Oh actually you did a video on that. I guess my question then is, is this principle for developing a jazz touch on the drums or do you think it’s universal? Because the example on 5:54 might work in a rock context, even though it sounds stiff in jazz. And vice versa the second example may sound too soft/not enough contrast in a rock context?
Oh man, yeah I love this rhythm as well. I think this is also something that Philly Joe incorporated into his rudimental lyricism (Term from Ralph Peterson) while soloing. I’m often left wondering how much of this rhythmic information is tied directly to tap dancing rhythms (I don’t have any experience, but understand that Roy, Max, and Philly amongst others were all tap dancers/adjacent to dancers), in the sense that dancers seem to often stretch their rhythms in unique ways. It’s then interesting to hear Tony’s take on all of the great vocabulary since (I believe) he was coming from a strictly musical approach. Very interesting analysis
the qtr note stuff is awesome! I feel like I have helped my intensity through playing super low and super slow. Like 50-60 bpm, sightreading syncopation exercises, or playing along to ballads. Past that records without drummers are super fun to play along to. fun video
I’m in my 40s and only a year into studying drums (I say “studying” because I’d feel a bit dishonest if I said I can actually play them), but I do have big aspirations as far as the kind of drummer I can become, even if it’s only within the confines of my own drum room. Your knowledge is mind blowing. Great channel, glad I found you. Thanks
Great video and insights - I feel like the moments when I have truly experienced flow it’s been the culmination of a technical breakthrough. The synapses were firing in a way that allowed flow to happen
Roy is one of my favorite drummers as well- listening to him from the late 50s to the late 60s (and beyond, but particularly this period) has always really baffled me. He developed a way to play such a complex style of time keeping, but it always felt great and always served the music. Incredible, undoubtedly influenced by his tap dancing!
Hey Steve, I enjoy your videos and they are really useful. You make some really important and interesting points that are not often talked about in social media. Nevertheless, I have found that in some of these videos, the exercises used to demonstrate the difference between techniques are quite complex, which makes it difficult to understand the point of the discussion. I understand that for each of your topics covered in the videos, you have a course on your website in which you explain it in more detail and probably with more illustrative examples. Anyway it was just an observation. I really appreciate the content you upload. Hope all goes well :)
Thank you so much for the thoughtful response. Yes it’s in mort detail on my website for sure and then the technique series there’s a subject entirely devoted to this in detail.
Thank you so much for the thoughtful response. Yes it’s in more detail on my website for sure and in the technique series there’s a subject entirely devoted to this in detail.
Great Video Steve. Personally I agree with what Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Roy Haynes and Jack DeJohnette had to say about flow. They believed that it was about a Continuous Stream of Language, but also, and I'm paraphrasing here, but they basically said when you go from playing Time to playing a Fill then back to playing Time, dont lose the overall Time and Feel. I believe that thinking about it in the way that you're explaining it can help achieve that goal.
Hmmmmm, very intriguing. There's a lot of people talking about mechanics and I think most of them are full of something. But here I think there is some real insight. But I don't know what it is yet 😁. What a fascinating journey. I kind of want to not think about this stuff anymore but this is so interesting. Thanks. The downstroke? How to stop the stick without efforting at all or how to produce the accent without stopping? I need to watch it again 😂🙏
‘Articulate with my rythmn at subtle dynamics’ excellent. While back I commented on Rick Diors site ‘ technique, musicality, audience’ as the three main elements of music. His reply, there is no separation. That everything musically has an explanation in how it’s done. That everything boils down to technique.
Honestly, this video makes me cringe and it's tedious, border line incoherent... I really think you are confuse with terms like "busy" which is not the same with some drummer flowing, which mean everything looks easy and musical, not busy with a bunch of notes playing non-stop... Also, I really don't grasp the link between your premise and what you are doing on drums, which have nothing to do with the fact that you are pointing out this is your opinion.
@@stephanmarcouxdrums4877 everything in the video was broken down and I’m happy with the video. Have some courage and rather than breaking down other people why don’t you work on yourself. This is cowardly.
I agree with most of it but I would love if you would explain yourself a little bit further because I couldn’t fully understand some of the points you were making
I tend to take the same point of view. It's very much the same with verbal speech. We've long ago encoded the mechanical connections to form phonemes, words, sentences, etc,. but similarly can access "flow" states in conversations with others, or even speaking aloud to ourselves. The idea of flow may be a misnomer in a scientific sense, but still can have utility in the colloquial and creative senses.
I agree. It seems like “common sense”, like it’s another way of saying that there’s no quick easy shortcut, there’s only putting in the hours to be able to connect ideas. I’m not hearing many people break it down this way. Great job!
