I found this week's beat it on Instagram, where you can Get Humble in a hurry if you play the drums, and Spanky's (@yospank) beat was no exception.
It has so many "hooks" to pull attention, it can be hard to tell where "1" is.
I sure couldn't.
I experimented for the better part of a half hour, before I finally picked up something in the beat that anchored me.
(I probably could have just counted the 16ths...)
To find out what it was, how I reverse-engineered the beat, and what Spanky might have been thinking when he invented it, just check out the lesson.
There's an approach to playing licks that's "additive".
You had a certain "bag of tricks" before, and you're adding a sticking or rhythm you've never played.
Then there's an approach that's all about transformation and enhancement.
Both are necessary, neither is wrong, but the "enhancement" approach is the easiest-to-ignore...
...and also the thing most of the greats have in common.
When you listen to a Spanky beat, it's often a variation-on-a-variation-on-a-variation. Which is probably how he arrived at the beat that's the subject of this week's lesson.
Here's the transcription: