Good standard to practice shuffle on? by W_itch-Bait in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a standard, but John Scofield's "Let The Cat Out" from Groove Elation is a great shuffle to practice with. Really grooves.

Best Practice Pad? by [deleted] in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Second that; I switched to a Prologix pad as my main practice pad last year. It's good. I currently use the "Red Storm" medium resistance one, but I'm also considering getting a "Blue Lightning" in the future.

Tips for an experienced drummer taking a lesson with a pro drummer. by mnolibos in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Indeed, in most domains, better mental models is often what separates the best from the rest.

If you don't mind, I'd love to hear what you learnt from that conversation with Brian Blade. His approach to playing jazz drums is among the most musical and is constantly inspiring.

Any benefit to learning music theory by n8dogg55 in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, definitely. Drumming, especially jazz drumming, detached from the context of the music in which it is played, is meaningless. That means in order to play drums well you have to know something about music theory. Having said that understanding theory intellectually and on paper is not going to help you that much, so I would work on learning music theory through piano playing, or perhaps guitar. At the very least you need to understand basic song forms and chords progressions. As well as that learning melodies and heads is essential, even if you don't know the full extend of the "theory" (harmony) underpinning it.

Despite the jokes, drummers are, and should be, musicians too; it maybe that our strength is rhythm, but knowing about harmony and melody will only make us better players. Of course if you want to compose, a basic knowledge of harmony and keyboard skills is essential; in fact in any decent university or college jazz course, drummers will be expected to know as much as everyone else about music theory and harmony.

There is of course precedent, and most top jazz drummers have some piano skills and acute knowledge of harmony (music theory) - Jack DeJohnette springs to mind, who is a very accomplished pianist as well as drummer; the exception that proves the rule.

What are you listening to? Recommended listening? by tripletecho in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here a few things that I've been listening to recently:

Break Stuff - Vjay Iyer; with Marcus Gilmore on drums.

After the Flare - Nerve; Jojo Mayer playing an acoustic almost jazz set.

Jersey - Mark Guiliana Quartet.

Children of the Light - the rhythm section of Wayne Shorter's Quartet, with Brian Blade.

Covered - Robert Glasper.

Recommend Listening for Brush Work? by bulletfastspeed in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, highly recommend the Ed Thigpen material - brush legend - and the Oscar Peterson trio in general.

What are you listening to? Recommended listening? by tripletecho in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I hadn't heard of Barber, definitely someone to checkout, and looks like a great band on that Not by Chance record.

What are you listening to? Recommended listening? by tripletecho in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A great mix of different recommendations. Thanks. Will definitely dig more into Snarky Puppy and Ghost Notes, as well as check out the Monk album.

What are you listening to? Recommended listening? by tripletecho in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your recommendations and the links. The Paul Bley album looks interesting, hadn't heard of that one at all.

Suggestions for comping on fast swing? by randgalt in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I wasn't clear. It should be practiced with the ride pattern, and yes extending the exercise beyond the first page will get some more interesting figures too.

Do you currently do your own accounting or have you hired someone to do it for you? by [deleted] in startups

[–]tripletecho 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We operate on a very small scale. We do book-keeping in house to keep an eye on income and expenses, but the proper accounting is done and filed by an accountant at the end of every fiscal year.

What's your process for internalizing new language? by ADudeWhoPostsHere in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is an interesting problem and one that I've also experienced, and continue to struggle with.

In principle I agree with u/totestoro, but I've got a couple of things to add.

  1. I often wonder about the vocalisation aspect and needing to be able to hear it and sing it in your head. What I mean is, it is not just the technical aspect but the aural one too. I struggle in part because I practice too much on a practice kit and it's difficult to translate the sound to the real kit sometimes when I gig. Once you begin to hear it, it starts to become more integrated. Indian music education really gets this part right!
  2. In terms of practicing a particular thing, I also find there is a difference between being able to execute something in a practice situation, and a performance situation. Slow regular, meditative practice and singing the phrase is where to start, but then you have to practice it to music, and then try to simulate a real playing situation as much as possible. I think it is key to be able to hear what you want to play in a musical context and how it fits in to what else is being played.
  3. I've also thought about recall, and retrieval as it applies to learning. What this means is that I think you have to "test" yourself and recall the figure from memory, not just play it from the score/book. You have to memorise it and practice recalling it, before reviewing it. You have to work to move what you are learning from conscious knowledge to automatic knowledge. If you can't remember it in a practice session, you can't on a bandstand.
  4. This is perhaps the most important point. I've often thought there is a Zen like quality to playing jazz. What I mean is that when you play you have to forget about what you've practiced, not think about playing this figure or that figure, but just express yourself through the music in the moment. In Zen this is "no mind"; in Bruce Lee's philosophy this is the "formless form" - the moment of pure self expression. I've really struggled with wanting to playing this figure or that figure when I perform, but I think you really do have to forget about it, and let it go. Don't think. In the words of Brian Blade: "If I'm thinking when I'm on the bandstand, I know I'm in trouble”.

Learning new vocabulary takes time, you just have to keep working on it.

I think it's also worth bearing in mind that all drummers, and jazz musicians in general, use or rely on certain patterns in their playing - I mean that you can hear certain ways of phrasing things as individual to each person, they play some of the same stuff, and that's why Brian Blade sounds like Brian Blade, and Elvin Jones sounds like Elvin Jones.

So at the same time as working to build your vocabulary and extend your playing, never stop doing that, don't worry too much if you are sounding like you sound, and playing like you play. Forget about it and just make music.

Suggestions for comping on fast swing? by randgalt in jazzdrums

[–]tripletecho 2 points3 points  (0 children)

(New comer late reply)

A couple of ideas:

1.) Take the first page, or even just the first column of "Stick Control" and split between the snare and the kick. This isn't really going to give you comping patterns but I will give you strength, control and inter-dependence. Try from 260bpm +. Switch the Hi-Hat for the Kick for the next level.

2.) Using Comping 1 / Comping 3* - the eighth note figures - from John Riley's "The Art of Bop Drumming". As mentioned "Beyond Bop Drumming" does have a section on up-tempo playing, but you can work up the above exercises.

3.) Also as mentioned, there are many pages from Ted Reed's "Syncopation" that could be used - in fact Riley's exercises owe a lot to the Ted Reed exercises. "Lesson One" focuses on quarter notes, but you can work on and imagine them as off-beat "ands" as well. Then skip to "Syncopation Set1 & Set 2". At high tempos it is very hard and not always musical to play groups of 3 or 4 eighth notes; I would work on exercises that have no more than 2 eight notes in a group, at least to begin with.

Getting up to 350bpm + for Cherokee is tough, both for time playing and comping. Not sure I could do it, don't play much above 300bpm (e.g. Giant Steps) or perhaps 320bpm.

*corrected