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Online Drum Lessons NYC

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Right-Left-Foot | Online Drum Lesson

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In this video drum lesson, we’re going to take a look at an interesting way to play a common hand/foot idea. The idea is just “Right Left Foot,” one that many of you already know.  If you’re a beginner drummer, welcome to one of the building blocks of hand/foot vocabulary.

The natural first thought many drummers have when considering RLF is to play it as triplets. It makes sense to do so, and it does sound great, but we’re going to work on a different application. Playing it as 16ths or 32nds sounds a little different because you’re creating a dotted eighth note feeling; it’s essentially a three vs four rhythm.

And that is one of my favorite applications of RLF.

Let’s check it out. You can download a PDF transcription HERE, and watch the video below for the details on this great sounding 16th note application of RLF (aka “Nasty Lick #139).

Comments are welcome. Let me know your thoughts.

How To Read Music For Drummers Part 1

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Hey Everyone!

This post is for beginners or any drummer who has no idea how to read music and wants to learn. One way that works for me to teach this is to show new students how to play simple eighth note beats using only physical movements and then to show them and explain how those beats look on paper.

And that is exactly what happens in the video below. There’s no PDF for this lesson….it’s all in the video.

The video below references this video: “Your 1st Drum Lesson,” so check it out first if you haven’t already.

So have at it!

Please ask any questions via the comments section either here on the blog or on the YouTube channel. And please, subscribe to the YouTube channel by clicking the link below:

Paradiddle Plus One: A Killer Drum Solo Vocabulary Idea

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Recently I had a lesson with John Riley where we discussed soloing. The creation of vocabulary was a big part of the talk. There was a notion of efficiency in how one works on stuff–which I realized is extremely important, but I want to save that for later because it deserves its own entire post.

Taking his advice, I started coming up with ideas. And this one–I’m calling it “Paradiddle Plus One”–is so simple but sounds so great that I had to share it with you.

Just take a single bass drum note and follow it with a paradiddle. That’s it. Start with a bass drum note, follow that with a right-handed paradiddle, add another bass drum and follow that with a left-handed paradiddle. Repeat.

This pattern (aka “Nasty Lick #127”) has so many possible orchestrations and sounds great in many different rhythmic metrics. I’ve only really scratched the surface on the worksheet I’m providing you as a PDF here: Paradiddle Plus One

As always, take my material as a starting point. I’m sure there are many more variations on orchestrations or rhythmic ideas that you can apply to this pattern…have at it! Feel free to email me and let me know what you think.

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PS – Imagine that you could regularly get these Nasty Licks delivered to your email inbox every time we post one. Great drumming vocabulary to raise your drumming level–free. Go do it–just type your email addy into the form below, and click that button.



5 Killer Gadd Licks Two

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Hey There! Welcome to the second installment of 5 Killer Gadd licks.

In this online video drum lesson, we’re going to show you how to play one of Steve’s signature licks. The first time I heard Gadd play this was in the groove on Tom Scott’s song “Dirty Old Man.” It knocked me out. When I heard it I thought, “This is so cool! What the hell is he doing there?” Once I understood it, it became the basis of lots of other great ideas.

I do believe that this lick is the “grand daddy” of this type of idea–the 32nd note funk time-playing lick. It sounds so cool to play a groove and then have 32nd notes slip in between the hi-hat, snare and bass drum. Let this idea become the basis for something that you create.

But first, let’s learn what Gadd does. Here is the PDF that provides transcriptions of the key elements of the lick: 5 Killer Gadd Licks Two

Now, check out the video, where I demonstrate what’s on the PDF and more…

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PS – Imagine that you could regularly get these Nasty Licks delivered to your email inbox every time we post one. Great drumming vocabulary to raise your drumming level–free. Go do it–just type your email addy into the form below, and click that button.




Advanced Drumming Independence: the “1e-a2-and-a” Cymbal Ostinato, Part One

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One of the magical things about playing a musical instrument is that the possibilities are endless. That certainly seems to be true when it comes to drumming. Developing independence against a cymbal pattern that goes over the barline is just one idea that I’ve been working on that makes me feel that drumming and music have no limits.

The idea presented here comes from Dave DiCenso, who is very fluent with the cymbal ostinato that we’re dealing with in this article. Here it is below:

The reason for presenting the above in a three bar segment is to demonstrate how the pattern resolves back to beat one. You’ll notice that if you repeat those three bars, you’ll have an endless repeating and flowing pattern.

The PDF offered here will give you 17 exercises to begin developing independence with this cymbal pattern. We start our work by using eighth note grooves and patterns as the basis and working on developing independence against them using the cymbal ostinato above.

Here is the PDF: “1e-a2-and-a” Cymbal Independence Part One

I have been working on this for a while and I think it sounds really cool and different. I’ll add a video shortly so you can see and hear it.

By the way, DiCenso also has great fluency with this pattern with the addition of the hi-hat placed in between the cymbal notes. If you play the hi-hat with your left foot after each set of two cymbal notes, you’ll have a continuous pattern of 16th notes. Imagine being able to have independence with that! Dave does. I’ve addressed this in another blog post, and you can check that out here: A New Kind of Rock Drumming Independence, Part 1

Let me know what you think by leaving comments!

5 Killer Gadd Licks Part One

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This marks the debut of a new video series: 5 Killer Gadd Licks.

The first of the five is something I call “The Three Beat Triplet Flow.” It comes from an Elvin-ish jazz phrase that I’ve heard Gadd play. He applies the idea to funk in his playing and that is the focus of this online drum lesson.

First off, have a look at the PDF, which I will be referring to and explaining in the video.

Here it is: 5 Killer Gadd Licks One

Now, have a look at the video, which will walk you through all the examples on the PDF.

That’s it! I hope you find this helpful…let me know what you think in the comments section.

How To Make A Quick and Easy Drum Chart #1 | Lilli Passero’s “Did Ya Know”

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Welcome to a new series on making drum charts. Most gigging professional drummers have their own system. Mine is still developing, but I’ve got enough of a handle on it that I want to start sharing some ideas with you. The plan is to show you examples of drum chart/cheat sheets that I use in real life for playing shows or recording sessions.

This week I have a show with Lilli Passero, an amazing singer who you might have seen on “The Voice.” One of her songs, called “Did Ya Know,” which we’re playing at the upcoming show, has a lot of spots where the drums stop playing. In fact, there are four different places in the song where the drums drop out, and each time it’s for a different length of time.

I had tried to memorize the song before our first rehearsal. Unfortunately, I was not successful! For me, playing this tune in rehearsal sucked because I didn’t have the arrangement locked down. That made me uncomfortable. That discomfort was making my playing sound tentative. And of course that would be the case, right? If I’m not comfortable that I know the arrangement of the song well enough, then I’m going to feel anxious and feeling anxious shows in one’s playing. The idea is to know the arrangement really well (or to have a solid, correct chart) so that you can concentrate on making your playing top-notch.

I decided to make a chart so I would nail the song at the gig.

Let me share my chart with you and direct you to the song on Spotify. The Spotify widget below will take you straight to the tune on Spotify. You can check out my chart HERE

Let’s discuss the chart. I start with the name of the song, nice and big. Yikes! This time I got that wrong. The song is “Did Ya Know,” not “Do Ya Know.” Ok, now I know! But for the gig, the mistake doesn’t really matter. Next, what is the tempo? In case I am called upon to count off the tune, the metronome marking is nice and big in the upper right hand corner: 90 bpm.

Next, I want to know how the song starts. Do the drums come in right away? If I’m learning a bunch of songs quickly and I can’t think of the tune in my head while I’m on stage during the performance (which sometimes happens) I know all will be OK if I know 1) where I come in and 2) the groove I have to play. In this case, you’ll see my note: “GTR/VOCALS START.” There’s my answer. I don’t play at the beginning of the tune, the guitar (live the guitar replaces the keyboards of the recording on Spotify) and vocals start the tune.

But, where do I come in? And what do I play? A ha! Well, that’s my next note. I have “But I was Wrong” written down and then a note that says THEN DRUMS ENTER. Next to that is the groove written out in rhythmic notation that gives me the basic idea of the beat I have to play. The note “But I Was Wrong” is telling me that I need to listen for that vocal cue from Lilli. When I hear those words, I know that I’m about to come in. I know from listening to the song that I come in one measure after I hear that lyric.

What follows on my chart are four rows of notation that basically tell me when to play and when not to play, and a few accents that I should hit. I don’t usually chart out the entire song, but in this case I did because the drums drop out so many times and the arrangement is never the same twice when the drums drop out and come back in. I stop playing for two measures, eight measures, one measure…..etc… It would be really hard for anyone to remember that and learn it quickly, so my answer was to chart it all out, which didn’t really take that long… maybe a half hour?

The big numbers (mostly “4”s) indicate how many bars of 4/4 are going by. It’s pretty easy to see from looking at the chart when I play and when I don’t. I just wrote NO DRUMS beneath the measures I don’t play. You’ll have to get good at counting the bars going by and still grooving hard. That is a skill that takes some practice. It takes real concentration. Practice it by playing along with this chart.

Note that I made this chart from a rehearsal tape, but it lines up pretty well with how the recording on Spotify is arranged. The only thing wrong on my chart versus the recording is that the instrumental section noted at 4 bars in the third row of the chart is actually 8 bars on the recording. Besides that, you could play drums along with the studio version of the song on Spotify perfectly by looking at this chart.

One last thing you need to know when you’re charting out songs: how does it end? You can see that I wrote the figure the band plays to end the song in the lower right hand corner of the chart.

I’ll keep posting these as I make more for different gigs. I think they might be helpful.

Now, before I leave you, below are the credits for the song….make sure to give Lilli Passero a listen because she is a phenomenal singer. I’m really excited to play with her. Her Instagram is: www.instagram.com/lillipassero

Artist: Lilli & The Honey
Lilli Passero: lead vocals
Jason Goldstein: keys & producer
George Fierro III: guitar

Top 5 Mistakes Beginner Drummers Make

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Over many years of teaching, I’ve noticed a few things that come up again and again when I’m working with beginners. In this edition of “The Thinking Drummer,” we’ll look at the top 5 mistakes I see.

If you’re just starting to play drums for the first time ever or even if you’re just fairly new to the instrument, have a look at these common mistakes. Avoid them and I think you’ll move along your path to getting better at the drums more quickly and more efficiently.

1) Failing to slow down
This has to be the most common issue I see. Slowing down something you’re working on is the absolute best way to make your life easier behind the drums. It doesn’t really matter what level of complexity you are dealing with. No matter what it is, if you slow it down, you’re guaranteed to have an easier time learning it. And that rule works forever. Not just for beginners. I slow things down all the time in order to learn them more easily, and I’ve been playing for over 40 years. It works.

2) Mindless repetition of incorrect movements
Some drumming students, in an effort to improve their hand technique, will spend a lot of time practicing, thinking that putting in the time will move them forward. Unfortunately, sometimes, this practice is somewhat thoughtless, and the repetitions are of incorrect or faulty movements.

This kind of practice is actually worse than not practicing because it creates muscle memory for bad technique. The answer is to pay attention to what you’re doing in your technique practice. Know what the stroke you’re working on is supposed to look like so you can use your eyes and body to make adjustments to get you there. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time.

3) Moving too quickly from one exercise to the next
I have sometimes said that I wish drum books only had one exercise on each page. I know it doesn’t really make economic sense to publish books this way, but it makes psychological sense. The problem with a page of 20 exercises is that it creates a psychological desire to hurry through the page. It sets you up to want to finish all 20 exercises quickly so you can get to the next page. The truth is that thinking this way will lead you to “sort-of-knowing-how-to-do-a-lot-of-stuff,” rather than “really-knowing-how-to-do-just-a-few-things.”

Guess which is better? Yup. Sort of knowing a lot is pretty worthless. The point is to stop rushing through that page of 20 exercises. Quiet your mind and tell yourself that you aren’t going to the next exercise until you’ve absolutely mastered the current one. That way, you’ll get something out of each exercise you work on. I see this problem all the time with beginners, so be patient, focus, and take your time.

4) Not enough time on groove and the big picture of songs
Learning to play songs is really important for many reasons, probably the biggest of which is working on groove. But sometimes when I work on a new song with a student, they get too focused on the details of every note the drummer is playing. The better approach is to learn the sections of the song, absorb and analyze the kind of beat the drummer is playing in each section, and dig into being able to play those grooves.

It doesn’t matter if you play exactly what that drummer is playing. Cop the vibe. And cop the vibe of the fills too. Then learn the song well enough that you don’t have to look at any chart while you play it. That allows you to focus on the groove. Make it feel really good. Play simply and play confidently.

5) Too tight!
Tension in arms and upper body and/or squeezing the stick too hard in a death-grip are technique-killers. Unfortunately, I see this a lot in beginners. Loosen up. Take it easy. The bounce comes with looseness. This is a big one.

That’s it for this installment of “The Thinking Drummer,” my beginner friends. Watch out for these mistakes and you’ll be ahead of the pack.

Nasty Drum Lick 98: A Slick 32nd Note Groove Idea

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First, the VIDEO!

Nasty Drum Lick 98 IllustrationIf you’re an avid reader of this blog, you’ll know that I love slick little licks that I can throw into a groove. I’ve written about these kinds of ideas before. For example:

Nasty Lick 44: Yuda Variation

Nasty Lick 43: Vinnie on Joe’s Garage

5 Killin 32nd Note Drum Groove Soloing Ideas

Paradiddle-Diddle Drum Grooves

This time, I’ve found something in the same family but with a new twist. In the past, I focused on ideas that included double strokes or paradiddles. But I wanted a new way of playing this kind of stuff.

Here’s why. I played a show with my band, LEVEL5, and during one of my solos, where I play over a vamp, I started playing a paradiddle-diddle idea. But when I played the recording back the next day, I realized that the idea did not sound right. The articulation was lost. I was disappointed. Part of it had to do with the kind of room we were performing in that night. It was a little bigger venue than we had been playing. We were mixed more like a rock band this time. Part of it had to do with how I executed it—I did not play it perfectly. In a room that size, with a mix like that, it is more difficult for the subtleties of a paradiddle or a double stroke based idea to translate to the audience.

So, I thought: “Let’s come up with some ideas based on SINGLES so that the next time we play in that kind of situation, the articulation will come through.”

And, there you have it. I went into the practice room, and this is the result. It sounds trite, but, the old saying, “necessity is the mother of invention” holds true—at least in this case. And therein lies “Nasty Lick 98.” Here is the PDF: Nasty Drum Lick 98

Let me know what you think!

 

 

PS – Imagine that you could regularly get these Nasty Licks delivered to your email inbox every time we post one. Great drumming vocabulary to raise your drumming level–free. Go do it–just type your email addy into the form below, and click that button.



Combining Drumming Vocabulary: The Road to Improvisation Part One

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the road to drumming improvisation combining drumming vocabularyImprovisation has always been a mysterious topic for me. The information available on it, at least in the drumming education world, seems far from definitive. The video at the bottom of this post will hopefully help a bit with some of that understanding, at least as it relates to drumming improvisation.

If you went to music school, particularly one of the those that produces jazz musicians, you most likely had no choice but to learn how to solo. So, somehow, hopefully, if you attended Juilliard or Manhattan School of Music, you understand it.

But, for those who haven’t had that level of education, the resources are spotty. So…

I’ve been on a mission to improve my ability to improvise and solo (yes, I know, I was a winner of the Modern Dummer drum solo contest, but I still feel my improvisation can improve), and along the way, I’ve been trying to share things with you. For example, you can have a look at How The Hell Do I Learn To Play Drum Solos? Part 1 – Vocabulary and “Drum Solo Sequences” and you’ll get a taste of how deeply I’ve been delving into this stuff.

I’m not going to explain the video you’re about to see. I believe that it lays things out for you. But the premise is that you need to learn some vocabulary that is useful and that you like. Then you should internalize the vocabulary to such an extent that you are able to be extremely comfortable and fluid. Then, work on putting things together very slowly, and find combinations that you like and write them down. Work on flow exercises with the vocabulary.

Eventually, mixtures of what you’ve internalized will start to come out of you when you try to improvise. Like–for example–the idea that I show you in the video.

The notation of that idea is here on this PDF: Combining Drumming Elements: Nasty Lick #138

Nuff said. Here’s the video:

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