Fairly regularly some outstanding musicians/bands come to the Jazz Department at the Manhattan School of Music to give master classes. It is one of the perks of being a graduate student there.
The Fly Trio gave such a great master class for us last week. I wanted to write a couple of paragraphs about it because it was so inspiring. The FLY Trio, in case you are not familiar with them, is comprised of Mark Turner on Tenor Sax, Larry Grenadier on Bass, and Jeff Ballard on Drums. Everyone of them is an authority on his respective instrument.
They started the master class by just playing a couple of tunes. The first tune they played was a Bud Powell composition called "The Fruit." This is not exactly the kind of tune that I expected them to start of with! Usually they play mostly original compositions. It was really eye opening to hear these great players interact in this lean and open environment of a chord-less trio. Larry really takes care of business! What I mean by this is that he really holds the ship together. I hear him at the center of the group.
What blew me away about these guys is how reserved and tasteful their playing as a trio is. Jeff has such great patience. There were plenty of opportunities for him to become the center of attention but he often plays very laid back and just lets the music bubble at a comfortable temperature. He never overplays and brings such an open feeling to the bandstand. The spots where he makes a statement are carefully chosen and are therefore even more effective. He provides such a great, wide and relaxed feel. I thought this was remarkable for a drummer in a trio setting. It is so easy to play a lot of comping ideas since there is so much open space due to the lack of a piano or guitar. As a matter of fact, I think that many of us drummers feel a strong need to fill that space because each musician is so exposed in a trio setting.
Another factor of course is volume. Jeff is always in such great control dynamically. The ensemble all together plays at a very moderate volume, which allows the music to breath better. Everybody can be heard and thus everyone is aware of what is happening.
It was abundantly clear that these guys think about all these things intensely once they started talking about their group.
Jeff mentioned Billy Higgins's wide beat as a great influence. They all stressed the importance of listening intently to the other people. Larry remarked that he only plays ideas in response or as a result of what he hears from his colleagues. He tries to never play something that he just thinks of on his own. This way he creates a coherent group sound.
These are just a few thoughts that stuck with me. They are really worth checking out if you are not familiar with them.
Here is a link to one of their performances at the Jazz Standard here in NYC from last week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTrEfOGJsR8
I highly recommend checking out Jeff's Modern Drummer interview. You can find it on his website I think. Just google him!
Enjoy!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
16th Note Accents as "Diddles"
Today I will add a new component to the 16th note accents.
Remember that you should thoroughly master the previous post first. It is crucial that your coordination between your limbs and between accented and unaccented notes is tight in order for these exercises to be beneficial.
This next one is really fun because it will quickly develop your double stroke rolls.
We will now substitute a double stroke (which are also called diddles) for every accented note.
This will allow you to focus very clearly on each double stroke, since you will only play one diddle per beat in the first 4 exercises. Allow yourself to take advantage of this by practicing these again with a metronome in a relaxed fashion with a focus on control.
A really neat thing about this little drill is that you will automatically learn all the different rolls such as five-stroke rolls, seven-stroke rolls, 9stroke rolls and so forth. You will also learn how to play ruffs automatically. It's all in there.
Have fun with it!
Remember that you should thoroughly master the previous post first. It is crucial that your coordination between your limbs and between accented and unaccented notes is tight in order for these exercises to be beneficial.
This next one is really fun because it will quickly develop your double stroke rolls.
We will now substitute a double stroke (which are also called diddles) for every accented note.
This will allow you to focus very clearly on each double stroke, since you will only play one diddle per beat in the first 4 exercises. Allow yourself to take advantage of this by practicing these again with a metronome in a relaxed fashion with a focus on control.
A really neat thing about this little drill is that you will automatically learn all the different rolls such as five-stroke rolls, seven-stroke rolls, 9stroke rolls and so forth. You will also learn how to play ruffs automatically. It's all in there.
Have fun with it!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Simple Accent Studies
I have been playing drums for quite some time now and through the years I have found simple and in my opinion very effective systems to improve my technique. I want to share some of these systems with you and find out if you find them helpful as well!
In order to gain good control over the drum set, one needs to spend a lot of time on conditioning your hands. I found accent studies to be extremely helpful for strengthening my hands.
Let's get started with a simple accent matrix over 16th notes. You should practice these accents in a hand to hand (RLRL) sticking and over a basic foot ostinato, such as quarter notes in the bass drum and 2,4 on the HI-Hat. Practice these exercises slowly and with a metronome. You should focus on being relaxed at all times. The goal is ultimate control, and not speed. The speed will come automatically once you master these drills!
It is crucial to focus intently on the dynamic levels between accented and unaccented notes. Try to imagine two horizontal lines above the snare drum. One about half-an-inch above the drum head, the other about six inches above the head. Then make sure that the tips of your sticks always go up to exactly the same height when they rebound from the head, half an inch for unaccented notes, six for accented once.
I find it helpful to think of pulling the stick out of the head after it fell onto drum, rather than hitting the stick down into the head. Thinking like that helps me to create a smoother and more fluid motion.
In order to gain good control over the drum set, one needs to spend a lot of time on conditioning your hands. I found accent studies to be extremely helpful for strengthening my hands.
Let's get started with a simple accent matrix over 16th notes. You should practice these accents in a hand to hand (RLRL) sticking and over a basic foot ostinato, such as quarter notes in the bass drum and 2,4 on the HI-Hat. Practice these exercises slowly and with a metronome. You should focus on being relaxed at all times. The goal is ultimate control, and not speed. The speed will come automatically once you master these drills!
It is crucial to focus intently on the dynamic levels between accented and unaccented notes. Try to imagine two horizontal lines above the snare drum. One about half-an-inch above the drum head, the other about six inches above the head. Then make sure that the tips of your sticks always go up to exactly the same height when they rebound from the head, half an inch for unaccented notes, six for accented once.
I find it helpful to think of pulling the stick out of the head after it fell onto drum, rather than hitting the stick down into the head. Thinking like that helps me to create a smoother and more fluid motion.
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