Note how similar but different these two drum fills are that Dave played with Nirvana. The first fill is taken from “Smells Like Teen Spirit” leading into the chorus, while the second fill is taken from “Come As You Are” leading back into the second verse.
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In essence beats 3 and 4 of both drum fills are the same piece of drumming language. Dave has made that “lick” a part of his drumming vocabulary and is comfortable leading into and out of it. You can make your own variations on these fills to get comfortable enough with the concept that it becomes part of your drumming vocabulary.
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One fun way to learn a more complex drum groove is to build it starting with the groove in its’ most basic form, and slowly add more notes in until the pattern/groove is complete. Check out how I’ve reconstructed Alan White’s drum parts from Oasis’s classic song, Don’t Look Back In Anger.”
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Learn a cool and playable David Garibaldi (Tower of Power) groove that a student of mine recently asked me about. READ ON…
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I often get this question from parents and over the years I’ve had the chance to see what’s worked and what hasn’t worked for my students and others. Recently, a close band director friend of mine asked me for recommendations that he could pass along to the parents of his students so I thought I would take this opportunity to do a bit of a deep-dive into the question. READ ON…
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Kenny Washington is an absolute master. Getting to finally see him perform live with the Bill Charlap Trio in Atlanta last year changed my musical life. He is drenched in the language and makes it very much his own (and modern); his technique is incredible; his ears are always on point listening & communicating with the trio; and most importantly he swings and plays more musically than most drummers on the planet.
This is my transcription of Kenny trading 8's with Bill Charlap on "The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else," on Bill's record, Uptown Downtown. The whole record is killin, check it out!
I don’t often share materials from student lessons, but I recently had a student who wanted to learn this song. So, I transcribed Chris Layton on the introduction up until the 1st verse. ... This is a prime example of the “Drum Beat” to a song being used as a malleable template. READ MORE & Download PDF…
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Quickly learn to play along with tons of songs in 6 or 12. Specifically, Chris Stapleton’s song Tennessee Whiskey, Led Zeppelin’s Since I’ve Been Lovin You and Dazed And Confused, Toto’s Hold The Line and many others. READ MORE & Download PDF…
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The first few major steps to bass drum independence. These are old patterns that have been handed down over the years in the drumming community. READ MORE & Download PDF..
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Here you’ll find just a few of the projects and transcriptions that I’ve been working on lately either for myself or for my teaching studio. If you like some of my content and want to learn more, please email me for a commissioned transcription or to set up an online drum lesson.
