Audio of Lesson 6

It’s good to practice to extremes.  Just to find out where your parameters are.
Just like a sprinter, they know breaking 10 seconds is their goal yet they know where they’re at. Sprinters are scientific in their training,
so should drummers.    Emulate the sprinters, ye drummers!

What’s the quickest I can play Late in the Evening groove to find out my fastest tempo.
Make sure it’s a groove not just speed. More speed equals a blur sound.

Speed is blur. A lot of drummers play blur. Buddy Rich did it, Luis Bellson did it. Many young drummers do it. Faster the better. Well..faster equates to one sound. Blur!

Know where your extreme edge points are within the groove.
When you screw up…that’s why you practice, alone!
Then go hell bent fire. I can’t do it so then I back off the tempo.

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Here’s something you can add.
Did you notice when my hand hit the snare drum?
Add that to the beat! Your hand hits snare drum as you play the hi hat.
It makes another sound!

Practice this! It’s YOUR creativity that makes things happen.
It’s not something written in a book.

It’s you and phrasing and thinking and movement and attitude.

End of Series of 6 Lessons on “Late in the Evening” Groove.

The QD says: Let’s all thank Steve Gadd!
We’re all human and need a bit of thanks now and then.

Audio of Lesson 5

We will now work on ad lib movements.
Trying to get a groove with the snare drum added.
We’re not choosing to count the bar numbers but to be free, to ad lib.
We practice alone so no one hears our mistakes.  That’s fun and safe!

We do this for a time limit, no counting, no phrasing.
Do this for 10 straight minutes.

Have a stop watch or a big clock.
We’re drummers, were timekeepers.
We like time have clocks around you.
Have fun doing this.   10 minute grooves.
Now, if you’re so bold, try a 30 minute groove.

I’m not kidding. Get a countdown clock and set it for 30 minutes.
Play the beat for 30 frickin’ minutes.  :-)  I dare you.

End of Lesson.

The QD John-Hans Melcher

Audio Option of 4th Lesson

Let’s take the “Late in the Evening” groove and move
the right-hand to the ride cymbal.
Note: Speed is not required in all drumbeats. Groove is required.

It’s not how fast you can play the beat, it is how you can make the beat
feel good supporting the music.

Sometimes you have to play only on the ride cymbal and the hi hat to make the groove work.
In practice it’s always wise to start with the left hand on the hi hat because it’s quieter.  Get the groove set before you add the snare drum. Go! 16 bars.

Obviously you can add some high hat flares to make
the beat more interesting and subtle.
We don’t have to add two or three or four flares on the hi hat,
maybe one or two at the most.
You can change the flares on the hi hat.
Makes subtle changes every 16 bars.

I don’t know what I’m doing all the time so I stop,
think and decide on what are my variations will be, and where.
I must practice making choices.

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Sometimes you can take the right-hand and move it from the cymbal to the hi-hat for a very short period of time and back to the ride cymbal.
Sometimes you can move the right-hand back and forth
from the cymbal to the hi-hat.

Work on this in your practice sessions. Once you discover something you like write it down on a three by five card.
Practice 16 bar phrases, then do 16 more bars slightly differently.
Always start with 16 bars.  Stop, think then do another 16 bars.

Get into the habit of knowing geographically
where you are playing the variation.

That’s the lesson!

TheQD John-Hans Melcher

Adding a backbeat.   Audio Option of Lesson

Using the same sticking we now add a backbeat on the snare drum.
What’s going to happen is that the right hand or left hand slides quickly down to the snare drum.
This is what you have to practice: the movenment to and from the snare drum.

To make the movement successful, try the “I don’t give a hoot” attitude.
This will help you force the stick back to the hi-hat from the snare drum.

Practices all grooves with a chosen attitude. Drumming is about attitude.

Movement on the drums is dependent on the way you feel.
Movement is attitude.

You have to choose your beats instead of playing them by luck.
When you choose your beats you put power in your drumming.
Fact: There is a big difference between lucky beats played
and chosen beats played.

Do the beat for 16 bars with choose different backbeats.
Any tiny screw up, keep practicing and starting a phrase over again.

4 bars, 8 bars or 16 bars.

When you get the beat right, practice the full 16 bars.

The Quiet Drummer John-Hans Melcher

Steve Gadd’s “Late in the Evening” groove starts
with the hi-hat for these practice sessions.
Once you get the basic beat mastered we will add a little splash
at the end of each measure. Quick flares on the hi-hat.
All you have to do is lift up the hi hat foot pedal just a little.
You’ll know where to do it. Give it a try.

Now, we can do the same thing and create the same sound by not playing a couple of strokes with the hands and let the hi hat do the notes. By closing the hi hat instead of using the hand. This gives your beat a better feel. Try it! Nice loose feel.

Always play 16 bars when you do these grooves.
Not 4 bars, not 8 bars, a full 16 bars every time you play the groove.
Stop at 16 bars. Do it again for 16 bars.

This is how you practice phrasing.
Drummers need to always be aware of phrasing as the play.

The Quiet Drummer John-Hans Melcher

Focus on the Hi-Hat

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Make sure you honor your limbs & your movement.
Call on Trust. Be aware that you’re doing your best
to make manifest your beat. Trust your beat.
This represents your highest self!

TheQuietDrummer

Here’s the previous post in audio format from a real human.

The Quiet Drummer!

Sometimes we worry we are too loud.  Sometimes we worry
we are not hip enough.  Other times we worry we’re not as
good as so and so down the block…in the next practice room
or in that ‘other’ band.

Worry, worry, worry. How to STOP worrying?

Here’s the secret.  I’ve got the secret. I’ll share that secret.
How to stop worrying? This is it….here’s the nectar of freedom.
Ready? Willing? Receptive?

You will stop worrying when you just don’t care.
Just don’t care.  Don’t care? Yup, don’t care!

Just don’t care what the other person is doing
because it will always be different than what you are doing.

Be ever-present with what you are doing.  Care what you do.
Care so much that you forget to worry about what that other
drummer is doing.

It’s called Ever-Present Focus.
Devour that and your worries will fade away as the
morning dew evaporates each & every morning.

The QD

PS Buddy Rich actually told me thhis when he performed at  The Prom Ballroom in Minneapolis back in 1970.  He basically said:

“Care about your own drumming
not someone else’s drumming.”

audio of above post