What is Microtime? - Drum Lesson of The Week

I've been getting a lot of questions about microtime. Specifically, "what's that thing you're doing with the metronome." It's true - I've been using a weird metronome placement in the last several videos, and though I explained briefly, I thought why not just devote a whole video to it.

So here it is. In this video I explain

• What microtime is and why it's important
• Where I'm placing the metronome and why, and how you can work up to it
• A quick sequence of exercises that you can play with the basic, then the advanced metronome placement that will help make your time more solid.

Want to go Deeper? If you haven't yet checked out the 80/20 Roadmap, it's my premium video series that puts all my favorite "hacks" for getting better fast in one place. My outlandish claim? I'll revolutionize your playing in 3 months.

How to Invent a Spanky Fill - Lesson of The Week

This week instead of giving you generalities, I decided to "zoom in" on one very specific thing in my practice regimen. A lot of people will teach you this or that fill or chop, but I wanted to take you into the process of how I invented it, putting the process at the forefront.

Hope you enjoy.

Want to go Deeper? If you haven't yet checked out the 80/20 Roadmap, it's my comprehensive video series that puts all my favorite "hacks" for getting better in one place. My outlandish claim? I'll revolutionize your playing in 3 months.

How to (Really) Play Uptempo Swing - Lesson of The Week

This week I'm back in front of the Migrating Birds mural here at 80/20 HQ to do a quick Deep Dive into how I really practice uptempo swing. (That's what this series is turning into, BTW - stepping you through what it actually looks like when I practice.)

I've touched on up-tempo swing elsewhere, and if you haven't checked out "How to (Really) Play Jazz Part 2 - Fast Times", it's a toolbox of idioms that will take your uptempo playing out a rut and open up the door for your expression. Now, a few months down the road, I'm meditating on what a day of swing practice would look like. Among the key concepts:

• How to begin to think of the "big beat" while keeping the microtime tight.
• Two tools to create quick variations on any idea.
• My "secret" for deploying the ride cymbal without needing Tony-Williams-esque chops.

Want to go Deeper? If you haven't yet checked out the 80/20 Roadmap, it's my comprehensive video series that puts all my favorite "hacks" for getting better in one place. My outlandish claim? I'll revolutionize your playing in 3 months.

How to (Really) Play Drum Solos - Lesson of The Week

For this week's lesson, I discuss how to practice playing drum solos. This is not a lesson about rudiments. I have a ton of rudimental exercises for free elsewhere on the site. This is about how to use those rudiments you've been shedding in a musical way during a fill or solo. I spent two weeks trying to figure out the best way to teach this, and in the end it came back to something I talk about all the time: well, time. That's right - don't practice soloing first and time second. Practice playing in time, and use the exercises in the video to work your way gradually up to more "chops" in your solos.

Want to go Deeper? If you haven't yet checked out the 80/20 Roadmap, it's my comprehensive video series that puts all my favorite "hacks" for getting better in one place. My outlandish claim? I'll revolutionize your playing in 3 months.

How to (Really) Practice Metric Modulation - Lesson of The Week

In the inaugural Lesson of The Week, I discuss how practicing the "transition" part of a metric modulation is overrated, and the "meat and potatoes" of the exercises may lie in "making loops" within the implied meter.

Want to go Deeper? If you haven't yet checked out the 80/20 Roadmap, it's my comprehensive video series that puts all my favorite "hacks" for getting better in one place. My outlandish claim? I'll revolutionize your playing in 3 months.