The Four-Limbed Monster!

Max Roach once referred to the drum set as being the "Four-Limbed Monster", speaking to the coordination and independence skills required to play it (and yes, I realize that the animation above depicts a drumming octopus who definitely has more than four limbs!)

Anyways, I've got a long and evolving list of things I've been practicing since the pandemic hit last March and I thought I would share with you a concept that I've been having fun with lately.

One of the goals as a drummer should be, in my opinion, to achieve a certain sense of unity and balance between all parts of the drum set. This is often easier said than done!

These are a couple of comping exercises that I've been messing around with. These have helped me towards developing a deeper sense of time and a unified sense of 4-way coordination.

Play both of these examples with the standard ride cymbal beat:

Exercise #1

Exercise #2

Rhythmically, both of these phrases are a series of syncopated, poly-rhythmic eighth-note figures that create an over-the-bar-line loop. This is challenging enough on its own, playing these figures with just one limb against the ride cymbal beat (for what's it's worth, this eighth-note figure was inspired by some Alan Dawson concepts I came across. You should practice this too!) but my exercise splits the rhythm in a sequence between the snare, bass drum and hi-hat.

The order of the orchestration between the snare, bass drum and hi-hat isn't by accident either and intentionally by design. I won't spoil it for you so play through these two examples and see if you can figure out the logic of each pattern.

I've also found this to be a helpful way to incorporate the hi-hat into my comping phrases (i.e. Roy Haynes).

Play it slow.

Balance the limbs dynamically.

Use a metronome.

Relax and strive for a sense of flow.

Make it swing!

* If you have any questions please let me know!*

** If you might be interested in taking a lesson with me and learn about more exercises and concepts such as these and more, drop me a line and we'll connect!!**

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