Jazz Drumming
Jazz is considered by many to be one of the most challenging styles of music to play. This style of drumming requires many things to "make it happen."
One of which is a feeling of "swing." Technically "swing" can refer to the triplet feel or the dotted eighth/sixteenth note feel.
Another point is the need to play all four limbs independently. The ride cymbal and the Hi hat have to create an ongoing ostinato while the snare drum and bass drum "Comp" or improvise rhythms and melody phrasing underneath.
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| 12 Triplet examples
For my students that are studying Jazz with me, I present 12 examples using the triplet. I feel by mastering these examples, one will have a solid beginning on Jazz drumming. There are of course almost unlimited configurations of "comping" (improvising) available to you.
I also offer the notation of these 12 examples. Play them slow and take note of how the triplets between snare and bass drum line up with ride cymbal and hi hat ostinato. Lock in on these anchor points. They will be your guide.
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Short solo using triplets
The short solo I perform is a combination of the 12 examples I list below. I did nothing more than keep a jazz ostinato on the ride and hi hat on two and four throughout "mixing it up."
I believe once you have learned these twelve examples, you are on the road to a good start with jazz drumming
There are of course other rhythm's to be learned...but we'll cover those at a later date!
Have fun and practice slowly!
Best,
Michael
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Solo using triplet examples |
| 12 Triplet example notation |
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| Brian Ferguson |
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Below you will find two charts that are the written 12 triplet examples. Simply click on the thumbnail to maximize the chart.
The jazz ride cymbal ostinato and Hi Hat on "two" & "four" are at the top of chart 1.
On the 12 examples, the top line is the snare drum and the bottom the bass drum.
I wish to thank Brian Ferguson for transcribing the charts I needed as my handwriting is too illegible to read. How Brian made sense of them is nothing short of a miracle!
Brian is a studio and live drum-set performer, Author, Clinician and Educator...and a good friend.
Visit Brian's website's; Home Website and MySpace.
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