[Podcast] Danny McGonegle - I Decided to Give Myself a Chance

There’s an instagram reel of today’s guest playing at Smalls. The description, next to a video of a blistering solo, says “I used to have to be drunk to play at Smalls.”

That single sentence encapsulates almost everything he wants you to know about his story.

First, that now he’s by-all-measures a prodigious jazz drum talent.

Second, that a surprisingly short time ago he had crippling performance anxiety.

Third, that that anxiety led to alcoholism at a young age.

Fourth, that he’s now sober, and has poured all that anxiety into making himself the player and social media star he is.

Danny brings up his journey to sobriety in the first sentence of his interview. And, in person, he was not what I expected from his social media.

On Instagram, Danny presents as a macho “gym bro”, obsessed with 400 bpm ride cymbal, even if many of his videos are satirical and self-referential. I was fully expecting a Friday Night Lights character.

In person, he’s warm, humble, self-deprecating, and unironically excited to talk about music. And talk we did. Whether about overcoming social anxiety, the minutiae of practice routines, the role of the left hand, great jazz drummers we both admire, at what stage players should get on social media, or how music is subjective except somehow Tony Williams, we got into it.

I’ve often thought about building a musical career in modern times as at least 3 axes: musical ability, virality, and integrity, with the last 2 seemingly slightly in conflict, and the first somewhat allowing for the third. (Trust me, I’m making a video on this.)

In a world in which people sing jazz solos while bouncing on a pogo stick, dress up as medieval monsters, or actually become “what my friends think a jazz drummer is” for follows, Danny’s charted a high-integrity course: showing what a “real” modern jazz drummer can be, with some whimsey, humor, and wit, and always putting the music first.

If you’ve ever struggled with performance anxiety or motivation, or just wanted to see “behind the curtain” of one of the most fascinating young jazz drummers, you’ll enjoy this interview.

See you soon!

If You Can Play This Beat, You're a Good Drummer

First things first - grab your free transcription here.

I happened on the beat in today’s video more-or-less at random. But once I struggled to play it, I realized “this has everything.”

Sure, there’s the surface layer or it looking relatively easy.

Then, just below that, the “premutated” “1-E-and”s.

The most challenging bit for me was syncing the kick drum with that hand part.

But it’a actually turtles all the way down. There’s something for every level of drummer.

Beginners may find it challenging just to keep the snare part consistent volume and touch when adding 8th notes in the lead hand.

Intermediates might be challenged by adding a basic foot part without “flamming”.

Still more advanced folks might be challenged by playing the lead hand groups of 3 notes, and the underlying technique.

Still more advanced will find that ok, but possibly need time to master the “changing polarity” of the hand part.

And your GOAT, final boss drummers will struggle…who are we kidding. They’d probably nail it.

But for US mere mortals, improvising with the kick drum with the “permutated” hand part will give us plenty o’challenge.

Back to the “it looks easy” thing. One thing I used to do but have mostly stopped doing is arguing with YouTube commenters about where there’s more-than-meets-the-eye about good drummers. (i.e. that time is more than a completely personal/subjective/arbitrary concept.) (And not in the way it is for Ringo or Bonham.)

When I interviewed Ed Soph 2 years ago, he said he doesn’t waste time arguing. He simply presents people with a challenge they won’t be able to master with their current approach. “Drummer 1 and drummer 2.”

So in that spirit, I give you today’s beat, with the proviso that at every level, it’s only a matter of spending the time to get better, so nobody should take finding particular parts of this challenge an indictment of their potential.

Phew - onto the lesson?

See you soon!

The Drum Fill Test Every Intermediate Drummer Should Pass

First things first - get your free transcription/study guide here.

Today’s video is aspirational. No one should feel bad about their level of improvisation on the drums, any more than I might feel bad about my lack of aptitude at deep sea diving or the Greek language. It’s almost entirely a function of how much time you put in.

So I want to give you four principles to aim for as you work to improve your fills on the drums. In the hopes of narrowing your focus from the infinite potential things you could be working on. By focussing on these 4, my guess is you’ll improve faster.

When playing fills, or indeed any improvisation on the drums, we’re trying to be a few things at once. And you can probably guess the things:

Not boring, in control, maintaining our sense of the barline where appropriate.

And here’s the kicker - it’s not like there’s some metaphysical Simon Cowell who’s going to tell you if your fills are good or wack. Ultimately, you’re still the judge.

But these 4 criteria will help you pinpoint your direction of travel more minutely. Hopefully.

Plus, for each “test question”, I also propose exercises to help you improve that part of your fills.

I hope this will make you feel better about your drumming, and give you some tools to get a little growth during the last few weeks of the summer.

See you soon!

Why Guns N’ Roses’ “Paradise City” Sounds Wrong

First things first - get your free transcription here.

This one is straightforward fun.

Years ago, I’d be in my college gym, and inevitably the playlist included Guns N Roses’ Paradise City.

Even at the time, the was one bar I found jarring.

I’d be in my daily practice, with a metronome, trying to get my timing down to a minute degree…

…then I’d come into the “real world” for a gym break, and hear…something I couldn’t place.

On the transition between verse and chorus, GNR’s Steven Adler plays a series of “machine gun” 16ths on the snare, then 2 thunderous 8ths as the pickup into the next bar,

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that those 8ths were…a little ahead. “Whatever,” I thought, and went back to studying odd-meter jazz, or Dave Hollinden percussion ensemble music.

Last week, hearing Paradise City - where else - at the gym, it finally hit me: “this is in 15/16”.

Not that it was intentional. But that the “warp” of that bar was so extreme that it was functionally missing a 16th.

Excited, I ran to the studio to see if it worked out. Sure enough, if you loop just that “pre-chorus” bar, you can play seamless Matt Garstka/Tigran Hamasyan 15/16 over the top, and it actually sounds pretty cool.

Now, do I think this is really what GNR had in mind?
Of course not.

The reality has more to do with the band’s relationship with drummer Steven Adler, and with Adler himself.

And in this video, we get into all of it.

Hope you enjoy!