Mel Bay Drummer's Cookbook, The

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I n l h e p o s t fe w ye o rs, ro ck h o s ceosed to be the illegitim ote offspr ing of t he m o r e s o c i o l l yo cce p to b l efo rmso f music.lt hos becomeqn oulhentichybr id of Blues ,

Jozz, ond more recently,Gospel ond Countrymusic.lt hos emerged unscothedfrom t h e Sh o o - b o p,S h o o -b o pe ro q se por qteond legitim ote music for m, still in its i nfoncy gronted, but nevertheless, on honestform with o new direction. R h y t h m i c o l l y, R o ckh o so d vo n ce dby leopsond bounds.As o r esult,muchem phos i s h o s b e e n p l o c e d o n th e d ru mme r.T hisis one in q ser iesof booksond it deqlswith one of ihe most imporlont ospectsof rock drumming: RHYTHMIC IMPROVISATION. The object of this text is to encourogeond develop the drummer'sqbility to creqie ond develop his own ideos from o bosicformot. Rockmusicis, or shouldbe, o form of personolexpression,Therecqn be no right or wrong woys to ploy. Everythingmustbe reducedto ihe individuol level. Thereshould be very few generol rules.lf something works for on individuol, then for thot porticulor drummer it is right. lf something

works for you, do it!

Wq Er., I

tNC.pACtFtC,MO. o 1S72By MEL BAy pUBL|CATIONS, INTERNATIONAI COPYRIGHT SEOUFED.ALL RIGHTSRESERVED. PFINTEDIN U.S.A.

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TABLEOFCONTENTS

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THEROCKFEELING:An explanation of someo{ the different"Jeels"usedin rock.A few exetcises: andtheirrelationship to the overallteelingof a rhythm. showingthreebasichigh hat patterns,

from THEVARIATIONS ANDDEVELOPMENT OFA BASICFIGURE:A methodot obtaining variations a basicfigureby 1) Changing the tonalstructureot a figure2) Changing the rhythmicstructureot a fisure.

rhythmically. lmprovising off RHYTHMIC lI\4PROVISATION; A studyintothe conceptof improvising of a basicrhvthmicstructuremuchin the mannerof melodicimprovisation.

of a basicbeat. CHAPTER ONE: Variations A seriesot eight8 Bar solosbuiltfrom in ChapterOne. the exercises

CHAPTER TWO: Variationsof a basicbeat. A seriesof eightI Barsolosbuilttrom the exercisesin ChaDterTwo,

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I VARIATIONS WITHTHERIGHTHAND:A tewexercises demonstrating the technique CYI\4BAL of vary. ing the rhythmot the righthandand integrating it intothe overallrhythm.

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THEROCKFEELING Betoregoinganyturther,an attemptmustbs madeat explaining howto te6l a rock rhythm. Everydrummerhashisownwayof feelinga tigure,but in generaltheyall mustgivea rocksound. Technical is not nearlyas importantas the leelinggenerated execution by the drumm€r.The mostprevalentfeelingin the newertunesis borrow€dtrom the BlackMusicol today.lt is a combinationot threeor four feelscombining togetherto giv€an overalleffect. Tempois of utmostimportance wfen discussing feeling.Thefiguresin thisbookweredesignod to be playedno fusterthan between., : 112to 120.As a generalrul6,it wouldbe advisabla to playev€ry{igureat manydiff€renttemposrangingbetween TRYJ: 60 and 112.ANYTIMESPENT INGTOPLAY THESE FIGURES AT RIDICULOUS TEMPOS ISWASTED!!

(A) Exceptfor th€ obviousdifferencessuch as shufflesand 6,/8 figures there is alwaysan "8 to the bar" feeling.Usuallyit is playedwith the right hand,eitheron the ride cymbalor on a closedhigh hat. On occasionit is not so necessary to playthis figureas it is to IMPLYit. As in alltyposof music, whatthe bandis doingwill governwhatyou,the drummer,will playbehindthsm. Whetheror not you chooseto actuallyplaythe "8 to the bar", that feelingmust alwaysb€ ther€. Sometimesstraight quarter notessuit the arrangementmuch better but they are still felt in €ight. Don't think of iust stra i g h te i g h thnotes i n4/4butota n S / S t im e s ig n a t u r e . T r y c o u n t in g L 2 S 4 S5 T S,i n stsa d o

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