I finally made a YouTube video in which I explain how to go about playing Tony Allen’s first pattern of Afrobeat. It’s the first of a series of videos I’ll be making on the subject. Download a PDF here with a transcription of the pattern and a breakdown of my breakdown of the groove, so to speak.
Getting off to a great start to 2023 with this fantastic tune written by Allen Toussaint and performed by Lee Dorsey and many others. I first heard Everything I Do Gonh be Funky performed by Dr John with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in the TV series Treme which was a gritty drama made by the guy who did The Wire about life in New Orleans. A great deal of the show focused on the life of musicians in the… Read More »Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky – New Orleans Groove
Do you want to know how to play a 12/8 blues feel? Texas flood is a great introduction to playing 12/8 beats which means you’re playing a ride pattern in 8th note triplets. In this extended video I demonstrate the way the lovely Chris Layton plays the groove and fills on the original recording of the song. We’ll look at the ride pattern with skip notes, the bass variations and a few examples of the fills Layton plays throughout the… Read More »How To Play Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas Flood On Drums
My latest YouTube video outlines an exercise that can help you develop your improvisational skills using accents. This method is pretty easy to get going whatever your level of ability, you just need to be able to combine softer and louder strokes or taps and accents. The trick is to start with the simplest thing you can do in a relaxed way. In this case we start playing 16ths as taps and then add a few accents, first with the… Read More »How To Improvise On Drums Using Accents
Zigaboo Modeliste is one of the true forefathers of funk drumming and in this YouTube video I explain the groove he plays on Robert Palmer’s Sailing Shoes. The song was written by the great Lowell George and was on the Little Feat record of the same name. Palmer’s version of Sailing Shoes appears on his 1974 debut album, Sneaking Sally Through The Alley. The song is brought to life here by Palmer’s energy and the Meters’ awesome funky backing as… Read More »Learn to Play Zigaboo Modeliste’s Groove on Sailing Shoes
In my latest YouTube video offering I explain the vital drumming components for The Beatles’ Come Together. This is a great song to introduce you to Ringo’s fabulous drumming. The famous riff has a nice triplet run on the toms which you can play right to left or left to right and the rest of the verse and chorus are an exercise in minimalist groove making. In the solo sections and the outro Ringo’s groove is a thumpy-dumpy, sloshy, compressed… Read More »How To Play The Beatles’ Come Together
I am now an official Trinity Rock & Pop digital exam centre which means I can facilitate the recording and submission of digital exams for candidates for all instruments including drums, bass, guitar, keyboards and vocals. If you would like help with setting up, recording and submitting your digital exams, please get in touch and let me know what I can do for you. Trinity digital grades allow students to record their performances at a time and place of their… Read More »Trinity Rock & Pop Digital Exam Centre
Many beginner drummers (and not-so-beginer too) find it challenging to play to a click. It’s not a natural skill that you either got or you don’t got. It’s a skill you can learn. In this video I explain a methodical approach to developing the ability to play single strokes, double strokes and paradiddles to a metronome that will help you to understand how to synchronise yourself to the click in a confident and relaxed way.
My latest YouTube video is released. It’s a brief and, hopefully, concise introduction to the Texas Shuffle or two-handed shuffle or whatever it’s supposed to be called. Go listen to Chris Layton playing on Pride & Joy to see what I’m talking about. Then watch my video and learn this kickarse groove!
I recently made this chart for Mad World by Tears For Fears for one of my students. It’s not a note for note transcription but my interpretation of the drum parts of the song to make it accessible and musical. Mad World Sheet Music PDF