A Study in Work

If my practice is intended to further my knowledge of rhythm or theory, I call that Study.
If my practice is intended to learn a piece of music, I call that Work.
And here we get to the hard part…

Thinking.

Generally speaking, thinking is terrible for drumming. If you are thinking, you have lost focus on the moment, on your count, on your tone, and on your interaction with the dancers, or with the other musicians. Terrible!

Thoughts while drumming are the equivalent of, “SQUIRREL!”, and before you know it you are actually and in fact LOST in thoughts…

So, a drummer must know what they are going to do, far before they get in a performance situation and actually do it.

And that is what Study and Work are for.

My experience is that both things are equally important, equally fascinating, and equally difficult, and all for entirely different reasons.

When I Study, I am using resources (recordings, videos. books, articles, blogs, or teachers) to further understand exactly HOW and WHY a rhythm or song works. I am trying to connect that understanding into my hands, so that I can simply perform without worry about “right” or “wrong”.

That is, if I Study the rhythm Maqsum, and really understand the theory behind it, how the pulse structure works, how the accents create dynamics, and how the entire thing holds together as a rhythm, then I can play a Maqsum with confidence, and be relaxed and open and receptive while I do it.

It is not an obstacle, it is a well known space. It is not a trap, it is a sanctuary.

When I Work, I am condensing my Study down into a single effort to learn and memorize a piece. It might be a full song, it might be a specific fill, it might be the transition from one rhythm or tempo to the another. But I focus that time entirely on that Work.

For me, Work virtually always involves the metronome. Set it to a slow tempo to begin with, as you learn the hand positions and movements, and then gradually increase the tempo as you become more skilled. Once you get up to the correct tempo for the piece you are working on, make sure to focus the rest of your Work time at that tempo.

Enjoy!

Daily Exercise is Good for the Groove

Exercises are intended to build physical stamina and mental confidence.

For me, an Exercise is an almost Zen approach to non-specific elements of drumming. I will be the first to admit that there is some cross-over between all these ideas, and that from time to time you might use your Drills as an Exercise, and that is completely fine.

Typically I use Exercises to develop physical and mental stamina, which allows me to perform my style of percussion, which is live performance in a festival setting. I tend to sit down, and drum for various groups of performers, one set after another, for anywhere between one to three hours. There are often, but not always, short breaks between sets. Usually just long enough for the announcer or host to introduce the next group, and then back to playing.

This requires a lot of preparation, and Exercises allow me to perform without worry of faltering physically, or mentally.

Here is an example of an exercise that I use, which takes a base rhythm, and removes a full count, going from a 9 count, down to 8, and so on, until we get to a 5 count.

I go through each count for thirty-two repetitions, and then go immediately to the next count in the exercise, again for thirty-two repetitions. When I get to the “bottom” of the Exercise I immediately reverse it, and start adding full counts, until I get back to the start.

I keep the same tempo on the metronome.

You can create a lot of variations of this sort of exercise by varying tempo, or by changing the way you are performing your secondary counting.

As always: Enjoy!

 

Exercise Rhythm in (9/4)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&	5	&
D		T	D	T		T	D	T

6	&	7	&	8	&	9	&
T	D		T	D		T

Exercise Rhythm in (8/4)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
D		T	D	T		T	D

5	&	6	&	7	&	8	&
T		T	D		T	D

 

Exercise Rhythm in (7/4)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
D		T	D	T		T	D

5	&	6	&	7	&
T		T	D		T

 

 

Exercise Rhythm in (6/4)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&	5	&	6	&
D		T	D	T		T	D	T		T	D

 

Exercise Rhythm in (5/4)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&	5	&
D		T	D	T		T	D	T

(My apologies, the formatting on the graphs requires me to split them up.  I have tried to correct for typos, but can do nothing about the way it causes different sized boxes…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drilling Down to the Good Stuff

Drills are the practice of working on getting a particular tone, or working on a hand position, or focusing on a counting drill of some sort.

When I am doing Drills I focus on these three ideas:

 

1) Stay Relaxed.
It is very important to focus on proper technique. That includes posture, hand position, and breathing. But I try to not get so focused that I become tense. Relaxed drills are good drills. Drumming is not a competition.

2) Tone Is More Important Than Speed.
The goal of drills are to develop good tone. Do not rush. Drills are much more productive if you play slow, but with good tone, rather than playing quickly, but with poor tone. It seems strange, but it is true: The slower you go the faster you learn.

3) Less is More.
Never drill too much. I recommend doing drills no more than ten minutes at a time for new drummers. You will get far more out of your practice if you focus on good tone for ten minutes, rather than flailing for thirty minutes and getting tired and sloppy. Even now, I tend to drill for ten minutes at a time, two or three times a day.

 

I have a few Drills that are my “Go To”.

 

Drill 1 (Switching)

(First Half)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
D		T		K		T

(Second Half)

5	&	6	&	7	&	8	&
D		K		T		K

 
Go nice and slow. Drill this at about 60 BPM to begin with, and work your way up in speed only if you can do it without error, both vocalization and tones, four times in a row.

But the most important aspect of this Drill is to do it out loud.

OUT LOUD. Irritate the cat. Make the roommates roll their eyes at you. You are a drummer, which means you are a geek. Embrace it.

Drummers are not allowed to be timid or shy.

If you didn’t want to have everyone paying attention to you, you have selected the wrong instrument. You hit a drum and people will notice. Doing drills means they will notice how good you sound.

I go through the first time with counting the numbers;

“One and Two and Three and Four and Five and Six and Sev and Eight and”

My next time through I speak the tones I am using;

“Doum and Tek and Ka and Tek and Doum and Ka and Tek and Ka and”
I also use a double version, with no rests.

 

Drill 2 (Doubled Switching)

(First Half)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
D	D	T	T	K	K	T	T

(Second Half)

5	&	6	&	7	&	8	&
D	D	K	K	T	T	K	K

Again, go nice and slow to start. Work your way up. Speed comes from slow repetition, not flapping your hands and fingers and hoping it all works out.

And, yes, count this out loud as well.

First time with counting the numbers;

“One and Two and Three and Four and Five and Six and Sev and Eight and”

Next time through speaking the tones;

“Doum Doum Tek Tek Ka Ka Tek Tek Doum Doum Ka Ka Tek Tek Ka Ka”

And, one last note: Say, “Sev”, not “Seven”. The word seven has two syllables, which will throw your count and tempo off. Get in the habit of Sev, and life will be smoother.

 

These are basic Drills with basic tones, but you can substitute any tone for any other tone in the Drill. Swap out all Teks for Mutes. Use Rizz instead of Ka. The possiblities are endless, and the more variation you put into your Drills the better you will sound.

Enjoy, and Happy Drilling!

 

 

 

A Practice By Any Other Name

So, what are the best practices for practice?

This is a very, very interesting question.

I think the best thing to do is to define what exactly we are talking about.

 

Practice:
prac·tice (ˈpraktəs)

As a noun:

1) The actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method as opposed to theories about such an application or usage. “The principles and practice of teaching.”
Synonyms: Application, Exercise, Use, Operation, Implementation.

2) Repeated exercise in, or performance of, an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it. “It must have taken a lot of practice to become so fluent.”
Synonyms: Training, Rehearsal, Repetition, Preparation.

 

As a verb:

1) To perform an activity, or exercise a skill, repeatedly and/or regularly in order to improve or maintain one’s proficiency. “I need to practice my French.”
Synonyms: Drill, Rehearse, Work.

2) To carry out or perform a particular activity, method, or custom habitually and/or regularly. “We still practice some of these rituals today.”
Synonyms: Perform, Observe, Function.

 

Uh oh. This might be more difficult than we thought.

So, it is possible to practice our practices, so that we can practice practicing.

I am going to share how I think of my “practice”, and what has worked for me.

When I practice, I break my goals down into bite sized pieces.

 

If my practice is intended to strengthen my ability to perform techniques, I call that Drills.

If my practice is intended to build physical stamina, or mental confidence, I call that an Exercise.

If my practice is intended to further my knowledge of rhythm or theory, I call that Study.

If my practice is intended to learn a piece of music, I call that Work.

If my practice includes other musicians, I call that Rehearsal.

If my practice includes an auidence, I call that Performance.

And, if my practice is not geared towards ANY of those things, I call that Play.

 

For the next series of posts here, I will be detailing my various practices, and hopefully helping out any new drummers, or any active drummers that might have found themselves at a plateau in their current playing level.

The Quest for Soot

Soot is fun, but it is also a bit of a quest.

Many of you have already checked out “Searching for Chobi“, which touches on how interesting, difficult, and frustrating hunting down rhythms and their origins can be.

Soot is very, very much that way.

I first heard Soot on an album more than a decade ago, when I was first beginning, and I simply thought it sounded cool. I had no idea as to why it did, only that it did.

Soot is, at its root, an amazing lesson on variation and syncopation, but there is virtually nothing at all concrete or even documented about it. A fair number of instructors, videos, and albums contain Soot, but there is virtually no consensus about where it comes from, how long it has been played, or anything of that nature.

Knowing what I know about rhythm, and practice, and drummers, I have some theories, but there is of course no way to verify or prove the truth of those theories.

But, having explained all that, here we go…

I think that Soot started as a mistake. Either as a miscounted measure, or a misheard rhythm hook

And, because drummers are inherently a bit crazy, or lazy, that mistake was basically pounced on, and no one looked back. And, of course, no one wrote it down!

I would guess that the mistake happened in the Persian Gulf, probably on the Western edge, in what is modern day Kuwait or Qatar. I think that, because Soot is basically a Malfuf, started in the wrong spot.

Malfuf, as you can see on the Malfuf and Kahleegi page, is basically a 3-3-2. That is, the beats within it can be counted as 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2- very easily, which is indeed how many, many traditions do count it. For lack of a better term, let’s call that Pulse Counting.

 

Malfuf (4/4)
Basic (Doom and Tek)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
D			T			T

 

Malfuf (4/4)
Pulse Count (Doom and Tek)

1	2	3	1	2	3	1	2
D			T			T

Soot, on the other hand, structures its pulses in a 3-2-3 pattern. It essentially “starts” on the second pulse of Malfuf. Well, and adds a few Teks, and takes a funky rest in the middle.

 

Soot (4/4)
Basic (Doom and Tek)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
D		T			D		T

Tricky!

Really alien and exotic to any “Western” drummer, used to a constant stream of 3-3-2 in pop/rock music, or 2-2-2-2 in “dance” music.

Here it is in Pulse Count.

 

Soot (4/4)
Pulse Count (Doom and Tek)

1	2	3	1	2	1	2	3
D		T			D		T

Now, it was likely a mistake. All of the really good stuff tends to be a mistake that someone was able to remember, and then do again deliberately, and then improve on.

I like to use Soot in class to challenge students, and see who is actually counting, as opposed to faking it, or playing by rote. Playing three Malfufs, followed by one Soot, and then repeat, is surprisingly challenging at first.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Rhythm Page without some variations.

 

Soot (4/4)
Variation (Doom and Tek)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
D	D	T			D		T

Let’s put a little bounce into it, shall we.

Focus on keeping your tempo steady, because this is a bit like the Ayoub, in that it is fun, and you will likely speed up at first.

 

Soot (4/4)
Variation (Doom and Tek)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
D		T			T	T	T

Welcome to the Land of the Drum Solo!

Add this variation after three Kahleegi, and things get fun.

 

Soot (4/4)
Variation (Doom and Tek)

1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
D			D		D		T

Simply fiendish.

You can hear my evil laugh in the background. MwahahahahaHA!

Enjoy!