How to Stay in the Pocket with The Pocket Queen | Drum Lessons 

Technique is the concept that she's teaching ! You'll be surprised how many drummers have taken off without learning technique and the rudiments ended up being sloppy drummers! that's why she's the pocket Queen

Even the way she speaks has groove...

Finally an intelligent drummer that tells the truth and realizes the craft is more than just beating a drum head...it's that pocket and steady combination of rudiments that form consistent grooves

that snare is so clean it gives me chills. excellent

You're a bass player's dream come true!

Love this woman! Putting on for all of us female music enthusiasts

My GOD that snare. Crispier than kit kat and yet lighter than popcorn. You know the tuning is on point when the tempo drops but you can't help but feel the groove.

I've always felt really strongly about the philosophy she's explaining about "the pocket" and the difference behind staying in time and feeling the pocket and exploring what's possible. I'd been playing acoustic for about 3 years before I was introduced to the "band kids" in high school. I couldn't have looked at music more differently than they did. It seemed as if they were robots and would get bent out of shape going off the transposed sheet music and improvising with feeling. A very small percentage offset from them were all percussionists and could hang with whatever you felt like trying and feeling out. It's the difference in persona from a 1st chair orchestra seat at the philharmonic and someone in, let's say, a blues band who knows enough to chop but can't read music. I've always been with the latter and do realize it's short comings but haven't ever compromised my passion for technical theory and disciplined page turning so to speak. What's really awesome is how the legends usually know both lanes and can cut up with whoever is playing like Jaco or Fleck or even Mozart for that matter. Can anyone relate to the disdain for theory over passion and also admit that they regret not learning to read?

Perfect. A song drummer. Bernard Purdie for our times. Love it. Exactly how I try to play. No flash. This is pure class. 👍🏼

A real master of her craft, respect.

1:10 first version 2:35 (after the slow version, kinda improvised) 3:13 second version "totally different" 4:00 third version "laid back"

That snare sounds so crisp * - * thanks for your knowledge Pocket Queen, I wish you were my drum teacher.

Yep, pocket is the feel. It's not loose, but it's what quantization kills. I love her approach of deciding what feel is needed and then playing to create that feel. My bass playing improved when I internalized that. Not better chops but the right chops played with better feel.

Thanks so much. You are a fabulous drummer. As a kid of the fifties, loved my fifties rock and roll, but funk beats don't come naturally. I have played this with you now a hundred times learning some funk awesomeness!

What I hate are the people who thumbs down videos simply because they didn't get something that they wanted out of it. That you are more advanced, or didn't up your game by watching, doesn't mean this isn't a good video demonstration of pocket. I hope those who do learn and enjoy this video can see the value here and enjoy this video.

I love how happy she is while she’s doing this. That makes it more enjoyable as a fan.

It’s that feeling of living in the moment, waiting in anticipation on the next move to make. All that “free time” you get when you’re right on track. Just makes you wanna wiggle a bit in the mean time.

In love with this drummer!

You will be surprised how many drummers can do rolls chops but can't keep pocket

How am I just now seeing this video? I LOVE Pocket Queen, and sometimes like Guitar Center! 🤩🤩😀

Taylor !! Always love seeing the Pocket Queen 👑 ❤️

This Chick is a whole vibe, truly a queen

I LOVE TO SEE HER GROOVE!!😎 I'M A FAN MS. POCKET QUEEN!! ☺

Yall..........I was bopping my head the whole time😂😂

Amazing. So smooth. Love her vibe

That ending 😍😍😍 as a drummer, nothing but respect. That was an excellent tutorial.

I think all drummers/percussionist have a collective appreciation for really good technique when we see it and the appreciation I have for the stick/hand control is really high for her. All it took was that thumbnail

Music is less about what’s on paper and more about feelings and how it makes you feel. However you still have to keep time with a steady groove.

She said it... it’s about feel and groove. Locking eyes with the bass player and just laying it down. It’s when your beat is consistent but your body starts to move. It moves you. Literally. Great video. Just wish I could get my snare to pop like that. Time to smash down on the resonant heads lugs. Yo beat yo!

she's so fly. I love that

She’s a machine. 👑

The space in between! Perfect explanations.

Love it ....Taylor Gordon (a.k.a. The Pocket Queen) Ima remember that name! ❤

My goodness that snare drum, WOW !!!

Damn makes me wanna pick up a drum set haha I’m a guitar player

That thing at the end with that bass bounce was ESPECIALLY fiery. Does this woman have a RU-vid channel?

Love her teaching style. Super rad

Pocket is such a vague term, and I feel like this video explains it okay, but some people might not get it unless they already kind of know what it is. She mentions the "dictionary definition" of pocket, and then highlights what pocket means on a subjective level, which I think is meant to emphasize the fact that there's much more to the term than its most basic technical definition. Personally, it seems like most people are using it to describe not only consistency, but also having a good sense of the subtle rhythmic and sonic nuances of playing a given note (often in relation to what the other parts of the rhythm section are doing). For instance, Flea talks about landing his bass notes on the "o" of a kick drum pop. I think pocket is like knowing whether to play on the first "p" or the "o" or the second "p," depending on who you're playing with and what song you're playing. It's mere milliseconds, but it really changes your perception of the song. If you want to see that subtlety in action, I recommend watching Rick Beato's video on quantization, where he essentially ruins the groove/pocket of Bonham's drumming by changing where the drums hit. It really changes the feel and even the tone of the drums. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hT4fFolyZYU.html&ab_channel=RickBeato

She's just Awesome ! 😊🥁

Lawd that SNARE!!!!! 🙇🏽‍♀️🙇🏽‍♀️🙇🏽‍♀️🙇🏽‍♀️🙇🏽‍♀️

been a fan since the first time i saw one of her instagram videos. amazing feel to her playing.

My old manager at s music shop who was an exceptional drummer always pointed to "Hold the Line" as the best example of in the pocket drumming.

Liking the snare tuning👌

I also play drums and have new Orleans roots I could feel and gear that new Orleans in your foot in the bass drum to me that's the key to taking off and going into other places but still staying in "pocket"...to be simple your bass is awesome I felt the spirit...your amazing

Man. Watching this makes me want to pick back up the snare drum and relearn to play it. Shout out to the "Pocket Queen."

Tama slp dynamic bronze! Great sounding snare

Works in rock music too, ask Nick Mason about the space in between. It the part that makes you feel like you're floating.

She’s a badass! Great lesson

One of my favorite drummers and easy on the eyes 😍✌🏽

My fav one!!!! The Queen!!!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

She's absolutely right. The pocket may involve lots of speed, variation, and rudiments but it is above all else GROOVE AND FEELING. If u not feeling the time then u can't stay in time.

Great lesson! Her lesson makes pocket fun!

Great lesson! More please!

Them micz on point!!!

Technique, dynamics, and fun

Omfg the last 30 seconds!!!!!! She can’t be human!!!!

Pocket Queen is the G.O.A.T!

To me the pocket is magical and a term used to loosely for those who don't truly know what it is. She's on the money when it comes to feeling.

Yo she’s one of my favorite drummers

That was amazing and I don’t even drum. It did give me ideas of how to improve my rapping and poetry

She’s from my hometown,New Orleans. So she naturally has that New Orleans funky drummers groove instilled in her. I come from a family of drummers. My uncle Jesse Hill was a famous New Orleans drummer and there are my cousins Herlin Riley and Joseph Lastie. Both renouned New Orleans drummers. And let us not forget, the great Jonathan Moffet. Michael Jackson’s former drummer. We’re proud of you my young sister. Keep the groove funky.

Nice job queen! 👑

5:05 thats all I needed in my life

those hi-hats are glorious

That kick drum sounds amazing. Got that vintage pillowy compressed ringo kinda sound.

very intelligent musician!

Absolutely amazing

She's a true master!

That jacket/shirt combo is dynamite

Never heard of you, I apologize. I am now a subscriber, thanx for what u do!

The pocket is a fluffy pillow you just lay into

Shes really right about this, i feel the same way and have pocket too

She is super smart and super funky

4ever luv the pocket queen

Okay, I love everything about this girl ❤

Oh my god!! I'm in love!! 💕Marry me pocket queen!!! Y'all stop watching this video that's my wife y'all are checking out!!!

She slows the tempo and the timing is DEAD ON! Awesome.

The beat at da start had me groovin yo

Un grove super sympa !. merci (in France)

Dang like a slice of butter on a pile of flapjacks smothered in soul

This is awesome. Way more helpful and applicable than learning how to play a 5:3:2 polyrhythm with a clave ostinato on your left foot, truth be told. 😂

What happens is you learn about space...When to strike,when to rest,when to hold it,how long,and how many times.That's the same exact situation which goes on with DJs that can spin all types of music equally,because they understand the pocket,the space,when to layer,when to subtract.

Pocket Queen indeed! The most important thing you indicated here is the space between the notes. That can refer to groove, pocket, feel, laying back, or whatever. But what is it exactly? It's the variance in that space when it comes to 16th notes. Everything else is on the grid, and it must be. The 16ths? Yes and no. I've examined to date quite scientifically where the upbeats lie (for this I'll define those as '2 and 4'), downbeats ('1 and 3') and accent beats (everything in between-the 8th and 16th notes) in over 250 different popular recordings. (ignore 12ths, 24ths, 32nds, etc). I actually measured it. (Hey! It became a hobby. Sue me) Why did I do this? What I was playing at first sounded too mechanical. Too 'quantized'. I was playing patterns, the same hits and fills, as Steve Gadd and Buddy Miles, but what were they doing that sounded so better? I was trying to be rhythmically perfect, and I was, but I sounded like a bad drum machine from 1972. So I had a mystery to solve. The secret I didn't know was where the even-numbered 16ths lie. The whole, half, quarter, and 8th notes all fell directly on the grid. That's important. That's the frame of reference for the even-numbered 16ths. You can't play 'behind' or 'ahead' of the beat-if you are the drummer, you are the beat. You're the frame of reference for everyone else. Try to play behind, or ahead, they adjust, moving things back to on the beat. But in every single song I examined, the even-numbered 16ths (the odd-numbered ones are actually 8th notes) did not fall on the grid. They fell 8 to 33% late, depending on the song. And every single song did this to some degree. This was the secret. Those 16ths in any song are consistently that late. In every song, they fall a precise percentage late. 8-17% isn't consciously noticeable by listeners. But it's there, and this is what our unconscious mind responds to, bc that is where emotion lives. That's what gets their heads bobbing and their toes tapping. What they perceive as 4/4 is really a skewed version of 4/4. Triplet swing is the same as delaying those 16ths 33%. Most jazz delays them about 25%, and most rock delays them about 17%. If we ignore the triplet kick beats in your last example, the rest is very close to triplet swing based specifically on where the even-16th accents fall. Most things don't get that far away from the grid, but there are songs from almost everyone, that do, even including rock giants like Led Zeppelin.

1:13 straight groove 2:44 second line feel 3:18 hi hat time lag I think of the second line feel as strongly swung. The last one is very subtle, left hand delays to create the elusive “half swung” feel.

My daughter's got her new drums set up at Guitar Center

A national behind the kit and camera!

Finally, a percussionist that actually follows the bass player ❤️

You are a joy to watch! I love your smile as you play like a little girl with her toy, evidence of your mastery and majesty! One of my favorite drummers is NEAL PERT of RUSH, do you have any covers of RUSH songs? Also, FENCE WALK by MANDRILL, RAPPER DAPPER SNAPPER by EDWIN BIRDSONG, SO MUCH LOVE by NORMAN CONNORS, SHO YOU RIGHT by BARRY WHITE, DO YOUR DANCE by ROSE ROYCE, BELLY DANCER by THE ISLEY BROTHERS, LET'S START THE DANCE by BOHANNAN, SOUL MAKOSSA by MANU DEBANGO, and HOW GLAD I AM by NANCY WILSON? If you can only do 2, please do BELLY DANCER and SO MUCH LOVE?

I love. The. Way. U are. Teaching the. Beat.

She’s awesome. My rhythm must be absolutely terrible though, because all three sounded exactly the same to me.

Good work.

For a min I thought y’all were gonna play lovely day 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

That snare sounds amazing

This is soooo cooool!!!!!!

Thank you Queen 👑 you’re Amazing💯😘👍🏼

What a lovely smile!!!!!

Was she a church drummer ever? Seen so many insane church drummers in the city in Philly. Those players are pocket players for sure.

ive never heard of the pocket queen, i have no idea how i landed on this video, but dammit im a fan

Amazing!!!

And y'all THAT'S why she's the QUEEN!!!!😁👸🏽🎶🎙🎺🎸🎷👍🏿🥰