

The backbeat is the common thread shared by all types of American popular music. The snare plays together with the hi-hat to emphasize the strong beats on counts two and four.

The last pattern is a simple backbeat.The second pattern is an Afro-Cuban influenced jazz Mambo where the sidestick and tom represent the slap and tone of the conga pattern.The first pattern adds a side-stick on count four.As jazz evolves into listener’s music in the bebop era, rhythmic phrasing becomes more melodic and less repetitive. Like rock and pop, repetitive patterns were used to build excitement and make music danceable. Swing-era(1935-1945) jazz was the popular dance music of the day. Repeat these patterns as consistent grooves.It is a fantastic warm up and a great opportunity to develop your left hand coordination.īack to Index Part Three: Basic Left Hand Patterns The shuffle is the first left hand groove you will learn.Apply the counting method you learned in part one.It is easy to hear everything but the bassist. Work together with him or her to establish a solid time feel-providing the foundation for the band. If you can make a simple pattern sound good, you are already playing at a high level.The way you feel when you practice will become part of your time feel and will have a powerful effect on the overall sound of the band. Work on counting, feeling and breathing the rhythm. Learn to play the blues and feel the connection. Strive for consistent, even, rolling triplets.If you can resist the temptation, take a deep breath and slow down a little, you will deepen your time feel and learn new material easily. Remember that quality is the goal, not speed. If that’s the case, learning to play while counting is a great opportunity for improvement. You may already be able to play this pattern, but when you try to count or play slowly it sounds erratic and sloppy. At first it may seem more difficult to play while counting, but the quality and musicality you achieve by going through the process is the goal. Counting connects your playing to the language center of your brain. Let’s begin there with part one.īack to Index Part One: The Basic Pattern The single most important skill you will learn is keeping time, since it has such a powerful effect on the overall sound of the band. When you’re ready, you can take the lead and solo. The melody ties it all together and wraps it up at the end.Īt first, our role as a drummer is just to keep time and support the other musicians.

#DRUM TRANSCRIPTIONS JAZZ FREE#
Occasionally two or more players will improvise together, or the band will stretch into an all out free for all. The melody of the song is played at the beginning and the end, like an introduction and conclusion. Between the intro and outro or “head in” and “head out,” each player takes a turn improvising while the others back them up. It’s the easiest way to sound like a professional.īack to Index How Does Jazz Drumming Work? If you have questions or need support, just reach out and let me know.Īs a beginner, I recommend taking simple rhythms and making them sound good. You’ll find a notation key here and basic rhythm reading lessons here. Reading isn’t a requirement, but drum notation is easy to learn and helpful as a visual reference.
#DRUM TRANSCRIPTIONS JAZZ HOW TO#
This will show you how to apply these lessons and keep you accountable. I recommend printing Goals and Waypoints and using it as a progress checklist. Here you’ll learn the basic skills needed to play in a jazz band.
