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One useful way to show you’re not full of “it” on drums is to keep an ostinato with one limb or another.
From the “four on the floor” of drummers like Gene Krupa, to “2 and 5” on the hats in bars of 5 from Max Roach, to left foot claves, to more modern “stack ostinatos” from drummers like Jharis Yokley, to even big band figures, or the “hits” of the solo section of Jazz Crimes - which we can thank for the thumbnail inspo…
…drummers have been using ostinatos since way back.
And if we’re really being honest, part of it is to signal to an audience we know what we’re doing. Because we might know we’re not dropping any beats in that solo in 7, but to the audience, it’s abstract art their toddler could do.
Of course, that’s not the only part - ostinatos are a great “cross training” device to help make our time and coordination, and even our ideas, stronger. Not to mention they’re often useful to signal to a band where we are in the bar, in case of rare events like needing to arrive at the downbeat together.
But lest you look askance at the idea of signaling to an audience that you know what you’re doing - and I know my audience, and I know at least some are looking at it askance - let’s remember a few things…
First, drums have been a showpiece since their inception. We don’t begrudge Papa Jo or Sonny Payne being a little showy.
What’s more, throwing the audience a bone about where the beat is is often a way to bring them along in the musical story you’re telling.
Finally, sure we’re artists, but, per Benny Greb, are we not also entertainers?
Well, we’ll get into all of that in today’s video.
At any rate, hope you enjoy!