Essential Jazz Drumming Literature: "The Art of Drumming" - Bob Kaufman

I can clearly remember the first time I ever walked into Bob Kaufman's office at Berklee.  It was the fall of 1999 and I was very excited to finally begin my studies at the school.  Not knowing what to expect and a little nervous, I made my way to Bob's office through the corridor of dark hallways in the basement of the 1140 Boylston building.  A few knocks on the door received no answer, but I could hear someone inside...  Figuring maybe Bob just wanted me to come in, I cracked the door and was suddenly blasted with Elvin Jones at full volume!  I believe the song was "Three Card Molly" and Bob was sitting quietly at his desk looking at me with hands folded and eyebrows raised.  Although I was a nervous wreck, Bob looked very peaceful and comfortable in his dimly lit drum space.  As I stepped further into the drum cave I was surprised to see an xray image of a wrist/arm, which was taped crooked against a light up xray screen on the wall.  Written on the xray in permanent marker was the phrase, "Use this!"  I remember thinking, "Jeeze, I'm not in Wyoming anymore!"  Bob didn't turn off the music, but instead sat quietly as I scuffled around not knowing what to do next.  Finally, I found my way to a drum stool and settled in, placing my stick bag at my feet.  I gave him a nervous smile, and he looked up at me and just smiled and pointed at his ear.  So began my studies with master drummer, Bob Kaufman. 

Bob has a very unique way of teaching drums, and in some ways, I was not at all ready for it at that time.  Bob's lessons did not follow the path of methods books like stick control, syncopation, etc, nor were they about applying specific rudiments necessarily to the drumset.  Instead, Bob's lessons were about sound production, relaxation in the limbs, mental focus, and above all, musicality.  No one in my opinion, and I really mean no one, has a more beautiful 'sound' on the drums than Bob Kaufman.  The tuning, the attack, the relaxation in his phrasing..  Sticks or brushes, it doesn't matter.  Just hearing Bob play is lesson enough.  Bob is as deep as the ocean, and as I became very involved in Buddhism during my time at Berklee, I suddenly began to realize that Bob was indeed a Buddha!  :) 

Bob produced two books that should be listed in the hall of fame of drumset publications.  The first book, which was written in 1993 and entitled "The Art of Drumming," goes deep into Bob's concept of 'slow motion swing.'  His theory, and it's spot on, is that practicing at super slow tempos will dramatically improve your sound, time, and overall body motion/tension far greater than flying through a bunch of independence exercises.  Simply, this is meditation through drumming, and the rewards are endless.  Quiet the mind, quiet the tension, and observe and react accordingly.  Again, Bob is deep!  As you go through the book, Bob takes you through various exercises in 4/4 and 3/4 as well as some funk applications, some polyrhythmic concepts, and finally some outstanding transcriptions.  Bob's transcription of "There is No Greater Love" from the great album, Inception, by McCoy Tyner, was a pivotal point in my development and made me fall deeply in love with Elvin Jones.  No one loves Elvin more than Bob, and he passed on his respect and admiration for Elvin to all of his students.

Bob's second book called "Deeper Into The Art of Drumming" further tackles the subjects of polyrhythmic playing, musical phrasing of triplet variations, and more slow motion swing exercises.  In general, "Deeper" goes further into contemporary concepts and features some great transcriptions of Paul Motian, Elvin, and concepts of Jack Dejonette's drumming.

Like all artistic masterpieces, you can find endless amounts of information the deeper you go into Bob's books.  Ten years later, I am still using this book on a weekly basis and all of my students have gained great insight from the concepts that Bob has displayed.  I remember Bob said to me simply, "The students who really follow these concepts and apply patience, become great drummers."  Guys like Jeff "Tain" Watts are proof enough. 

In my opinion, the most valuable part of these books isn't just in the music, but instead in Bob's foreword and instructions in the beginning chapters (presented in both English and French)!  Many of the quotes he comes up with in this section are hanging on my drum studio wall motivating both myself and my students. 

"The Art of Drumming" and "Deeper into...", along with Bob's continued mentorship and kindness, have taught me so much about music and ways to approach my own teaching practice and life.  

Please, do yourself a favor and go get these books!  DO NOT skip over the words and try and tackle these books on your own, or you will miss the point entirely.  Count the exercises how he tells you to count them, and be patient with yourself.  You can click here to purchase.  Also, here is Bob's website for further information.

Book Review: Jim Riley's "Song Charting Made Easy"

First off, sorry to all my loyal readers for my lack of blog posts in the month of March.  At the end of February, I received a nice opportunity to begin working on a transcription and article for Downbeat Magazine, so I've been pretty busy getting all of that together.  However, I need a break and I've been wanting to write a post on Jim Riley and his great book for a long time now.  I hope you enjoy, and thank you as always for visiting!  Last month the blog had close to 2,000 unique visitors!  I always appreciate the nice emails I receive each week, and I encourage you to go one step further and "like" the articles, as well as write in the comments box, so we can help spread the word further.  Thanks!

For those not yet familiar with the great Jim Riley, he is the drummer and musical director behind Country mega-group, Rascall Flatts!  Not only is Jim an accomplished and busy tour/session drummer, he is also a highly sought after clinician and private instructor throughout the US.  Recently, Jim was a featured at the Modern Drummer Festival where he performed along such greats as Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Jeff "Tain" Watts, and John Riley.  This accomplishment, among many others, has quickly made Jim Riley a household name in the drumming world. 

My lesson with Jim:

I always prefer to write about personal experiences, and as luck would have it, I had the great opportunity to study with Jim at his home studio in Nashville.  To put it mildly, Jim has the greatest drum/man cave you have ever seen!  If you missed the recent article in Modern Drummer showcasing "The Drum Dojo", then please click here to check out a video tour by Jim!  It's a virtual drummer's paradise!  My experience in the drum dojo was very inspiring and I highly recommend that anyone in the area book a lesson.  Not only is Jim a fantastic teacher, but he is also an inspiring person to be around.  Jim is a drummer's drummer; a musician's drummer; and an all around decent human: a combination of which is rare in this biz, believe me.

I was a little nervous driving down to Nashville from Chicago to study with Jim, so much so that I booked a room at a hotel near his house so I was 100% SURE I didn't have a problem making it to the lesson on time.  Up to that point, the majority of my life had been spent as a classical percussionist and jazz drummer deep in studies at Interlochen and Berklee with some of the greatest teachers in the world, so I was very excited to take a formal lesson with someone outside of those genres.  At the same time, my mind was spinning...  What was this monster of country and rock drumming going to think?  Had all my years playing with singer/songwriters, wedding bands, and cover bands done any good?  I ate a little breakfast, fought through some nerves, and made my way over to the Drum Dojo to find out! 

After a ring of the bell, Jim appeared at the door sporting a Boston Red Sox hat, an instant mark of an intelligent man!  As a professional drummer myself, and someone who is pushing to get to the next level, I had plenty of questions written down prior to the lesson with Jim.  As we spoke, Jim seemed to size me up pretty quickly and we discovered quickly that we had a lot of similarities in our path to drumming.  To me, Jim seemed as hungry as I was to keep achieving and growing, which was inspiring in itself considering his vast accomplishments in the field.  After a good chat about our careers and the Nashville studio/tour scene, we moved over to the drums and played along with tracks from his debut book, "Song Charting Made Easy."  The lesson wrapped up nicely with Jim taking me into his office to show off his amazing collection of Boston sports memorabilia and signature snare from Ringo Starr!  At the end of the lesson, Jim was nice enough to walk me out to my car to sign a drum head for me.  Although the head had been beaten into submission after a string of gigs in Chicago, the ink managed to stick!  Currently, the drum head is hanging in my studio right next to my prized Elvin Jones signature drum head. 

Jim's lesson was great and the perfect combination of information and playing.  I drove back to Chicago feeling inspired as I listened back to the recording of our lesson.  Sure enough, my back beat did need work and my fills needed more clarity.  Hearing the velocity and confidence behind Jim's driving beat both in the lesson and on the recording taught me about a million things all at once!  I haven't left the shed since.  Thanks, Jim!

The Book:  (Click here to buy book)

I know I've given a lot of love to Jim Riley up to this point, but the love fest must continue!  Jim's book detailing the Nashville Number System is an amazing and extremely important book for every drummer and musician to have in their collection.  I can't even begin to describe the ways that this book has streamlined my own work, especially when someone hands me 3 CD's to "learn by Friday".  I know for certain that this method will take whatever cheat sheets or manuscriptis you have used for your rock/pop/country gigs and make you re-think your approach.  Humbly, Jim would probably argue that the Nashville Number System has always been out there and that he just put it into a book.  However, the fact that he organized the information so masterfully for all instrumentalists and featured tons of ear training examples and play-a-longs to help people of all levels, makes it an instant classic.  Honestly, it raises the bar for all of us who are attempting to write our books.   

So is the Nashville Number System meant for every style of music?

No, it is not meant to be used for specific writing of melodies and highly detailed drum parts per se, but this method is perfect for mapping out the harmony and sections of a song, showing all the hits, and getting everyone on the same page.  In other words, you can use it for most modern music, just not to write out symphonies or big band charts.
 

I won't give out specific details from Jim's book because you should pick up a copy, but at the basic level the Nashville Number System uses numbers instead of chord symbols.  For example, if we were in the key of Bb major and we wanted to show a simple ii - V - I chord progression, instead of writing Cmin  F  Bb...  we would write 2- 5  1 ...  If we changed keys, the numbers would stay the same.  Think about that for a minute...

So what's the big deal?

The big deal is that you can write ONE chart on a single page for the entire band, and it is instantly transposable for all instruments in all keys!  Normally if you had a chart in your book and say a singer sits in who couldn't sing it in that key, the whole band would need to do some pretty quick mental math to wrap their head around the new key.  Although tranposition is an essential skill for all instrumentalist, it sure would be nice to have one chart that made all of this easier.  The Nashville Number System totally streamlines the process of writing charts and it is used in high level professional situations on a daily basis.  Sound simple?  It is, but it serves the purpose unbelievably well.  There is much to learn about this system and I can't possibly detail it all in the this blog, you just need to pick up the book.

But, there are hits and breaks in songs...  what then, ahhh!? 

No worries, in the book Jim discusses techniques Nashville musicians have used for years in detailing these charts.  These are universal symbols that any musician/band can learn in five minutes, tops. 

But I'm a drummer, I don't care about chord symbols?

*leaning in*....come closer....closer....  How are you going to communicate with other musicians and understand music if you don't have an understanding of melody, harmony, and chord progressions?  Smarten up buddy, it's time to evolve!  "But, but...Ringo and Bonham...?"  You aren't them!  :) 

Ok, I'm being a jerk, but if you want to be taken seriously and contribute to the writing process in your band, let alone survive studio sessions, you had better get your theory chops together.  It will change the way you hear music.  In the meantime, there are some great substitutes for chord symbols that drummers can use in their charts...  Jim discusses one technique in his book that works well for drummers, and you can read that to find out.  In addition to his method, I like to use numbered bars in each section of my charts.  These numbered bars aren't meant to represent chord values, but instead simply detail the number of measures per section.  For example..  lets say a song has a 4 bar Intro, 8 bar Verse, and then a 4 bar Chorus...  I would chart it this way...
--------------------
Intro:

1   2   3   4

Verse:

1   2   3   4

5   6   7   8

Chorus:

1   2   3   4 

-----------------------

So, why not just write it like this, Jeff, and save a bunch of space?

Intro = 4
Verse = 8
Chorus = 4

You could, and I used to do it this way, but how are you going to mark those important hits during the song?  Like this?

Intro = 4 (but on the third bar there is a hit on 2....no....the + of 2...  crap!..i missed it reading this sentence!)

UGLY!

Hahaha...  Don't fight it, I've tried every chart writing technique imaginable, and this is by far the best method!  Get the book, it will change your life!  Again, you won't be writing out super specific drum parts like Neil Peart would play, but you will have the right amount of information and reference to nail most modern material.

Here is an example chart for your reading pleasure, High and Dry, by Radiohead.  You will probably see a few symbols here that you don't understand, but they will be further explained in the book.  I added in a few of my own symbols that Jim doesn't use, namely a circled number meaning an important crash, but that's just my own thing.  The good thing about this system is that you can customize charts in ways that make the most sense to you...unless of course you are sharing this with everyone as an actual Nashville Number chart, in which case you would need to write actual chord numbers for the band. 

The template you see above is something I developed in Excel so I didn't have to always re-write boxes and lines.  If you would like to Download your own blank template for your use, please click here.

Thanks everyone, and enjoy!

Transcription: Kendrick Scott - Intro groove to "How We Love," by Gretchen Parlato

If you don't know Kendrick Scott, it's time for you to jump onto itunes and youtube and get educated!  Kendrick is one of the baddest young drummers performing today, but don't take my word for it, just ask Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, or dozens more why they choose him for their bands! 

I graduated from Berklee with Kendrick in 2003, but the first time I ever heard of him was the summer of my senior year at Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan.  At that time, I was playing in a combo with the great alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius, bassist Matt Brewer, and pianist Roland Hamilton, and having a great time playing with like-minded musicians.  I remember talking to Patrick one evening and he was going on and on about this amazing drummer from Texas named Kendrick.  He was so excited that he gave me his walk-man and a tape of the Texas All-State Jazz Band for me to check out that night.  Needless to say, I was blown away that someone my age could play so well.  Later, I considered taking my stick bag over to Lake Michigan for a little dip, but I refrained and hit the practice room instead!  :) 

About three years after hearing that tape, I finally found my way to Boston and re-united with Patrick and many other amazing musicians at Berklee.  Before I even hit my first class, everyone I met was talking about Kendrick.  It's fair to say that Kendrick pretty much dominated the Berklee straight-ahead scene with his unbelievable musicianship and performances with Walter Smith III, Warren Wolff, and many others.  I spent a lot of time going to the various recitals he was playing, and I learned a lot just by watching him perform.  What always did it for me was his unique touch on the cymbals and how dynamic he was when interacting within a group.  He was also very good at building rhythmic tension through metric modulations and displacement, and like a magician, he didn't show you the cards until the tension was at it's peak, then BAM!  He is an amazing combination of so many great drummers past and present and everytime I hear him he develops more into his own voice.  He is a pace car for many of us, no doubt, and I'm thankful to have had the chance to learn from him all these years. 

Notes on the Transcription:

The other day I heard a nasty little groove on the track called, "How We Love, " from the new Gretchen Parlato CD, The Lost and Found.  It was a Samba, but it also had a little Hip-Hop mixed in.  Right off the bat I could tell it was one of the Houston drummers (Kendrick, Chris Dave, Eric Harland), but all it took was to hear the cymbals at the end of the intro to know it was KADS!  It's difficult to put into words what that touch is on the cymbals, but it is completely his own and you have to check it out for yourself. 

Note #1: I could have written this transcription out as eighth notes, but I thought that it would be easier for you to navigate the ghost notes as sixteenths.

Note #2: You are going to see some ghost notes on the snare that almost sound like they aren't there, but if you slow the recording down (I had it down to 45% it's original tempo), you will hear each one of them.  I think those ghost notes are what makes the groove flow so nicely.  Try it out for yourself... 

Thanks for the great music, Kendrick!

Download PDF here, Thanks!

Transcription - "A Night In Tunisia" - Art Blakey

"Whatever you are, be it, and be it all the way, because nothing else is going to work anyway"
-  Art Blakey

The first album to really change my life and drive my passion for drumming was a drum compilation that included the song "Cheryl," as played by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers on the album, Album of the Year.  I remember waking up early one Christmas morning and running downstairs at my sisters house to find a brand new discman and my very first compact disc!  I ripped open the difficult packaging, put the fuzzy headphones on, and pressed play on the first track.  Immediately I heard a crash and thundering toms through my ear drums.  It felt tribal, and reminded immediately of the native american drums I heard in my homestate of Wyoming.  If I had any sleep left in my eyes at all it was completely washed away when I heard Art Blakey's dynamic press roll leading into the melody.  Although there were 12 other tracks on that album, I just kept hitting replay on that one for the next hour.  I was hooked.

I have been a fan of Art Blakey's for years and years, and his drumming and philosophy have been paramount in my development as a drummer.  I have been extremely fortunate to play with some ex-messengers like Bobby Watson and John Ramsay, the later of which would become one of my closest mentors at Berklee.  There is so much to learn from Art Blakey.  Not only was he an immensely powerful and dynamic drummer, but also was a mentor to so many of the legends of jazz who came through his band.  Art Blakey was hell-bent on keeping jazz relevant and evolving, especially in its birthplace of the United States. 

Special thanks as always to the great John Ramsay, one of my mentors at Berklee and now the chair of the Berklee College of Music percussion department.  John was the road manager and second drummer in Art Blakey's Big Band in the early 80's.  John passed on many things that he learned from Blakey while on the road and he also wrote an amazing book detailing his drumming techniques and philosophys.  Please pick a copy up today (listed below). 

Buy the book here.

Please enjoy my transcription of "A Night In Tunisia," as played by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers on the album, Theory of Art.

Download PDF here, thanks.

Wise words from the great, Jim Keltner

Thanks for visiting. Normally I only post original content, but I really loved this video and throught it was an important one for many of us to watch. For those who aren't familiar with Jim Keltner, he's one of the all-time greats in studio drumming. You can hear Jim on countless recordings including legendary performances with Steely Dan and also as the drummer for most of the Beatles members solo projects. Jim is an amazing talent, very wise, and incredibly selfless in mentoring up-and-coming drummers. To learn more about Jim and watch some of his clips, go to this link.

About the video:

The video begins with Jim discussing breaking into the studio scene, but about a 50 seconds in he discusses a topic that I know hits home for all musicians.  Everyone at one point or another in their career gets caught up in comparing themselves to their peers or the greats.  Competition is healthy, but it is very unhealthy under certain circumstances.  A common unhealthy scenario might be going to a club and hearing someone who sounds awesome to you and quickly deciding that they are SO much better than you, saying to yourself, "I'm just going to throw my cymbals into the lake, I suck!"  Another bad scenario would be listening to someone and deciding that YOU are so much better than they are.  It's an ugly road leading to bitterness and heartache, and it is full of fuzzy logic. 

What Jim says in this video should be the first thing every musician thinks about when they wake up in the morning.  He summarizes his point very well in the last few seconds of the clip when he says, "Nobody can do what you do...  the way you do it." 

All you have to do is ask 5 drummers to play the same beat, and I guarantee that they will each sound slightly different.  We are all individuals.  Have faith in your process, your ideas, and most of all develop your own sense of 'self!'  It's pointless to try and "out Elvin," Elvin Jones, or "out Josh Freese", Josh Freese.  It will never happen.  You can be influenced by the great players and borrow from their vocabulary, but ultimately you need to decide what it is that YOU want to say. 

Everyone loves Rhythm Baseball!

Rhythm Baseball!

Hello drummers and music educators!  Thank you as always for visiting the blog.  I am amazed at the response and have loved talking to drummers and teachers from around the globe!  I have received many great emails and I thank you for very much for reaching out.  Now, on to my absolute favorite exercise, Rhythm Baseball! 

I developed the game Rhythm Baseball about 12 years ago as a way to break up the monotony of checking practice homework during lessons.  I can honestly say that I have never found another method that has engaged my students more than this exercise.  It's simple, everyone can do it, and the results are amazing! 

Lesson Tip:

I find that it is very important to try and develop games with students because it motivates them to practice and have fun with music.  Although much of our teaching is through spoken word and demonstration, nothing seems to reach a student quite like a game!  (shhh, we're tricking them into learning)

Rhythm Baseball:

Rhythm Baseball is a way for you, as the teacher, to check your students practice homework each week, or when you feel like it is needed.  This method can be applied to any instrument regardless of level.  Because this is a drum blog, I will focus on how I use it in my lessons, but please apply it to your own non-drum studios.

In drum lessons, especially with beginning and intermediate students, teachers are often checking to see if their students have worked on a collection of beats, snare drum exercises, or rudiments assigned in the previous week.  For example, we might circle ten rock beats in a method book one week and ask the student to practice and present them in the following lesson. 

At the lesson, the student might play the exercise a few times at a slow tempo (or really fast tempo, as often happens, hehe), and stop after they are cut off, lose the beat, or become distracted.  If played well, many well-intentioned teachers will say, "Ok, Great (checking it off), let's go on to the next beat."  This is fine, except in a real world performance situation, a rock band might require a drummer to perform that beat 300+ times (3 to 5 minute songs average). 

So does having them play it a few times really show mastery?  Absolutely not.  Will they forget the beat when they walk out the door.  Absolutely!  So how can Rhythm Baseball help?

Obviously we can't ask our students to play a beat 300+ times in a lesson or we'll all get gray hair!  However, I have found that if students can play an exercise 8 times without interruption at a steady tempo, that the beat will become far more engrained in their skill-set then if they play it "just ok" a few times.  How do I know?  The proof is in play-a-long tracks which involve Rhythm Baseball tested beats.  Students who had "won" the game with the same beats almost always make it through the full length of a song.  In other words, the information has been tested and they are confident in their ability!  Another important factor is that much of contemporary music song forms are written in 4 and 8 bar phrases, so it is a vital skill that all maturing musicians are able to understand and "feel" the length of these type of phrases. 

Rhythm Baseball Teacher Score Card (Rules Below)

 General Overview and Rules:

-  On the Score Card you will see 6 different games
-  Each game represents an etude or exercise you are asking the student to perform
-  These games feature "3 trys at bat", "3 Strikes", and "8 innings" each
-  Each inning represents 1 measure, so 8 innings = 8 measures
-  The purpose of the game is for the student to play the exercise 8 times in a row perfectly
-  As the student plays, the teacher will place an "X" in each completed box
-  If a student misses something, then that's 1 strike, and the student starts over with 2 more chances
-  If the student completes 8 times in a row on the first, second or third try, then the homework is complete!
-  If the student can't complete the exercise 8 times in a row, whether they are having problems with the beat or having tempo issues, then it is assigned again for next week.

Other Notes:

-  Innings don't have to represent 1 measure each.  Innings can represent anything you like.  If you have a clarinet student and they are learning their scales, an inning could be playing the scale one time ascending and descending.  An inning can even represent a full page of music.  This game is meant to open ended in this way, so use your imagination with your students and their needs!
-  I use this exercise even with advanced professional musicians in drilling techniques, so don't think it's only for beginning students.
-  If you are teaching little kids, and you really want to get them excited, bring a baseball hat and whistle...  I do this all the time..haha..  Yell out those strikes!  Make the game fun!  I even have a sampled sound on my drum machine that's a stadium cheering! 
-  Last thing..  If a student hits a perfect 8 on the first try, I always call this a "Grand Slam", and there is much celebration!!!
-  If Rhythm Baseball becomes boring and routine, then take a break!

Why does it work so well?

Because YOU are having fun and the STUDENT is having fun!  Positive energy goes a long way in teaching.  Another reason is that the students want to beat the game, making them want to practice harder, concentrate more, and get that grand slam!!  Finally, it is structured and the object of what they are doing has a direct and immediate purpose!  In this age of instant gratification, this is as close as we can toe the line!

Here is an example of a student who didn't pass!

Here is an example of a student who got a Grand Slam!

Try it with your students, I know you will love it!!

Please click here to download a PDF of your very own score card!  As always, I love to hear from all of you, so please shoot me a message or comment on the board.

Have fun!

Basic Fill-In Studies

Hello everyone, and thank you as always for visiting my blog.  Thank you to everyone for your amazing response in the past few weeks, great to have so many folks from around the world checking out the blog.  The past week or so I have been putting up transcriptions for the more advanced players to enjoy, but today is for the educators out there!  I hope you enjoy this worksheet for beginning drummers on Fill-In's!

Everyone loves to play a drum fill!  Some of us grew up air drumming to Neil Peart, of the band Rush, throwing our hands in the air trying to keep up with his complex mathematical fills!  Fill-in's are an essential skill for all developing drummers because they are used in practically every song, regardless of style.  Next to developing an amazing groove, drummers must be able to execute clean and concise fill-in's in order to tie different sections of a song together.  There are so many different ways to approach the subject, but I have found that these basic exercises are very helpful for my students.  Remember to please utilize a metronome or click track, because fill-in's have the tendency to rush or slow down in their execution! 

       

Download PDF here, thanks!