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.
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
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
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
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.
I bought a cheap snare on eBay. It cost me £23, brand new! I made a video about it and stuck it up on YouTube. This was a more complicated video than I’ve made before (not that you’d know to look at it) and it was fun to work on. I’m working out how to make videos and there’s a long way to go, I think, before it starts looking good. I say too many ummmmms and uhhhhhhs, I feel… Read More »I Bought a Cheap Snare on eBay
Here is my latest offering, it’s an explanation of the up stroke and down stroke for beginning drummers. I am still being too serious in my videos. But I’m working on it. Enjoy.
Here’s my latest video about the train beat. I made on years ago intending to follow up with a series of snare and bass drum variations. I wasn’t very productive YouTubewise though and it’s been waiting for me to get into the process seriously. The Covid thing has been a strong motivator for me to produce regular video content and so the world is about to get more Train Beat related video education content stuff. Here are a couple of… Read More »Train Beat Lesson – Basic Snare Drum Variations
A new episode of Cooking with Rodrigo & Joe is out. In this episode we talk about And She Was by the Talking Heads. If you like it, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and like and comment on the video.
My colleague Rodrigo and I have posted our latest Cooking With Rodrigo & Joe video on the YouTubes. In this episode we talk about Rage Against The Machine’s Bullet In The Head, a heavy and funky number that we both love.