The Fundamentals of Jazz Drumming Part One

Here is the recording mentioned in the exercise above.  

Transitions 6: From Trading/Soloing To Head Out

Quick and dirty today, I just wanted to touch on the idea of cueing the head out effectively from a solo/trading situation.  A couple of quick thoughts:

1.  Know and hear the song you are playing
The key to cueing the band effectively is to know where you are in the form at all times.  This means you should  try to always hear the melody and/or chord changes no matter what you are playing.  Nothing is worse than giving a cue at the wrong spot in the form.  Notice how I set up the simple vamp type sound and give the bass/pianist a clear look at the end of my last four in the video above (around 1:27), which leads me to my next point.

Transitions 5: Dynamic transitions

Dynamics add tension

Today's post is going to focus on moving between dynamics to build tension.  In the video above (featuring Bill Heid on keys and Kris Funn on bass), check out how the transitions from loud to soft at 1:07 and again at 2:13 build tension by upsetting the expectation of a loud climax.  This upset expectation, and the tension that comes from it are one of the fundamental elements of almost any kind of music.  The longer you can delay resolving this tension, the more intense the emotional response from your audience will be.  In the video, the dynamic tension in the song doesn't really resolve until the very end. 

Will they get together or not?

It's just like a sitcom

Tension and release works in almost any art form.  One example of this that may help explain the importance of tension and release is the sitcom.  In order for a sitcom to work there has to be some kind of central tension that never gets fully resolved.  The reason people continue to watch and enjoy these shows is that they want to find out if and how this tension will finally be resolved.  As soon as the central tension is resolved, the story is over. In music the same principle applies, so waiting to resolve dynamic tension until the climax of a piece is crucial. 

As a drummer, your job is to set the dynamic range of the music.  If you play loud, everyone else kind of has to.  With that in mind, if you can exercise the restraint necessary to hold back the bashing impulse, you will find that when you do finally release that impulse, the effect will be dramatically heightened.  

Shuffle!

The Shuffle!

In today's post we are going to discuss how to play one of my favorite grooves of all time, the shuffle!  The best thing you can do to start learning how to shuffle is to get acquainted with it's sound.  Starting a blog post about the shuffle with anything other than "Moanin'" is borderline heretical, so start listening and playing along here.

This song is basically the definitive recorded shuffle, so listening to and trying to imitate Art Blakey should be your starting point.  The other person to listen to to get your bearings is Mel Lewis.  Here is his famous shuffle on "The Groove Merchant":

Notice that neither one of these guys is overplaying, one of the many temptations when playing a shuffle.  Even though their groove is incredibly driving and strong, they are playing to the ensemble and staying dynamically balanced at all times.  Notice how much Mel drops down at :47 for example!  

Karriem Riggins: Soul!

In a previous post I focused on Karriem's graceful uptempo playing, but today I want to highlight a different and more fundamental aspect of his playing, his soulfulness.  Ray Brown and Art Blakey were two jazz musicians who epitomized the ideal of soulful playing.  In this clip from the 2010 Detroit Jazzfest you can see Karriem, Christian McBride, and Benny Green tap into the spirit of these great musicians and bring the song "Buhaina, Buhaina", written by Ray Brown for Art Blakey, to life.

Soul

Soulfulness is not about flashy technique or abstract musical concepts, it is about selflessly connecting with your band and your audience in order to lift everyone's spirit.  Art Blakey put it best, "Music washes away the dust of everyday life".  

Art Blakey: Using groove to drive the band

There isn't a drummer in the history of jazz who could drive a band harder or with more fire than Art Blakey.  Listen to how he relentlessly he pushes the band on the song "One By One":