Hand to Foot Triplet Co-Ordination 1

This is really just one of Jim Blackley's ideas from his classic "Syncopated Rolls" written out.

It's a pretty simple idea but quite challenging to execute well.

Basically the Snare Drum is playing a quarter note accent and the Hi-Hat and Bass Drum are filling in the remaining triplets. What makes this tricky is that the pattern alternates every beat.

In exercises two and three the accent is moved to the Bass Drum and then the Hi-Hat.

Next, you can move the snare part to the toms, and around the kit. Also experiment with buzzing the snare stroke.

Play it slow, and work up the tempo. Once you are comfortable, try it against jazz time and a shuffle.

These are not meant to be played as written as comping figures, but they will help you develop some co-ordination to execute your ideas. You can then work out how use them as a basis for come comping phrases.

This was originally posted on "Jazz Drumming Blog" and in the "Ideas for Jazz Drumming" e-book (no longer available). This post has been revised from the original.