If you need to play Afro-Cuban in 6/8, this one never fails. I love it. It’s a little tricky in the independence department, but once you work through the pattern and get it locked in your muscle memory, you’ll have it forever. I know that the notation I’ve written on the PDF is in 4/4, […]

Once you’ve been bitten by the linear drumming bug, it’s hard to find a cure. This groove is an example of the fun and slickness that ensues from the pursuit of this drumming style. Once you learn a pattern, moving your hands to different parts of the kit almost always results in something that sounds […]

In the further pursuit of all things clave, here is a groove I cooked up the other night while practicing. I think there’s something to it. The video is below, followed by a PDF with the transcription. It’s tricky, but fun. You can download the PDF of the groove’s transcription here: clave funk groove one

Yesterday I revisited a cymbal pattern that I like. Below, the notation, with the left foot playing the hi-hat on quarter notes and the ride cymbal notated above that with the right hand: I think I first heard this cymbal rhythm as played on the hi-hat by Narada Michael Walden on “Come Dancing,” a track […]