How to (Really) Play Up Tempo Brushes

I work on brushes a lot because I suck at them. Seriously. I believe they’re the single most difficult thing in the drummer’s tool kit.

But that’s precisely why I may have some insight. If I can help myself get better at brushes, I can help anyone.

Anyway, I finally felt confident enough to circle back to brushes this week and tackle one of the more popular subjects I get asked about: up-tempo brushes. Since I’m working on specing out a practice regimen for my course, I thought I’d take just a bit of the approach I’m using there and explain it in this lesson.

Bottom line: we’re trying to make your playing cleaner, and bust you out of ostinatos and make you feel freer at up tempos.

Anyway, you’re probably here for the transcription.

Do you have any tricks or hacks that have worked for you to make up-tempos “click” better? I’d love to hear about them below!

How To Play Any Rap Song In 2015

As you might surmise, there’s a story behind this week’s lesson. The track that opens it was beamed into my bedroom window every weekend night for a good six weeks, turned up to “11”, courtesy of my neighbors across the alley. And I have to say, I came to love it a little bit.

Scorched-Earth-Rager-Stockholm-Syndrome? Probably.

Anyway, I already had I’m in Love With The Coco in my head for obvious reasons (because it’s Awesome), I was hearing all the new Drake and Lil Wayne hits, then something hit me: A very particular species of halftime dirge beat hardly anybody had worked with up to this point (contrast it, for instance, with last summer’s hits, Happy by Pharrell, Am I Wrong by Nico and Vinz, and Talk Dirty to Me by Jason Derulo) was suddenly Everywhere.

And good thing, because it’s a great beat to practice drums to! That’s what inspired this week’s lesson. If you can play along with this summer’s hottest rap tracks, you’ve probably worked on your pocket quite a bit, and your microtime is probably piping. For the folks in my course, any track in this video will make a great play-along for modules 5 or 11.

Anyway, you’re probably here for the transcription.

Do you have any silly-but-awesome R&B anthems you’re drumming along with this summer? Leave a comment below!

Nick Smith Chop Gets the 8020 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.

Louis Newsom Gospel Lick - Lesson of The Week

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, you're likely here for the transcriptions -

As usual please enter your best email address on the next page, because that's where I'll send the download links. Also, just for trusting me with your email address, I'm going to send you three of the best videos from the archive, complete with transcriptions, completely free.

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.

One Hard Drum Beat That Sounds Easy - Lesson of The Week

I have to shout out Drumeo, my behemoth compatriot in the drum lesson space (I don't consider this Zero Sum competition, so I don't use the word "competitor") for the idea for this week's lesson. In truth, though, the idea has been marinating for a few months - ever since I read Josh Waitzkin's book The Art of Learning, and listened to Mark Guiliana, Oli Bernatchez, and Ofri Nehemya.

Josh, chess-champion-cum-Taiqi/Juijitsu-phenom, speaks about a concept called "making smaler circles" to refer to gradual refinement of a skill. You start out with all the steps explicit, giving everything equal weight. Over time, you gain a feel for the "80/20" of the movement, and learn to perform it with fewer-and-fewer explicit steps. The end result is a Taiqi master who can throw an opponent out of the ring with zero movement visible to an inexperienced onlooker, because the movements are so deep and subtle.

I immediately thought of Mark, Oli, and Ofri. What makes these drummers (and Marcus Gilmore and Ari Hoenig) so great is it often feels like you're only seeing the outward manifestation of about 20% of what they've got happening inside.

Like a reduced balsamic vinegar or high quality whiskey, TONS of source material has gone into producing something very minimal, but it's not a 1:1 tradeoff: you still see evidence that there's more-than-meets-the-eye when you watch Mark, Oli, and Ofri. They've made smaller circles.

Anyway, I was at-a-loss as to how to communicate this to you good folks until my buddies over at Drumeo produced One Easy Drum Beat That Sounds Hard, and, jokester-that-I-am, I knew I'd have to produce a lesson on precisely the opposite, I realized - "OH. This is Making Smaller Circles Redux."

Finally, Easter Egg - I'll be in Hong Kong October 12-16 and Taipei the following week, and planning to do drum clinics. More info coming soon! 

Play Like Thomas Pridgen Part 2 - Lesson of The Week

Ahoy there drum killers! Last week found me back in the shed continuing to check out and refine Thomas Pridgen's drum vocabulary. For this lesson, I focussed on the Drum Channel solo, which provided me two great things: a jumping off point for muscular linear playing, and some great new fills. As your faithful trailblazer, I experimented around until I got 3 key takeaways to share with you guys-

1. A cool way to practice linear vocab, and the "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" approach that will add power to your playing without costing you more energy.
2. A bunch of jaw-dropping fills that will get the audience on their feet.
3. All this stuff works even if you wear a shirt. (Sorry, Thomas, I had to:P)

Anyway, you're likely here for the transcription!

Make sure you enter your best email address on the next page so I know where to send the transcription! As a Thankyou, I'll also send you 3 of my most popular videos from the archive, complete with their own transcriptions.

Do you agree with Thomas that your playing ability increases slightly after the removal of your shirt? Leave a comment below!

The Thomas Pridgen Lick - Lesson of The Week

This week's lesson found me at "80/20 Studios West", filming a quick video while bunking/hanging with my parents in Montana. (Yes, "white trash surfing", or riding the inner tube of a big rig tire down the river, is the truth. No, don't carry your car keys with you.)

Anyway, in search of something "quick and dirty" I could make for you guys, I remembered a Thomas Pridgen lick from one of the first Gospel Chops videos ever made, and luckily it dovetailed with something I'd been messing about...sorry - messing around...with (hanging out with too many Brits lately;) since shooting the Nick Smith Lesson two weeks ago.

"People have been playing that same lick since the '90s! I played that lick on the Jimmy Kimmel show with Keyshia Cole!" Thomas says, apparently urging viewers to move onto something else. As novice Gospel Chops aficionado, I had different things in mind.

If this lick's a cliche, I probably need to learn it.

Anyway, you're likely here for the transcriptions.

Make sure you enter your best email address on the next page, because that's where I'll email the transcription. (It's free, btw.) And as a "thankyou", I'll also send you three my most popular videos from the archive. If they don't help you, just unsubscribe! If they do, I'd love to hear about it!

Anyway, enjoy the lesson, and if you have any favorite Thomas Pridgen licks you'd like me to transcribe and/or break down, just leave a comment below!

Play Odd Meters Like Nate Wood - Lesson of The Week

For months I've been looking for an excuse to do a lesson on Nate Wood. Medium-term fans of the channel will remember Nate was my interview guest last fall - another drummer who atomized me in a "shed" by appearing to think and play in four dimensions and making me feel repetitive and dynamically limited by comparison. But it was difficult to find a subject on which to base a Nate lesson - do I cover a demanding Tigran Hamasyan tune like Serpentine? Or do I break down his solo from Kneebody's Trite, which requires probably six months of training in cross-handed break-beat hi hat technique out-of-the-gate. The problem with Nate's playing is the "difficulty level" is so high, and it's so whimsical. There aren't really any "licks" to latch onto.

But I found something - Nate's penchant for expanding the barline on odd meters, and Ben Wendel's tune Backbou from his excellent record Frame seemed like the perfect canvas upon which to demonstrate.

First things first - you're probably here for the transcriptions. Get them by clicking on the button below.

Make sure you enter your best email address on the next page because that's where I'll send the download links. In exchange for your email address, I want to send you 3 of the most popular lessons from the archive, that I have it on good authority will make you better!

Have a nominee for the next Nate Wood lesson? Leave a comment below!

Play The Big Beat Like Jeff Ballard - The 80/20 Drummer

Jeff is the first of a few weeks of lessons on things I wouldn't have been able to do a year ago. People have been asking for a breakdown of the Knives Out beat from the Brad Mehldau Trio for ages, but I wasn't good enough to make it happen.

Luckily the collective pressure pushed me to get my act together, and in the process I figured out a few shortcuts to playing half-swing-half-breakbeat stuff as Jeff does on that tune.

First things first - the transcription...

Make sure you enter your best email address on the next page, so I know where to send the files! Just for giving me your email address, I'll send you 3 or my most popular videos from the archive, complete with transcriptions, completely free.

Have a favorite Jeff Ballard track? (The list is deep - mine might be The Next Step with Kurt Rosenwinkel.) Leave a comment below!

Play Gospel Chops Like Nick Smith - Lesson of The Week

Ahoy folks this week's "guest" needs no introduction. Famous not only as one of the best drummers of his generation, but also - and in my opinion more importantly - for bucking the "conventional" path to success: playing in church, going to Berklee, then getting huge on the internet, largely on the back of bootleg church clinic videos and the insurgent Soultone Cymbals YouTube channel, is Mr. Nick Smith.

That's why the track that's the subject of this week's video hits so close to home. "Comin from low, still on the rise - Look at Me."

Anyway, you're likely here for the Transcription, so let's get to it!

Make sure to enter your best email address on the next page, because that's where I'll send the transcription. You'll also get 3 of my most popular videos from the archive, complete with transcriptions, for free, just for giving me your email address. It goes without saying that I hate spam and I won't abuse your email address!

Have a favorite Nick Smith track? Let me know in the comments below!

Virtual Drum Clinic - Nate Answers Viewer Questions, Part One

It began as an exercise to save time. "Just ask my viewers what they want to hear about, then I won't have to invent a lesson," I thought. Ha!

The good news is, like most self-challenges I accidentally get myself into because I think they'll be "easy", recording this one both pushed me to consider a lot of what I do more deeply, and gave me a (virtual) ream of good ideas for lessons. Anyway, in this lesson I discuss...

1:26 - how to practice playing over a tune form, how to practice drum solos

6:33 - can you learn drums or are you either born with it or not, and what to do when the band has crappy time

10:01 - respecting the tradition, and choosing a grip

13:21 - how to play the bass drum faster, play off the head

(14:50 - roadmap;)

17:08 - what's my background, and what advice would I give a young jazz drummer looking for career success.

Resources mentioned in this episode - 

• How to play like Mark, Part 2 (advanced soloing)
• Stablemates, by Benny Golson
• The 8020 Roadmap
• The Tropical MBA Podcast - Make money without working for the Man.

Guys, if you want to continue the discussion about any of the issues I'll be in the comments of this post. Love your feedback!

Play Like Stewart Copeland Part One

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!

If you're new to the channel, make sure to enter your best email address on the next page, because that's where I'll send you the transcription. You'll also get 3 of the most popular videos from the archive, as a "thanks" from me.

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

Play the Ride Cymbal like Tony Williams - Lesson of The Week

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.

If you're new to the channel, make sure you enter your best email address on the next page, because that's the address to which I'm going to send the download! As a "thank you", you'll also get a sequence of 3 of my most popular videos from the archive, complete with their own transcriptions.

Finally, have you tried to play the ride cymbal like Tony? What's worked for you and what hasn't? Leave a comment below!

Play Like Dana Hawkins 1 - Lesson of The Week

Ahoy, new viewer! If you're seeing this page, it's likely your first exposure to the channel.

The 80/20 Drummer represents a different approach to drum instruction - one that starts from the question - "what if all the conventional wisdom were wrong?"

Three popular myths I aim to debunk are - 1) all practice hours are created equal, 2) you have to be Born with it to play the drums, 3) you Can't Play Jazz. (You can, and it will make your other playing stronger!)

But, I digress. The reason you're here is for the transcriptions.

Please make sure you enter your Best email address on the next page, because that's where I'm going to be sending the transcriptions.

You'll also get 3 additional free videos from the archive over the next couple of weeks, as a "thanks" for signing up!

As long as you're here, why not browse the other free lessons on this page?

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Play Like Mark Part 3 - The Lick

Hey folks if you're seeing this article, you're probably new to the channel. Welcome!

The 80/20 Drummer, inspired jointly by my love of drumming and of strategic thinkers like Kevin Kelly and Tim Ferriss, is where I document my journey to get great at drumming, and share everything I learn with you. This week, we've got the third installment of one of my favorites, and one of the most unorthodox drummers of the last few years, Mark G. Oh - you probably want the transcription -

I encourage you to entrust me with your best email address on the next page (it's where you'll get the link for the transcription;), and in exchange, I'm going to send you the three most popular videos from the archive - I like to say they're 3 videos that will change your playing in 3 weeks.

If you dig this "taste" of my approach, I encourage you to stick around and explore some of the other lessons.

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Play Like Dan Weiss - Lesson of The Week

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Salud!

Two Justin Tyson Inspired Chops - Lesson of The Week

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Play Odd Meters Like Marcus - Lesson of the Week

Ahoy folks! Here's the Lesson of the Week for newbies to the site. (Welcome! Just scroll down when you're done with this one to see all my latest lessons!)

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This week's lesson marks a departure from my usual material. I've actually created a Rudmental Ritual for you guys. But I want you to remember two things:

• All of this assumes you can play the stuff cleanly. It's all wasted time if you can't. If you're new and want to fine-hone your ability to make sure your "personal drum troupe" is locking up, check out my premium materials like the roadmap and the coaching course, or my free ones like the Gospel video for a primer. If you're currently enrolled in the coaching course, you can add a few of these as "extra credit" to the rudimental portion of your week's routine. (Folks who have asked me for odd meter stuff, you know who you are:)
• As soon as possible, you should orchestrate and improvise with this stuff, otherwise it's just moving your hands, and you're the drum equivalent to the guy at the gym doing the same weight he did last week on the bench that he only lowers 3 inches after he says "spot me brah."

OK - soapbox over. Enjoy it!

What are you currently doing for odd meter practice? Leave a comment below!

Play W.A.I.T.T. Like Justin Brown Part One - Learn The Tune

Hey folks thanks for checking out the site. You can download the transcriptions below.

There's only one thing I need from you. Your best email address. That way I can send you three videos to improve your playing in 3 weeks. Or, unsubscribe as soon as you get the Justin transcriptions. But you want to be subscribed. All my new lessons, as soon as they're posted, will be delivered to your inbox. And I'll never spam you. I'd rather die.

Anyway, while you're here feel free to explore and check out my other lessons!