Anyone who has really studied John Bonham knows how he played his famous hand/foot triplets. Originally I thought the pattern was Right, Left, Foot, but that’s incorrect. The way that Bonham played them is: Left, Right, Foot. And man, when you get that lick fast and clean it sounds amazing.
Once I started working on the actual “Bonham way,” I began to think about inversions. What if I started the pattern on the second note of Bonham triplet? If I did that, the pattern becomes Right, Foot, Left.
I started messing around with that and I decided I really liked the way it sounded. Once you start playing Right Foot Left and combining it with other things (like six-stroke rolls for example), you can get a lot of great-sounding drumming magic from it.
So, here I present to you the PDF: John Bonham Hand/Foot Triplet Inversion #1
On the worksheet (just click the red text above–these are collectively referred to as “Nasty Licks #125”), the pattern is explained and notated in detail and there are several examples of some ways of playing it that I’ve come up with.
Enjoy…
PS — for more Bonham related material on this blog check out:
7 Fills From John Bonham
and
Nasty Lick 34: Bonham from “Rock and Roll”
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.
He first gained attention as one of the winners of Modern Drummer magazine's very first drum solo contest, judged by Rush's Neil Peart.
He's played with Oz Noy, Will Lee, Alison Krauss, Curtis Stigers, Emily Remler, Joel Hoekstra, GE Smith, Andy York, Marshall Crenshaw, Tony Shanahan, The Drifters, The Marvelettes, Big Brother and The Holding Company, and many other artists.
For more info: onlinesessiondrummer.com
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Hello people! I am a drummer. Fantastic material about the great Bonham. Congratulations!!
Thank you for the kind words. Glad you’re enjoying the material.
Regards,
Mark