Let this deaf lady tell you all about it. Kinda cool. Kinda different.
Percussionist | Evelyn Glennie
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Independence, Control, and Tempo
It wasn't until a little over 3 years ago until I really took ownership of training my drum set independence. This is not something to be learned over night. In fact, I still am working on dedicating my whole body and mind to timing when I sit down at the drum set. It's like being an athlete. You're always in training if you want to be the best at what you do.
If you're not quite sure what I mean by the concept of independence, I'm talking about each limb, left and right, hands and feet being connected to you yet with the ability to carry on separate rhythmic patterns all at once, in time. Mouthful... and handful.
Hands and feet are all physically connected to your body. That's easy to understand. But it's important to be capable of carrying on tempo on their own, sometimes all together and with different rudiments and poly-rhythms.
In rock drumming you can sort of escape this idea for a while without having to keep a consistent rhythm with both feet. But in jazz you aren't as fortunate. Neither in bosa nova, samba and other advanced styles/rhythms. But to the rock drummer out there, it can only improve your timing, and also open a door to more creative options.
To be honest, I got thrown out of my element a few years back. At the time I felt pretty comfortable with my timing and feel. Drumline did test my tempo. I thought the four years of a Dr. Beat bleeding out my ears at every rehearsal and having my two feet marking the pulse of almost every notated rhythm I played would do the trick.
While it did help me largly in precision, timing, and playing along with others. When getting back to the drum set, it didn't necessarily remedy my performance 100%.
So when I got the privilege of having a few lessons with Ndugu Chancler, lets just say I had it coming to me. He's played everything practically.
He sat me down at a set of drum pads and had me play quarter notes with my left foot(hi-hat) and on beats 2 and 4 with my right(kick pad). My hands were on the snare pad playing a simple repetitive 8th and 16th note pattern. Needless to say, I was on that throne tackling the same concept with different variations for the whole hour instruction.
Towards the end of the lesson he had me play a roll out of time, yes out of time, while my feet kept the steady pattern in tempo. It was a joke at first. I'd either be playing the roll in a triplet pattern, a 16th note pattern, or I'd just completely biff it and fall apart. My body and frame of mind were so used to trusting my hands for tempo, and mostly my right hand.
Eventually, I got my mind back and focused on the tempo with my feet. And was able to play freely with my hands. Again this is not something that happens over night, but definitely separates the men from the boys when it comes to tempo and control.
So I hand this over to you now. At VicFirth.com they have some free online lessons with many including Ndugu's. You can learn directly from him on these basics that I think all seasoned drummers should eventually acquire.
This particular lesson focuses on feet timing while playing to a click/metronome.
Lesson #7: Foot Technique | Ndugu
This lesson applies what I've been talking about when refering to independence. He uses rudiments on top of the foot patterns, and at one point plays a roll out of time shortly.
Lesson #3: Rudimental Work-Up | Ndugu
You can check out his other online lessons here.
Good luck.
If you're not quite sure what I mean by the concept of independence, I'm talking about each limb, left and right, hands and feet being connected to you yet with the ability to carry on separate rhythmic patterns all at once, in time. Mouthful... and handful.
Hands and feet are all physically connected to your body. That's easy to understand. But it's important to be capable of carrying on tempo on their own, sometimes all together and with different rudiments and poly-rhythms.
In rock drumming you can sort of escape this idea for a while without having to keep a consistent rhythm with both feet. But in jazz you aren't as fortunate. Neither in bosa nova, samba and other advanced styles/rhythms. But to the rock drummer out there, it can only improve your timing, and also open a door to more creative options.
To be honest, I got thrown out of my element a few years back. At the time I felt pretty comfortable with my timing and feel. Drumline did test my tempo. I thought the four years of a Dr. Beat bleeding out my ears at every rehearsal and having my two feet marking the pulse of almost every notated rhythm I played would do the trick.
While it did help me largly in precision, timing, and playing along with others. When getting back to the drum set, it didn't necessarily remedy my performance 100%.
So when I got the privilege of having a few lessons with Ndugu Chancler, lets just say I had it coming to me. He's played everything practically.
He sat me down at a set of drum pads and had me play quarter notes with my left foot(hi-hat) and on beats 2 and 4 with my right(kick pad). My hands were on the snare pad playing a simple repetitive 8th and 16th note pattern. Needless to say, I was on that throne tackling the same concept with different variations for the whole hour instruction.
Towards the end of the lesson he had me play a roll out of time, yes out of time, while my feet kept the steady pattern in tempo. It was a joke at first. I'd either be playing the roll in a triplet pattern, a 16th note pattern, or I'd just completely biff it and fall apart. My body and frame of mind were so used to trusting my hands for tempo, and mostly my right hand.
Eventually, I got my mind back and focused on the tempo with my feet. And was able to play freely with my hands. Again this is not something that happens over night, but definitely separates the men from the boys when it comes to tempo and control.
So I hand this over to you now. At VicFirth.com they have some free online lessons with many including Ndugu's. You can learn directly from him on these basics that I think all seasoned drummers should eventually acquire.
This particular lesson focuses on feet timing while playing to a click/metronome.
Lesson #7: Foot Technique | Ndugu
This lesson applies what I've been talking about when refering to independence. He uses rudiments on top of the foot patterns, and at one point plays a roll out of time shortly.
Lesson #3: Rudimental Work-Up | Ndugu
You can check out his other online lessons here.
Good luck.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Drum Mentor and Online Lessons
I am now giving online drum lessons.
With a few requirements like Skype, a webcam, and a computer, I'm giving online lessons to serious drummers looking to venture on to the next step.
Check out my home site at aarontosti.com if you are interested. I talk a little more of my background and what a lesson from me might look like.
I'm exciting about this oportunity!
With a few requirements like Skype, a webcam, and a computer, I'm giving online lessons to serious drummers looking to venture on to the next step.
Check out my home site at aarontosti.com if you are interested. I talk a little more of my background and what a lesson from me might look like.
I'm exciting about this oportunity!
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