Drumset Lessons with Jay Fenichel: "Cissy Strut" by The Meters 

As a teaching tool this is great; the bass drum line especially gets at what Zigaboo was going for. But beware, it's more the "in the crack" feel than the exact notes that count. Like learning a jazz beat, play this pattern 1000 times in the practice room to internalize it and others like it. But when you climb on stage, don't think about whether you're playing it "right"; nobody but a couple of drummers in the audience will care. What matters is making the band cook in the moment.

I love Jay’s videos. He breaks down difficult rhythms and explains them very clearly.

EXCELLENT JAY! Especially appreciate the way you take the time to slow the groove down so everyone has the chance to SEE and HEAR exactly what you are doing! You are a GREAT TEACHER!

Really great video, I learned I've been doing this slightly wrong for years. This was really easy to follow and I got it now! Thank you!

Nobody seems to want to deal with the choruses in this piece. So far this is the best video I've found despite that fact. As a teacher myself I respect have the notation presented so well.

The Meters - Cissy Strut (1969) 1) The First Drum Groove: Slowly 1:41 2) Hi-Hat slowly 2:22 3) Hi-Hat & snare slowly 2:50 4) Bass drum slowly 3:13 5) Bass drum & Hi-Hat slowly 3:45 6) Bass drum, snare & Hi-Hat slowly 4:10 7) Bass drum, snare & Hi-Hat with full tempo 4:34 The Meters - Cissy Strut (1969) open.spotify.com/track/0WSlOSMLJWoWUpWci9nnRb?si=VdJ4TxIIQ_uII0W5n6GJyw

Nice work Jay..I've been playing for decades, this was a nice refreshment after so many years of not touching the tune.

You can't go wrong with Vic Firth videos! Quality video quality AND content. Great job gang!

A really fun groove to play. I started moving this groove around the kit, as almost a linear type fill. You did an excellent job explaining the groove, and equally as important, laying back. For me, being relaxed is crucial, so this is an awesome way to warm up on the kit.

Really good lesson Jay......great job👍🏻

Hello, Thanks a lot... I am french from Marseille and I am 68 but what a pleasure without too many words but a lot of pedagogy....Congratulations...I am going to follow you regularly

This is really of a big help for me studying this song for our next rehearsal. Thanks a lot for your contribution!

Thanks a lot my friend! You have a great chilled way of teaching which i'm enjoying a lot

Jay, you do a real nice presentation here. Nice elevated shots and varied speed break-downs. Keep up the good message. There’s soo much out here, I had to give it up. Way too much catching up for me to ever do. Daunted....JerBoy

Great video for the general idea, helped me get my bearings to learn the studio beat, can you please please make part II

Something to keep in mind. I put this groove in the realm of funk/jazz, which is always open to interpretation. In these styles, I am not a purist in terms of the part needing to be 'identical' to the original. I've seen Zig and many other drummers do this and completely change it up... & still sound and feel great. This is not a Rush groove. Find it in a way that makes sense to you and use this lesson as a guide to get you there.

I've listened to this track countless times and you sounded great playing it! I don't think he plays the open hi-hat on 4+ most of the time though, but you didn't have it written in the transcription, so you're not wrong. Thanks for the lesson, and great video!

A million thanks for this video!

Thanks for tutorial, man!

Nice drum lesson! Thanks a lot for this video!

Wow! Great lesson! Thanks so much!

Jay, this will be very helpful info for drummers who want to play this groove correctly. Too many times, I've played with guys and ladies who simply play a straight funk groove. Miss all the good stuff! Please spend a couple minutes on the B section, so players will understand they gotta hit those two eighth notes on the fourth beat of the first measure. Oh, one other thing, and I'm picking nit here...on the B section, your guitarist is adding a note to the first line, right before beat 3! Check out the original studio recording and you'll see what I mean.

Great break down very helpful! Thank you

Love it thanks for the grove, Billy

Well done! I downloaded a "loop player" to practice to, and this was on there. I seen chambers play it, but never gave it a real listen till tomight. I figured it out by ear, but was playing with 1 hand on hats. Definitely grooves better with 2. Thanks

Around 4:20ish are you playing anextra hi hat onthe + of 2? If so I like it! Are you playing that one softer?

god this break is soooo funky

well done Jay thanks

Great lesson, thanks a lot

Thanks for the lesson!

Great videos. The parts in these Meters songs are so important.. most everybody on the bandstand plays them for Feels them incorrectly

Why is this sooooo god damn hard.

Hi, i would love to know how the second part of the song is played

Pretty cool

Just wanna clear up that Zig never played with The Funky Meters. He played (and occasionally still does play) with The Meters and he is the originator of that particular groove. The Funky Meters, however, was a group formed later on by original Meters members Art Neville and George Porter with guitarist Brian Stoltz and drummer Russel Batiste, who later left the group to be replaced by Terence Houston. also, now that I'm here, I'd like to add, that if you really wanna find the feeling of that style, you should check out some of the old second line drummers and mardi gras indians, cause that's basically where the groove comes from. It is, in it's essence, an alternatively orchestrated second line - or at least that's how I hear it. However, I may be wrong... great job though. keep up the good work.

Jay, very cool! Thanks for posting. I have been watching Zigaboo's explanation/demonstration and he DOES NOT play two sixteenth notes consecutively on the bass drum on beat 3. This is the trickiest part in what you are doing and it sounds hip, but Zigaboo doesn't do it on his demo. Is that what he plays on the recorded version?

Jeez! Tricky! This is my goal now.

Thank you!

Man, I just stumbled upon your video. You should have done the whole groove at the start without the comment...Then got into it verbally! Great info man...And even greater vibe that you play!

nice job

Really nice groove, very nice to learn! Liked the ghost note he added, too. Though the transcription wasn't fully precise, this one is in triplets, not in straight 16ths.

1:41

Show fabio BRASIL SP HUG GUY

ur playing a ghosted hat note on the and of 2 but u didn't write it ...

where's the B section?

What about the hihat you're adding on the & of 2? Haha great video though

Great video. Tthe bass drum part is simplified. For the actually bass drum part listen to the original by the Meters NOT the Funky Meters

This says 60 BPM but I tried that and 60 is way too slow. What BPM are you playing? Thanks

Sorry i was confused so am i now. This groove sounds so "black" i tought it was triplets. Thanks for the lesson. I should work on the hi hat dynamic now.

Superb ....For me this is what RU-vid is for .brilliant explanation great teaching unlike the morons who upload a video just to show off and say to the world ‘ I’m great look at me ‘ 👍

4:14

"B" section?

there is one weak note in the hit hat that you havent included into the partiture

swing fill??

What the heck?? Where's the chorus?? That's the best part of the groove!!!

Excuse me but i don't get the point. Why is that groove written in 16ths and why talking about swing feel as it is just a plain ternary beat, at least in this verse part ? I think it will confuse people more than help them. Or m i confused ?

Great video but...but...."a funk drummer don't play like a rock drummer"..that's just not true.when i began playing drums i learnt how to play heavy metal and double bass,but at the same time wanted to learn how to play james brown tunes and stax records tunes without even knowing the artists who played that music.at the same time learnt how to play blues by getting in jams organized by guys about my age (i was about 16 yrs old)later on,some rock and metal drummers of the 90's started to play really simple but effective single patterns (just kick,snare and hi hat)even guys who used to play furious double kick patterns!that opened my mind to play a different kind of thing.lots of 'em added some kind of "funky feel" regardless of the style they were playing. There's a lot of examples in that field.you can find them in rhcp records,sepultura and even pantera records.so if you really want to play with a really good groove,you can add this kind of things in almost any style (ghost notes for example)and make a difference in your playing.it's up to you to play as a "square rock drummer "or to add a different flavor by adding funk/soul patterns into your music and play almost any style but with a really well rounded groove that will make you stand out from a "regular" drummer.cheers!

I cant get into the damn groove and fix my mistakes at the low tempo examples if he only spends 16 seconds on each one then moves onto the next fucking thing And he plays a ghosted note in a place that isnt written down which throws me off too

Hey guys... I don’t moderate the comments here because it’s not my channel. So if you have a question or comment for me, feel free to check out this version my RU-vid channel: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fDMvulTBxMk.html

maybe all pattern is not problem .just dont hit the one hihat note.

Thanks Everyone! Glad you're enjoying the lessons. Remember to subscribe to my youtube channel at ru-vid.com for any specific comments or questions directed at me. Thanks ~Jay

Funk is all about syncopation. No syncopation = no Funk

I've never seen this song played with less groove. Holy crap, I know it's a lesson but the performance at the beginning and end is painful to watch. Learn to swing, y'all.

Too much of a jazz "swing" vs. a funk "swing" -- listen to "Hand Clapping Song" to get a sense of how it's different.

Once again the bass drum pattern is wrong.... If you want to learn the wrong way keep going.

It's WRONG......not what is going on the the bass drum. NOT EVEN close.

Too much swing.

ALSO there is NO grease to how your playing it man! Where are the cracks and the greasy sludge! I guess if you want that academic talk your 16ths are NOT leaning triplety enough and your not pulling back on the snare enough.

So binary or ternary ? what do u thing people ?

Rock drummers don't have GROOVE!!! *cough cough* JOHN BONHAM *cough*

4:14

2:22