First things first: If you're here for the transcription, get it here.
A five year old can play "fast".
But the difference between that five-year-old, and the great players, is the subject of this week's lesson.
It's not just speed, but clarity.
Time.
Phrasing.
Texture.
That thing that makes you purse your lips whenever you listen to a Vinnie/Mark/Marcus solo.
Let's call that the "x factor".
But what would happen if you took away the fast, and kept only the x-factor. What would that look like?
It's just that concept I was experimenting with last week. To back-up, I've been spending a lot of time just practicing playing on the drums, with no cymbals.
Why?
I felt I was a little to "hat reliant", and I didn't like that I was facing the hats so much, instead of in the center of the kit.
So I'd work on phrases, of the type in my course (continually sharpening the saw), around the drums, only allowing myself to play the hats with LH and LF.
At the same time, I was checking out Taron Lockett's instagram, (@taroney) digging several clips of Taron playing with his band. There's a tune that sounds like a Scofield record with the Chambers/Beard/Granger band, and I was practicing playing over the top.
140 bpm on the metronome, but I found ideas were really repetitive, and I was "hiccuping" a lot. What to do?
Slow it DOOOOOOWN. 70bpm. "Same" tempo, but half the frequency. Sure enough, my ideas opened up, and I was making better phrases.
Along the way, I invented a couple of slick phrases in 16ths that allowed me to "break up" the time, and create the "illusion" of playing faster than I was.
And it's these licks that are the subject of this week's lesson.