Here’s my instructional video on how to play Chris Layton’s energetic groove on Stevie Ray’s Testify. It’s a brilliant groove to learn and to play and gives us a chance to focus on doing the dynamic strokes (Full, Down, Tap and Up strokes) on the snare. Here’s a PDF with a breakdown of the individual beats as explained in the video.
My latest YouTube video covers the topic of using paradiddles as grooves between the snare and bass so instead of playing R L R R L R L L you play B L B B L B L L and so on. It’s a great way to develop your ghost notes including balancing the ghosted and accented notes in different ways. It will also improve bass drum coordination and can be used to increase bass drum speed and endurance if… Read More »Playing Paradiddles As Grooves
Check out this wonderful clinic presented by Brazilian drummer Isac Jamba who has come to my attention via YouTube. He offers a really comprehensive introduction to the Brazilian samba drum kit vocabulary and style. Topics covered include fundamental rhythmic patterns, the standard foot ostinato, how to play really fast Samba without your hands falling off, how to apply rudiments, approaching stick grip and stroke (oh those 16ths look so relaxed OMG, 16ths @135bpm! It’s slow hahaha), additional rhythms and on… Read More »Isac Jamba Teaches Samba
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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