on jazz drumming

"Being a true improviser requires a sound musical and technical background, but the final statement must be full of human experience and expression."

Jim Blackey Syncopated Rolls...
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Fundamentals

Discover the fundamentals and basic foundations to good jazz drumming.
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Ideas & Exercises

Explore a range of ideas and excerices to develop your playing and creativity.
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Transcriptions

Transcriptions of notable jazz drummers - comping, solos and grooves.
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Inspiration

Thoughts, comment, things to get you inspired to play jazz drums.

// Latest Posts //

Last year saw the passing of jazz legend Roy Haynes at the age of 99! Truly a legend, if ever there was one, with a career that spanned almost all the great musicians and variations that is jazz. And in 2023, the greatest living jazz improviser and composer, Wayne Shorter also left us.

In interviews with Jon Batiste, both Haynes and Shorter divulge some of their musical histories and philosophies.

In these exercises, we are taking a triplet three-beat figure and translating it into different rates - eighth-notes and sixteenth-notes.

Displacing triplet figures by seven beats to create some interesting comping patterns for jazz drumming.

Developing comping ideas for jazz drumming by displacing triplet figures by five beats.

A set of simple two-beat fills around a BeBop kit.

Work on chops and rhythm by moving paradiddle accent patterns through three different rates.

About

A website of jazz drumming transcriptions, ideas and exercises, that charts my investigation into drumming and jazz, and provides resources for other aspiring jazz drummers. Focusing more on the interpretation and accompaniment of music through comping and grooves, rather than just solos and soloing.

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