Full PDF catalog now available for download!

If you've been reading the blog for a while you'll know that the resources I post here have always been JPGs, which are not exactly conducive to printing.  Until now I've always asked you to e-mail me for a PDF.  Many of you have, and it's been great to connect with some of you and see which posts you are most interested in.

I still hope you'll e-mail with any questions, but I've decided to streamline the process for a few reasons:

1. Instant access! You can now download any of the PDFs you'd like immediately.  No more waiting for a response from me.

2. Growing the site. Full disclosure: I'm starting a mailing list.  I've got some bigger projects in the works, and subscribers will be the first to find out and get special offers.

The blog has always been free and always will.  I'm committed to sharing knowledge with anyone and everyone who wants it.  So, I hope you'll feel that's a fair deal for your e-mail address.  It will help me share these new projects with you and grow the community even further.

If you're interested, click the link below to sign up, get access to the entire back catalog, and download any of the resources you might find useful in your own practice and/or teaching.  The library will be updated with each new blog post, so check back often.

https://www.adamosmianski.com/freepdfs

And please do still get in touch!  I love hearing from you.

-Adam

Single stroke / Herta exercises

A few of the drumline exercises we looked at recently can easily be tweaked to work single strokes.

 

First, "The Grid".  Go through it with doubles as the variable, but instead of a double stroke, play it as two single strokes, or a "herta", if you will.

 

 

Next, do the same thing with Triplet Rolls.  This one works really nicely as it will end on the opposite hand that you start with, so you can just go around again on the other side.

 

 

 

Finally, this is another piece from the drumline "songbook", called "Pantera".  I have no idea who wrote it, and it seems like no one else does either.  It just appears to be like a folk tune with an unknown composer.

 

 

With all of these, keep your heights consistent; full, but not pounding, and don't add any accents. 

Triplet Rolls

Here's another classic of the marching arts repertoire.  It's simply called "Triplet Rolls", and that's exactly what it is, a roll exercise based in triplets.  You could wor /these skills just as easily by "diddling" The Grid, but still everyone knows this one, so it's something you can play with other people easily.

 

Just like a jazz standard, there are a few slightly different versions of it, but what I think of as the most common version looks like this:

 

Notice the lack of accents.  Everything should be at one even height.  It will vary depending on the speed, but in general it should be a medium height; nice and relaxed and beefy - not so high to where you're really having to push it, but not so low that you don't get any sound or power.  Try to keep the singles and doubles both at a consistent height and volume.

16th note grid

While less common for some reason, the same grid concept that we looked at last week can be applied to 16th notes.  Again, just vary each partial of the beat four times once, then two times twice, and once four times.  With the extra partial in each beat it makes for a longer exercise, but also means we have a little bit more room for whackier combinations to try out.  Here are some of the same options we looked at last time, but with 16th notes.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Also remember that we can add another layer of complexity by adding static elements and secondary elements, like:

Play a diddle on every first partial, but then move through the accent grid, leaving you with accented didles and drags

Grid flams, but always play a diddle after each flam 

Again, the possibilities are pretty much only limited to your imagination.  Don't forget to move your feet and/or count out loud.

Jim Chapin - "Modern Jazz Drumming with Rhythm Backgrounds for Home Participation"

Maybe this is old news, but I had no idea this existed.

I've owned Jim Chapin's Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer for years, but never spent much time with it, and it definitely didn't come with a CD.  Lately I've been digging in to it, and enjoying it a lot.  Curious about a few questions I had about the material I jumped online and ended up stumbling upon this....

Though the book was first published in 1948, it looks like the record wasn't released until 1970.  But in it, Chapin goes through the entire book, playing every exercise alone, and some with a bass player.  It answers pretty much every question I've seen on various forums about the interpretation of the book.  So, it, like me, you are working through this book and find yourself wondering what Chapin intended then be sure to check out the playlist above.  It's all there.

The Grid

We're in peak drum corp season.  And while I haven't properly followed the activity since the two summers I spent with the Glassmen many moons ago, I still watch some "lot videos" every year for a dose of nostalgia, and to see what kind of craziness they're up to these days.

The "marching arts", a catchall phrase referring to drum and bugle corps, marching band, and winter guard, is something that practically doesn't exist here in the UK, save a few small pockets of niche interest.  But love it or hate it, I think there are some great lessons to be learned in these activities that students here are missing out on. 

Seemingly simple things like punctuality, instrument care, teamwork, and reliability are incredibly important skill in these activities, and continue to be so through any musical career.  A strong and logical practice regime and focused rehearsal etiquette are paramount skills that are honed to perfection over a summer of daily rehearsals and performances with 134 other individuals.

Musically speaking, there's always heated debate on the benefits (or detriments) of the marching arts, which I won't go into today.  But I certainly feel that having to move your whole body in time while playing your instrument can never be a bad thing.  And finally, the whole reason for this post, repertoire.  Again, there are plenty of musicians out there who don't care for such musical stylings, but there is standard material from this scene from which any drummer can benefit.

If you're not familiar with the drumline world, each group will have their own exercises and show pieces that are unique to them.  But there is also a huge repertoire of universal pieces and exercises that everyone knows.  It's akin to the marching equivalent of a blues, or rhythm changes.  You can get together with members of other groups who you've never met and be able to immediately play together.

One of them is "The Grid", which is not so much a piece in itself, but a concept to which one can apply nearly limitless variables.  The easiest place to start is with accents. In constant triplets, play an accent on the first partial of the triplet four times, the second partial four times, and the third partial four times.  Next, we do each partial only twice, but repeat that whole section a second time, so the accents are changing more quickly, but over the same amount of time.  Finally, we do each partial only once, but repeat that whole section four times.  In short:

4 beats, once

2 beats, twice

1 beat, four times

So, with accents it would look like this:

But, the concept can be applied to anything.  Instead of accents you could do flams:

Or double strokes:

This can then be taken further by adding static elements, eg:

Flam on every first partial, while going through the accent grid

Accent on every first partial, which going through the diddle grid

Play the accent grid with rolls on the unaccented notes

Once you memorize the form, the possibilities are pretty much endless.  I remember sitting around with practice pads seeing what ridiculous combinations we could come up with.  If you're new to this, start with the accents, flams, and rolls, and go from there.

When playing it, put on a metronome, and move your feet with the pulse or, better yet, count out loud at the same time.  This will improve your timing, and give you a better feel of where each articulation sits in relation to the beat.

Solo Transcription - Philly Joe Jones, "Two Bass Hit" (again)

Here's another take on Philly Joe's solo on "Two Bass Hit".  The best known version, of course, comes from Miles Davis' 1958 album Milestones, which is arguably the pinnacle of his first great quintet (though by this point it was a sextet with Cannonball).  But just over a year later, Philly Joe released Philly Joe's Beat under his own name, and re-recorded "Two Bass Hit" with a different band.  Some of the vocabulary in the head is similar and at times even identical to the Milestones recording, but the famous drum break just before the solo section is markedly different, despite containing plenty of Philly Joe-isms.  As usual, stickings are my best guess and what I would likely play, but do with it what you will.

Solo Transcription - Philly Joe Jones, "Locomotion"

One of the earliest ever posts on this blog was a transcription of the intro of this tune.  Now, 11 years later, I've finally gotten around to transcribing the solo Philly Joe takes over the whole form.  And it's a good introduction to a form that I like.  It's an AABA form, but each A section is a 12-bar blues.  Some people call this a "blues with a bridge".  "Unit 7" is another example of one.

If you've been following all the Philly Joe posts I've been doing as of late, then you'll notice a lot of familiar vocabulary, particularly as his three-beat triplet lick.  It's one of those things you can't unsee; once you notice it, you realize it's everywhere.  I'm not entirely sure what sticking he's using in this case, but I've made my best guess.  To my ear, especially when slowed down, bars 11 and 12 sound different to the long phrase starting at measure 20.  I've written what I think is most likely, but you should experiment with what works for you.  Revisit this post for some alternate stickings to try.

 

In fact, all of the stickings found here are my best guess.  I listened hard, and then based my choices on things that I know Philly Joe liked to do, such as playing a long string of 8th notes with one hand, as in the first bar.

 

Regarding the rolls, at the beginning of the second A, they are probably closed double-strokes that lead to each stick shot (RRLL R).  But in the middle of the bridge I can't help but wonder if what I notated as rolls are actually four-stroke ruffs.  In that particular grouping of three 8th notes that goes "roll, snare, bass", Philly Joe often played a four stroke ruff with the sticking rllR.  This allowed him to finish with a nice strong single stroke on the right hand.  You can find more on the four-stroke ruff on this post from a few years back.

 

This is all nitty gritty stuff that I enjoy trying to decipher, but really, what's important is the sound, and the vocabulary.  So, as always, I recommend listening a bunch, singing it a bunch, and they trying to put it on the kit.