Stewart Copeland Lesson for Subscribers

It's hard to quantify fully the influence Stewart Copeland has had on drums writ large, and on me personally. The first album I was allowed to call my own when I was a kid was a copy of Regatta de Blanc, which I nearly wore out playing Message in a Bottle and Walking on The Moon. Fast forward 13 years and I went off to college and discovered jazz - first drummers like Philly Joe Jones and Art Blakey, then modern drummers like Eric Harland and Kendrick Scott. Long-story-short, it had been a minute since I gave Stewart a concerted listen. Then a few months ago I discovered some clinic videos on YouTube, and before I knew it I was down a rabbit-hole, rediscovering songs I hadn't thought about in ages.

Here's the thing - Stewart still sounds like he was recording those songs in 2008. Put the police back together, get Eric Harland to sub for Stewart and my guess is he'd sound an awful lot like...Stewart. That's how deep the influence runs, and that's how ahead-of-his-time Stewart was.

Anyway, you're probably here for the transcription!

Have a favorite Police song? Tell me what it is in the comments below!

Tony Williams Lesson for Subscribers

There's probably no skill more fundamental to playing jazz drums than playing the ride cymbal, and no better practitioner than Tony Williams. Tony was the Paganini of the ride cymbal. The Franz Liszt. While others played in the traditional fashion (and Roy Haynes and Elvin had their own unique takes), Tony deconstructed the ride beat, and got so deep inside it he was able to pull off seemingly Matrix-like feats. And the most signature, the most quintessentially "Tony", was the six-note sequence.

Well, in this era of the Flynn Effect and killers like Justin Brown, Kendrick Scott and Eric Harland, you may find players who nearly equal Tony's facility, but nobody who's surpassed it.

First things first - here's your transcription.

Have you developed any hacks to improve your ride cymbal? What's worked and what hasn't? Leave a comment below!

Dana Hawkins Lesson for Subscribers

If you don't yet know what Time it Is, here's what time it is - you're on my list, so you get a free lesson every week. The lessons cover stylistic aspects of my favorite drummers, or just whatever I happen to be working on at the time, and are intended to supplement, not replace the courses, which go a few levels deeper.

That's especially relevant with Dana, because if you're familiar with the Roadmap or coaching course at all and check out any Dana a lot of stuff starts to look eerily familiar, and it's no accident. A challenge to myself to play like Dana in one year was the genesis of both of them.

Anyway, get your transcription....here

As I've done for the past couple of lessons, I'll ask for your comments. Have you studied the Roadmap or the Coaching Course? Which rudiments or patterns do you notice that are the most "Dana-like"?

Mark Part 3 for Subscribers

Hey folks welcome back for another lesson of the week.

This week I revisit Mark G, the drummer who put me on the map. If there's anything that unites 8020 Nation (hah! I should actually call it that;), it's an appreciate for the value of playing both Jazz and Other drums, and a transcription of Locked in a Basement roughed out on a Starbucks napkin.

By the way - should I do a lesson on Locked in a Basement?

Anyway, I've got your weekly Drum Lesson Crack.

And now a question - have you struggled with subdivision changes in the past? What have you done to conquer it, and has it worked? Leave a comment below!