Nick Smith Chop Gets The 80/20 Treatment

As I create the material for modules 11 and 12 of my course, I’m reminded of the reason I named my channel “80/20”. Because sometimes it’s not about Doing Everything or Doing The Most, but about Doing The Best. By definition, there are possibilities you’ll leave out, because they’re not as useful. Too abstract?

Take this week’s lesson. After 3-4 months of transcribing gospel chops, I feel I’ve got a pretty streamlined system to assimilate other people’s licks into my own vocabulary. But it’s not what you might think. Nate of a Year Ago would have recommended taking a chop and finding every possible way to orchestrate, permutate, and genarally Mess With it. But I’ve come to realize a lot of those possibilities are a luxurious waste of time. Pretend you’re a special forces squadron, and you’ve got limited time and budget to train. Are you going to practice every possible situation that could arise, or are you going to look at your history books and practice those most likely to come up and most dire?

So, instead of showing you a million-and-one ways to mess with this Nick Smith chop, I’ve narrowed it down to the three Most Cold Blooded.

Anyway, you’re probably here for the transcription.

Four Tricks To Make Your Jazz Drumming Sick(er)

I’ll admit it. I was ¾ into editing a lesson on a totally different subject when I sat back and sighed. “This is all shit they’ve heard before.” Really, though, I just wasn’t cracking. I wasn’t entertaining myself. So I did what I’m going to try to do more often in coming weeks: I started from scratch, and started simple. I remembered an email I’d received from an earnest student.

“What should I work on? I’m practicing 45 minutes of your course, then….” and it was a laundry list.

I remember the response I’d composed in my head. “Maybe you should try to simplify, and stick to just a couple of things.” The funny part is, that’s what my course is designed to do, and he was taking it! Then it occurred to me - why not make my response to him into a lesson, so that everybody can see it?

So that was the genesis - instead of working your way through 10 books every day, here are some methods I’ve worked out (that I’ve heard some of my drum heroes talk about too) for taking one lick and spending an entire practice session on it.

Anyway, you’re probably here for the transcription.

Joe Smith Lesson for Subscribers

Paste nate's prepared text

Louis Styx Newsom Beat for Subscribers

So begins a few weeks of lessons that depart from my usual "play like this or that drummer" pattern, in order to delve more deeply into the process of Learning to Play. It just so happens that this week's source material comes from gospel drummer Louis "Styx" Newsom, by way of friend-of-the-channel and killer-in-his-own-right Chesley "Cheese" Allen, of whom I've been a fan for almost 2 years.

Drumming, at its core, consists of two elements - a "what" and a "how", and the further we get along our journey, the more we start to sound like ourselves. Everything we take in/borrow/steal from our heroes goes through the filter of "us", and comes out sounding "Chesleyfied" or "Guilianized" or, in the case of these lessons "Nateified". It just so happened that Louis Newsom supplied the "what" - a sextuplet lick not unlike one Jojo or Spanky might play, and I attempt to supply the "how" - to take you through my process of discovering a new influence, stealing his best licks (thanks Louis;), and bending/shaping them until I can connect them with the growing jigsaw puzzle of my own "voice" (still fledgling, at this point, compared to my heroes).

Anyway, let me hook you up with the transcriptions...

IN THE SPIRIT OF THIS LESSON, I WANT TO ISSUE A FRIENDLY CHALLENGE...

As another gospel great, Tim "Fig" Newton is fond of saying, "don't let it end here." Take the licks, mess with them, and make them yours. So I invite you to show me what you can do with Louis' source material. Take one of these licks, and invent something else with it, then post the video in the comments.