How One Single Drum Lesson Forever Changed My Groove-Feel...

In February of 2015 I was wrapping up my college career and enjoying a final semester of smooth sailing to the finish line. I had already performed my senior recital the previous fall, and I was just finishing up a few class credits in the spring. I also had the time and opportunity to take additional lessons outside of school, so I reached out to a respected drummer in town whom my percussion teacher recommended. He solved a big struggle I had at the time by giving me some very counter-intuitive advice.

Now I was playing a bunch in jazz band at this time, and I was really working at being a solid jazz drummer. At the same time, I was also playing at my church every Sunday and playing in a cover band as often as possible. Genre-wise, I was gaining a lot of versatility just from these three groups alone. I had a problem, however, in the jazz realm.

Our jazz band director was constantly hounding me for not having the right feel in my ride pattern. Straight-ahead swing is driven by the ride and hihat, so it’s definitely important to have that feeling good. I thought I had my ride pattern together and solid, but he was driving me crazy about it not feeling right. I was kind of at a loss, because I wasn’t sure what needed to change in the way I was playing. Our director was a fantastic jazz musician, but he wasn’t a drummer by any means. He had played with great jazz drummers, but he couldn’t sit down at the kit and show me what he wanted. Furthermore, he couldn’t clearly articulate exactly what needed to change. He just knew it wasn’t right, and it was up to me to figure out what needed to happen in order to fix it.

That’s when the opportunity came to take a lesson from a well-respected jazz drummer in town who was a colleague and former classmate of my percussion teacher. This guy was a fantastic player, and ironically he and I are friends today - I've been able to sub for him many times. I showed up to his house for my lesson and met him for the first time that day in February, and I explained everything I was working on in my playing. I described the frustration with jazz band, and I showed him all the jazz stuff I was working on.

I explained that I felt like I needed to deepen my coordination. Every time I experienced a coordination leap over the years, that translated to other areas of my playing. So I was working on practicing the “Syncopation” exercises (from Ted Reed’s book) with all sorts of cool add-ons I’d seen jazz drummers do. I was comping like crazy with my left hand, and I was playing fast, intricate passages with ease. In terms of left hand coordination, I was nailing it. This teacher actually agreed, and assured me that I didn’t have any issues with my left hand. What he said next I’ll never forget:

“All the left hand chops are worthless if the right hand ride feel isn’t right. The swing pattern is all about the quarter note.”

We switched spots, and he sat down at the kit to demonstrate. Ahhh.. it felt so much nicer when he played it. What was he doing differently with his right hand?

We switched back around, and he started adjusting my right hand. “First off,” he began, “turn your right hand to more of a thumbs-up, French-grip position.” I made the adjustment.

“Now play the pattern again, and listen specifically to the quarter notes. Don’t think so much about the 16ths happening in between giving it the bounce. Just focus on the quarters.” I did that.

“Now dig in a little more, emphasizing the quarters while still keeping the 16ths in there.” Done.

“There you go! That sounds a hundred times better.”

Just like that, my ride pattern had improved. And to test out my newly-learned knowledge, I employed this technique adjustment at the next jazz band rehearsal the following week.

“Woah - that ride pattern feels killer!” The director exclaimed. “That’s exactly what we need.”

Cool, I thought to myself. Glad I went and took that lesson! But here’s what’s really cool. What I learned that day actually helped my playing feel better beyond just jazz. I’ll explain a little more in a moment.

So what exactly happened in that lesson that changed my approach to jazz?

All that I did was learn to listen to and emphasize the quarter note pulse. I learned that the quarter note is ultimately what drives a swing tune, and without that steady pulse nothing feels right. You can even take out the 16ths in the ride pattern, and the quarter notes alone feel great! I learned that this all comes first before any kind of fancy comping or intricate coordination. I also learned that this applies to any groove from any genre. Without a steady pulse, nothing feels right. I learned to focus my ear on my timekeeping, whether it’s straight 8ths in a rock groove or hihat 16ths in a funk groove. When I listened specifically to the timekeeping and made sure to keep it solid, the whole groove felt great. Then the details could follow, and I could insert the comping again - as long as the timekeeping was solid.

Here’s your action step for this week:

Ask yourself what your ear is gravitating to while you practice a groove. Are you listening most to your kick, snare, hihat, ride, metronome, car driving by outside, or what? Try this challenge… When you have the groove together (whatever it is), practice just listening to your right hand as it keeps time. Make sure it is steady time-wise and dynamic-wise. If you’re playing accented 8ths on the ride for a medium-tempo rock groove, make sure they’re steady. That means they need to be super locked in with the metronome, but it also means they need to be consistent as far as velocities go. Make sure each accent feels the same and each “tap” (softer note) feels the same. Consistency is key here. You can’t put a listener at ease or drive a band without smooth, steady time and dynamics.

Give this a try, and record yourself! Listen back and ask yourself if it feels good. If not, keep working at it. If it does feel good, then awesome! Keep working on it still. You can never get too good at this stuff.

I hope this helps you out! If you’d like to see a full-blown video lesson on this, shoot me an email and let me know.

God bless,

Stephen