Jazz Drumming

Often times, young drummers think that learning a jazz beat will enable them to play jazz. To develop a concept for any style of music, one must go far beyond learning a few beats or patterns. I feel that drumming, in any style, is 50% concept and 50% technique. Many drummers seem to have very good technical skills, while acquiring very little conceptual knowledge of the style of music they are attempting to play. To build a broad conceptual foundation for jazz drumming, a player must focus on at least six areas:

History
Technique
Rhythm Section Awareness
Tune Knowledge
Listening
Practical Application

History

• Students often don’t take the time to examine the amazing history of jazz drumming.

Ed Soph, one of my early teachers is a true jazz drumming historian, who can demonstrate the drumming of Chick Webb or Baby Dodds and then turn around and sound like Elvin Jones. Ed encourages his students to go way back and do the necessary homework.

Gary Chaffee, one of the foremost teachers on the scene today, insists that his students learn the drumming styles of famous players. He exposes his students to the entire jazz songbook, from Miles to Metheny. He provides students with an extensive collection of classic jazz recordings, enabling the students to hear the original drummer on the recording and then play along with a classic recording.

Technique

• Students haven’t fully learned the technical language/ vocabulary associated with the jazz style.

Each style of music requires certain technical demands that define the style. The technical exercises used in funk or Latin won’t be the same for jazz. A drummer must build a jazz vocabulary, creating a loose independence with all four limbs. Musicality is essential when transforming technical exercises into a personal style.

Although jazz rhythms might seem complex to a beginner, they are really just a collection of down beats and upbeats. If you are comfortable with a few standard jazz rhythms, you will be in the ballpark conceptually.

The following books are valuable resources, designed to build jazz independence and strengthen the jazz vocabulary as well as the overall concept.

Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer by Jim Chapin
The Art of Bop Drumming by John Riley
Essential Techniques for Drumset by Ed Soph
Art Blakey’s Jazz Messages by John Ramsay
Syncopated Rolls by Jim Blackley
Standard Time by Steve Davis
Jazz Drummers -Masters of Time by Steve Davis
Jazz Drumming by Billy Hart

Rhythm Section Awareness

• It is important for the jazz drummer to be aware of the entire rhythm section and their individual roles, as jazz music is not a “one man show.”

Piano…
Drummers must spend some time listening to and analyzing jazz piano comping ideas. When listening to a jazz piano master comp (rhythmically accompany) behind a soloist, it reveals a treasure chest of ideas to be used for snare drum bass drum interplay.

Some piano players to check out…

Wynton Kelly	Chick Corea
Herbie Hancock	Red Garland
Bill Evans	Dave Brubeck
John Lewis	Keith Jarrett
Roland Hanna	McCoy Tyner

Bass…
The more aware a drummer is of the bass player’s role, the more successful the performance. Outstanding music can be made when the drummer and bass player are on the same page musically.

Some bass players to check out…

Christian McBride	Paul Chambers
John Patitucci	Reggie Workman
Ray Brown	Rufus Reid
Dave Carpenter	Marc Johnson
Larry Grenadier	Tom Warrington
Milt Hinton	Eddie Gomez
Ron Carter	Chuck Berghofer

Tune Knowledge

• Young players don’t know tunes

The true indication of a serious jazz musician rests with tune knowledge; that is, a broad, in-depth understanding of all “standard” jazz tunes as well as the newer tunes of the day. There are several tune collections found in fake books like “The Real Book”. The more a drummer knows about a tune’s form, melody, and even harmony, the more effective the performance.

Listening

• Usually, a player’s record collection reflects their playing strengths and weaknesses.

Listening may be the most important aspect of building the jazz concept and perhaps the most ignored. The following represent a sampling of classic jazz recordings with a cross-section of important jazz drummers:

Artist	Title	Drummer
Louie Armstrong	Satchmo at Symphony Hall	Sid Catlett
Baby Dodds	Talking & Drum Solos	Baby Dodds
Miles Davis	Kind of Blue	Jimmy Cobb
Miles Davis	Four and More	Tony Williams
Miles Davis	Milestones	Philly Joe Jones
Wayne Shorter	Speak No Evil	Elvin Jones
Bill Evans	A Simple Matter of Conviction	Shelly Manne
Art Blakey	Moanin	Art Blakey
Chick Corea	Now He Sings, Now He Sobs	Roy Haynes
Bill Stewart	Snide Remarks	Bill Stewart
Keith Jarrett	At the Blue Note	Jack DeJohnette
Clifford Brown	Now’s The Time	Max Roach
Ahmad Jamal	At the Pershing	Vernel Fournier
Art Pepper	Art Pepper + 11	Mel Lewis
Stan Getz	Sweet Rain	Grady Tate
Pat Metheny	Pat Metheny	Billy Higgins

Also, try attending as many live performances as possible.

Practical Application

• Jazz can’t be learned in a practice room

This is an important part of the process because it provides an opportunity to put your ideas and concepts to the test. Unfortunately, many students learning to play jazz are limited to practice room study, accompanied only by play-alongs or CDs. Jazz is an improvisational art form, where skills are honed by interacting with other musicians; reacting to soloists, comping patterns, bass lines, time feels, song forms, developing long–lasting musical skills that can only be found in live performance.