More On The Purdie Shuffle
Here’s a follow up to the recent video I made about the world famous Purdie Shuffle. In this one I cover playing a ghost note after the backbeat accented snare note and the ope hihat options. Enjoy.
Drum Blog
How To Play a Purdie Shuffle
Here’s my take on how to play the famous Purdie Shuffle as played by Bernard Purdie himself on Home at Last and Babylon Sisters by Steely Dan and by Jeff Porcaro on Toto’s Rosanna. This is an introductory video made in response to a request by a YouTube viewer. I cover how to develop the hand pattern with the hihat shuffle and the snare ghost notes, adding the backbeat and then some bass drum variations.
Improving Your Ghost Notes With The Paradiddle
Here’s an introduction to how we can use paradiddles in a groove context and make patterns with which we can practice and improve our ghost note playing. I demonstrate how to make grooves with the single Paradiddle and its three permutations and use those patterns between the hihat or ride and the snare to create busy grooves with soft and loud notes played on the snare.
Conversation With Cymbal Maker Dave Collingwood
After getting my 20″ Zildjian ride lathed and improved by Dave Collingwood, I was delighted he agreed to have a conversation with me where I asked him about his journey as a cymbal maker, being self-taught, the desire to share knowledge for the benefit of others and the challenges of learning and teaching in general. I enjoyed it very much and learned a lot. I hope you do too.
20″ Zildjian Ride Modification Result
I had my clunky 20″ Zildjian Ride modified by UK cymbalsmith Dave Collingwood who lathed a bunch of metal off it. In this video I explain the process and demonstrate the differences between the original and modified versions of the cymbal.
Conversation With Afrobeat Drummer Michael Oloyede
I was very glad to have the opportunity to speak with drummer Michael Oloyede from Lagos in Nigeria who’s written a brilliant book on Afrobeat. The book covers technical exercises to help develop the coordination you need for Afrobeat drumming and specific groove patterns based on a wide variety of Afrobeat tracks. The book includes loads of audio examples of the patterns to help you learn them. I highly recommend anyone with an interest in Afrobeat and any drummer who… Read More »Conversation With Afrobeat Drummer Michael Oloyede
Offbeat 8th Note Groove Snare & Bass 16ths
Here’s an addendum to the recent video about offbeat 8th note grooves. Let’s add some 16ths on the snare and bass. Once you’ve got the hang of all that, try combining snare and bass 16ths. You can have hours of fun with this. The objective is to internalise these patterns and then learn to mix them up. Don’t forget you can vary the snare and bass 8ths too as demonstrated in the previous video. Maybe you can do that in… Read More »Offbeat 8th Note Groove Snare & Bass 16ths
Offbeat 8th Note Grooves
Once you’ve got the hang of a reasonable amount of standard 8th note rock vocabulary, it can be fun and useful to learn a whole load of variations for the hahat/ride pattern to allow you to spice up your grooves. One very common and popular option is to play offbeat (or upbeat) 8ths on the hihat or ride which means we’re playing just the &’s. It takes a bit of thought to get the hang of the coordination but if… Read More »Offbeat 8th Note Grooves
Can My 20″ Zildjian Ride Cymbal Be Improved?
I recently contacted master British cymbal maker, Dave Collingwood, if he could do something to improve my 20″ Zildjian Ride cymbal. I’ve been feeling a bit at a loss as to what to do with the thing since it seems to sound increasingly clunky and clangy as time goes by and the more I tend towards light playing. I put it on eBay but it didn’t find a buyer and each time I put it on a stand and tried… Read More »Can My 20″ Zildjian Ride Cymbal Be Improved?
Afrobeat Technical Primer Parts 1+2 – Bass & Snare
Here’s a couple of videos introducing some technical exercises that will help you develop the coordination required to play Afrobeat in a Tony Allen influenced style. These exercises are written for the ride cymbal in order to allow the focus to rest on the coordination of the hand patterns with the bass and hi hat without being too concerned with the sound of the stick on the hi hat which demands a more fine level of control on the hi… Read More »Afrobeat Technical Primer Parts 1+2 – Bass & Snare