Double Your Drum Vocabulary With This One Trick? (Only Partially Clickbait)

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Hemiola Exercises

So, I'll confess the next few weeks' lessons are going to be more...rote drum lessons and less "infotainment", for the simple reason that I'm working harder than I've ever worked to produce the Solo Course that 35+ brave souls pre-ordered.

More on that below.

But ransacking the annals of my muscle memory (something that sounds dirtier than it actually is) has left precious few resources to brainstorm how to appeal to vast swaths of the internet, and required me to fall back on habit: teaching stuff I'm actually working on, and not worrying about whether it'll be niche or popular.

Apropos of which, this week's topic arose because I was trying to save myself some time and effort by going off-the-cuff - "we'll do it live!!!".

Which backfired hilariously. (Some of which is documented in this week's lesson.)

What it did leave me with, however, were the source materials to make a far more accessible video, about a concept I've been flogging since 2014, but into which I've never really "deep dived": The Humble Hemiola.

It's of-a-feather with the quarter note triplet, and sometimes it's exactly the same, but it's broader. It's also an attitude. A style. A "how", not just a "what".

So if you're ready to live that #hemilife, you'll dig this week's lesson.

Why I finally did my first gear review

Anyone who knows me knows this: I'm not a "gear guy".

Part of it is living in New York, where it's difficult to practice at home, and where single-tenant "lock outs" of the type David Cola rents don't really exist unless you're willing to pay the equivalent rent to that of a small studio apartment.

So we share, and I've had plenty of fun airing my public practice grievances in public.

Which necessitates less gear-obsession than those with full-time setups they know nobody is going to touch get to enjoy.

But even by New York standards, I do not give a sh!# about gear. My nearly 20-year-old Gretsch kit sits in bags in my practice spot. I use it on occasion for videos. But mostly I've been using the communal drum kit.

We used to have a Yamaha Recording Custom. Then the owner moved out of the room. And we got the current Ludwig That's Missing One Leg.

All of which is to say it probably won't surprise anybody that I haven't spent a ton of time investing in mics.

I'm essentially "frozen in time" from the year the Zoom Q3HD was invented. Once I owned one, my mic ambitions stopped dead.

Which must've gotten the attention of a friend of the channel, because he offered to send me an EAD10.

First, I had no idea what one was. Then, I tried to refuse. He insisted, so the largeish box arrived at my apartment a few days later.

(Try getting toilet paper, hand sanitizer, weight plates, or meat that fast.)

Knowing I'd want to showcase the unboxing to honor the donation, I waited until I had a whole afternoon at the studio, then brought the EAD, still in the box, to the studio, along with all my camera gear.

As I opened things, assembled them, and experimented with them, I realized "this is a gear review."

Hence, first gear review on the channel.

Now part of me wants to just order a drum kit. Or at least a snare. Turns out, gear videos are fun. And people like them.

Meh - maybe I'll pay somebody on Fiverr to react to me instead.

We'll see.

Anyway, the EAD turned out to be a lot of fun, and to improve my sound production by quite a bit (though, when I recorded this lesson, it was still a bit of a learning curve, so I wouldn't consider the sound representative).

I had no idea how well I'd like it, but I'd say the EAD is the perfect tool for the price: sounds better than a zoom, which it should, as it's nearly twice-the-price. Sounds great with recorded tracks, as you'll see.

And better by a damn sight than many mic setups, especially in the hands of less-than-stellar engineers.

Hardest Drum Cover EVER?

I jest only slightly.

If you’d like to witness the chronicle of my adventures learning one of the hardest jazz tunes I’ve had to play…and learn what I learned about what makes tunes difficult, just watch :)

The ultimate left foot survival guide for drummers

Left Foot Exercises

The left foot is like the red-headed step-child of drumming.

Unless you've studied jazz, the hi hat remains a mysterious and intimidating creature. It's always over there, and you know how to play on top of it, but whenever you're doing something else with the lead hand, you kind of ignore it.

Completely ignoring the hats is probably better than what some others do - play it out of time, and/or completely unmusically.

As my friend Jordan once told me "you never *have* to play anything with the left foot".

But that creates an "uncanny valley" between nothing and something good.

So my aim in this video is to shepherd you through that valley as quickly as possible, so you can some out on the other end sounding more like a "pro".

But how are we supposed to get there?

Watch great drummers like Guiliana or Larnell, and their hat placements are esoteric.

What if you had a source code for getting inside these guys' heads?

I can't fully tell you what Mark, or Larnell, or up-and-comer Rhagav Mehrotra are thinking or feeling, but I can get you to something close to what they *play*.

Take my hand, and leap with me off the ledge.

Because on the other side is hi hat bliss.

Here's the video. Hope you enjoy.

Back next Monday with something I know you'll love.