Jazz Ballad Crash Course

Careful what you wish for. Feedback on  my last “mini” lesson was unequivocal: people want shorter lessons if I’m not doing a collaboration or interview.

Not one to ignore good advice, I give you another “shortie”. Jazz ballads are probably the scariest single thing you can do as a drummer. Vast, wide-open spaces, plenty of room to rush or drag, plenty of sonic space for people to hear if your brushes aren’t on point. (Even Jojo gets nervous…)

So I thought I’d give you two simple tools to make your jazz ballads better. First, a ballad pattern that seems to work at multiple tempos, and keeps one brush in motion all-the-time, but also accents the beats to give the band a clue where you are. Second, you know that hipster lick you always hear Ari and Greg doing? I’ve got a version of that. (As usual, I tried to get at the DNA of the lick, not just recite it verbatim.)

Anyway, you’re probably here for the transcription.

And for the comment thread, who’s coming to my LA clinic!?!? It will be either Wednesday Jauary 20, Thursday the 21st, or Friday the 22nd. If it’s thursday I might drag some of you to cocktails with some of my entrepreneur buddies. Oh - and probably in Echo Park/Silverlake. As I’ve said, I’ll get an official announcement out soon!

See you soon killaz,

N

Murder Out Your BackBeat

So I've had a good week. It's not every week a pie-in-the-sky project idea comes to fruition in better form than you conceived it. But that's just what happened with this week’s lesson.

Over the next several months I'm going to be introducing you to some of my favorite drummers on YouTube, and to start things off, I give you Gabe from Drum Beats Online.

I discovered Gabe in my news feed and quickly grew to appreciate what he was doing: breaking down difficult drum concepts in a clear and entertaining way. When I reached out to him to do a collaboration, much less a “group lesson” format from two separate studios - one that would have to be edited together, and would require a lot of back-and-forth - I kept my expectations realistic. To his credit, Gabe was in 100%, demonstrating the “why not” attitude that's doubtless played a big role in his channel’s success.

The lesson covers a topic we’ve both been asked about: how do you play a backbeat without being Boring. You're playing behind a band, so you can't go to Keith-Carlock-Wayne-Krantz territory, but you don't have to stick with just “2 and 4”. In this lesson Gabe and I show you just a few ideas to bust out of your backbeat rut.

Anyway, you’re probably here for the transcription.

And for the comment thread, now that we've identified the format, who would you like to see a collaboration with in the future?

See you soon killaz,

N

Kendrick Scott Stick Click Lick

I made a short one for you guys this week. Why? I was bored, so I’m planning a trip to LA for drum clinics, NAMM, and Korean barbecue. Also, I’ve been hard at work on my collaboration videos.

None of which is meant to imply that this week’s topic is a throwaway. Some of my most popular lessons are “shorties” I dash off before it’s onto the next. If Philly Joe elevated the crosstick lick to state-of-the-art, Kendrick Scott murdered it out. I’ve long been a fan of unorthodox crosstick techniques (Marcus? Daddy?), and I seized upon this busy week as an opportunity to showcase a few of them. I’m giving you just enough to grab the proverbial ball and run with it on your own.

Anyway, you’re probably here for the transcription.

Now let’s talk about the clinics. NAMM is the week after MLK Day, in Anaheim. The plan is to fly in on Monday, post up in LA for the week, do a clinic, then head down to the ‘heim for a day-or-two of the convention. This is not the formal announcement for the clinics, but it is the elevator pitch/proof-of-concept. As with the Asia clinics, I’m crowdsourcing this whole thing.

1. Best - do you have a venue and a local reach, and are you willing to promote. Shout at me!

2. Great - do you know of or work at a venue you’d be willing to rent me, and can you assist in getting the word out (sharing facebook posts and videos to your page, etc)?

3. Good, and much appreciated - do you have any ideas about people I should hit up who might be able to help me get a clinic off-the-ground, good places to stay (off-the-grid nabes with killer AirBNB deals, etc). It’s all appreciated!

If you’re in any of those categories, please hit me back and let's talk. I appreciate you!

How to Comp for Jazz Drums

Practically any place modern drummers place the hi hat in ostinato situations can trace its roots to Max Roach.

Why? It was Max who was the “grandfather” of odd meters. Want to play in 3? There’s a Max beat for that. 5? 6? 7? Check!

Which brings me to the primary subject of this week’s lesson: why does it sometimes feel awkward to play the hi hats on “2 and 4”? (This is a question I got asked in Thailand.) The reason, I realized, is that sometimes you have to play phrases that don’t conform neatly to 4 beats. Well then, where are you supposed to play the hats?

I dealt with this issue somewhat in the lesson “How to (Really) Play Jazz Drums”, and I have templates for it in my course, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized all these “logical” ways of playing the hi hat have analogs in Max Roach beats. Could studying Max be a shortcut to comping in modern music situations? As a student of Marcus Gilmore and Justin Brown, I have to say of course.

Anyway, you’re probably here for the transcription.

And for the comment thread this week, what challenges you when you’re trying to play backbeat grooves like Keith Carlock, Jojo/Mark/Zach (the KimYe or BenIfer of our time?) or Nate Wood? I’m doing the first of my collaborations of this fall/winter with Gabe of the excellent channel Drum Beats Online, and we want to tackle phrasing in modern backbeats. Hit me with your questions!