and soloing!
Now I know this is not something that any person learning wants to read ‘cos let’s face it, no one wants to get bored while practicing! So make you’re best efforts to keep the so called “boring stuff” fun. Play to tracks you know use a click, or play to loops. Challenge yourself and set goals in playing, then feel the sense of achievement when you complete them. Work on your sound. Try to turn a nasty sounding drum kit into a musical instrument, rather than taking a nice kit and making it sound like a load of cardboard boxes!
Try and take the most simple thing and make it sound poetic. Try and make someone dance with just you’re grooving alone. And finally remember this:
Nothing worth having/achieving comes easily, if it did everyone could do it and it wouldn’t be rewarding.
When you get to the stage as a drummer that you start to play with bands (either one band or are more of a session player) it’s more than likely you’ll need a “gigging” kit, even if you don’t have to use it every time.
So many people, when they first start out down this road, think that bigger is better! They say “I’ll have more things to hit”, “It’ll look more impressive”, ”It’ll look like I’m a better drummer if I have a big set up”. Well, I can tell you that all that really isn’t true for 99.9% of gigs they’ll be doing!
As a gigging drummer what you need is a SOLID kit that is easy to chuck around - focusing more on solid hardware. You really want to make it as SMALL as possible to cut down on set up and take down time and you need to invest in some good flight cases.
Most gigs don’t involve a load of real flashy fills and made varieties of crash cymbal, so having a big flashy kit just isn’t necessary to start with (then when you do get to the stage when a big kit is necessary you can get roadies to help you out!)
If you turn up to a gig for the first time not knowing what might be in store then yeh, sure, maybe take a few extra bits with you. But that doesn’t mean you have to use them when you get there!
When thinking about a gigging kit think move-ability, adjustability and necessity!
One thing I like to use a lot are cymbal stackers to cut down on the amount of floor space needed as well as the weight of my hardware case.
If you play double pedal but one is not necessary for a particular gig then don’t take it!
Just because you HAVE 5 crashes doesn’t mean you must take 5. Just pick the 2 that compliment each other best or are most appropriate for the style of music or the room you’ll be using and take them.
Finally I’ll say this. If you get good it might even be worth having more than one gigging kit - One bigger kit, rock sizes with bigger cymbals etc… and one smaller kit, fusion sizes with smaller cymbals. That way you’re gonna be more versatile as a player.
People often have expectations when they come in to learn the drums. Some people say to me “how good do you think I’d be able to get in …… months” or “I’d like to be able to play this” – then proceed to play me a track – and are then disappointed when my reply is, “about 5yrs”. Or they’ll say “I’ll give it 6months and if I’m not as good as I’d want to be I’ll quit.”
Personally I think all these things are a little silly when starting anything new, let alone learning something like the drums - as they’re a pretty complex instrument!
They say that it takes you around 2 years to “learn” something – if you immerse yourself in it – and then at least another two years to “master” what you’ve learnt. And that’s if you work on it EVERY single day, not if you only pick up the sticks from time to time.
I guess what I’m saying is that it probably takes a hell of a lot longer than you’d think to learn to play the drums. To play them naturally, confidently, and with some finesse you’re really looking at a minimum of a five year commitment to reach your potential. And that’s if you practice pretty much everyday. If your playing is more sporadic then you should really think about doubling that figure.
If you asked the people considered to be the “best” in the world they’d pretty much all tell you that they were playing for at least 10yrs before they really made anything of
themselves in the world of drums.
When starting out people rarely realise how tough the learning process ahead can be. So if you’re someone who’s been playing for a year or two and you aren’t as good as you’d like to be yet, just remember, nothing worth having comes easily, so keep working at it and see where you’re at in another two years or so.
