Latin Bell Patterns with Syncopation

Allison Miller has been posting some great practice ideas over on her Instagram page, and this one popped up the other day.  Play any common Latin Jazz rhythm with your feet and left hand, like so....

 

...and then read page 38 of Syncopation with your right hand on the ride cymbal.  As Allison points out, this really helps to free up your right hand and allow you to break away from common patterns.

This is the same general concept as the Kiko Freitas samba ideas we looked at recently where the feet and left hand play common samba rhythms and the right hand improvises in a telecoteco style.  Both of these are a really nice way to break out of the habit of thinking about ostinatos in your right hand and improvising with the left.

If page 38 is going by to quickly for you, don't forget that pages 34-37 are great to give yourself a little more time and repetition to get used to this, or any, concept.  I often do this myself and recommend it to my students as well.

As you get more comfortable, experiment with different sounds on the ride.  Play the bell, shoulder it a bit, etc.  Or, if you prefer a bit more structure in the practice room, try this....

Play everything on the bell.  But whenever there are two or more 8th notes in a row, start on the bow, and only play the last note of the group on the bell.  So the first two lines become this...

And if you have checked out Allison Miller yet, definitely do so.  Allison is a fellow WVU grad, though she finished a few years before I got there.  I've been to a few of her masterclasses, and her educational style and ideas are just as bad ass as her playing.

Transcription - Charlie Smith, "Hot House"

This is one I've been meaning to do for a long time.  Years, really.  I remember the first time I saw this video in college, and was struck by a few things.  For one, I don't know that I had seen a left-handed jazz drummer before then.  Also, the band seemed like an unlikely bunch.  For one, I was surprised not to see Max Roach on drums, and two the bassist, who is named Sandy Block, seemed kind of old for that crew.  And the pianist is Dick Hyman, who was also a host of the television show that this performance was on.

The drummer is Charlie Smith.  His name isn't thrown around as often as the likes of Kenny Clarke or Max Roack, but he had an enviable career working for the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner, Benny Goodman, Oscar Peterson, and more.

I love Charlie's feel on this tune, and the minimal set up with the jumbo bass drum.

Dig This - Chick Corea and early Return to Forever, Live

Despite being supremely bummed out about it, I didn't post anything last week when Chick Corea passed.  There wasn't much I could say that hadn't been said already.

The only good thing to come out of the loss has been the past week being absolutely filled with people posting Chick's music everywhere.  A particular one that jumped out at me was this live video of a very early incarnation of Return to Forever.  It's basically the first version of the band with Chick, Stanley Clarke, Joe Farrell, and Airto.  Flora Purim is missing, though, and Bill Tragesser is on percussion behind a young Airto that we get to see on kit rather than his usual percussion setup.  Those first two albums are my favorite version of the band, and some of my favorite Chick material period.

More tips on the Kiko Freitas-style samba

Edu Ribeiro has been doing a very enjoyable series of live-streamed interviews with some fantastic drummers over the past few months.  Back in December Kiko Freitas joined him, and they ended up spending quite a bit of time talking about Kiko's unique way of playing samba, and he brought up some points that I thought were worth sharing.  Two in particular really stood out to me, both of which regarding the left hand playing "1ea".

1. Don't be afraid of rebound.  We're often fed the idea that we should be able to stroke out everything on a feather pillow.  That's all very well and good, but that doesn't mean that we always should stroke everything out.  The "syncopa" rhythm that Kiko plays in his left hand is imitating a few different instruments of the bateria, but mostly the repinique.  Kiko points out that stylistically the repique is played with a group of three notes that come out of one motion, or throw of the stick.  It's this rebound that actually creates that distinctive swing.  So don't try to chop out each individual note.  Throw the stick and let it do a lot of the work for you.  Which brings me to my next point....

2.  Don't think of the downbeat as your starting point.  Initiate the motion on the last 16th note of the rhythm.  So, rather than thinking "1ea, 2ea", think "a1e, a2e".  Again, this will strengthen that characteristic swing feel.

Keep these points in mind while you give it a try with this sheet.

Here is the whole interview.  They had some technical difficulties, but it's worth sticking it out as they share some great information.

Marcio Bahia RLL sticking

One of my favorite Brazilian drummers, Marcio Bahia, recently posted a few videos to YouTube in which he plays a three-note sticking of RLL as a way to come up with some creative orchestrations over common Brazilian grooves.

It's pretty much the same principal as my 3-5-7 exercise, in which you play odd groupings over duple meter.  But as I said back then, resist the urge to think of this as 3/16 or 3/8 over 4/4 or 2/4.  Just think in whatever meter the groove is in and play 16th notes with a RLL sticking in your hands.

Marcio takes this concept a step further by incorporating accents. Once you're comfortable with placing accents on each part of the sticking you can play some common rhythms that accompany the foot parts.  The RLL sticking will give you some interesting orchestrations of those rhythms if you leave your right hand on the hi-hat or ride, and your left hand on the snare and/or toms.  From there you can/should improvise with both the accent placements and the voicings around the kit.

You Be the Drummer - Christian McBride, "Fingerpainting"

This one somehow slipped past me.  Released in 1997 I only discovered in a few weeks ago.

Here, Christian McBride, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, and guitarist Mark Whitfield play an album comprised entirely of Herbie Hancock repertoire.  Bass, trumpet and guitar is a really nice combo that you don't hear very often, and makes for a great drummer-less recording.

The straight ahead stuff is really swingin' (like there was any doubt), and there's a nice variety of tempos and styles as well.  Check it out.

Solo Transcription - Gaylord Birch, "Yes We Can Can" live

Following on from the first Gaylord Birch post the other day, here is a live version of the same tune where he gets more of a feature.  This is my kind of drum solo.  Just a kick-ass groove that everyone can still dance to with some bells and whistles thrown in for pizzazz.  I love the way that old kit shakes as he plays the living crap out of it, and that backhanded crash at 3:22 gets me every time.

Solo starts around 3:02, but you should just listen to the whole thing

Transcription - Gaylord Birch, "Yes We Can Can"

This one has been in the drafts folder for a loooong time.

I remember the girl across the street from me growing up and her parents were big fans of the Pointer Sisters.  Then a few years ago I was reminded of them when this tune came on the radio very late one night as I was driving home from a gig.  I checked out the record the next day, read up on the drummer, Gaylord Birch, who I wasn't really familiar with, and made a note to transcribe that cool breakdown.

Fast forward a few years and my buddy from college, Steve Bidwell, posted about Gaylord on his blog, which reminded my that I had never finished this post.  Long story short, here we are.  Gaylord is killer, there's a cool transcription below, and you should also check out Steve's blog.

Transcription starts around 3:38