The absolute basics of jazz drumming.
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Brushes For Beginners
12/8 Grooves #1
Jazz Drumming Basics #2
Jazz Drumming Basics #3
Today we will be playing rhythms that are mixed, meaning there will be notes on the beat AND off the beat. The coordination needed is a little more intense since some of the notes will be played together with the cymbals and others won't. This will give you greater independence between the cymbals and the drums with a basic 1/4 note time feel on the cymbals.
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Shuffle Technique #1
The “Swing” Feel
Basic Jazz Fills
In this lesson you will learn how to play some simple jazz fills. They will be triplets on the Snare Drum, while keeping time with your left foot on the Hi-Hat pedal. This will help you to smoothly jump into a fill and then back to your time-keeping on the cymbals. A must for any beginner learning to play jazz on the drums.
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Jazz Comping #1
Shuffle Techniques #2
In Blues music, the Shuffle we play on the Ride Cymbal is often played on the Snare Drum as well. This is known as a two handed shuffle. You need to know how to play this groove well if you want to play Blues music.
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Jazz Comping #2
In today's lesson, we will be comping off-beat rhythms. Since swing is played in a triplet subdivision, this means the notes will always occur when you count "let". Comping off-beat rhythms is extremely important to master in jazz music.
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Basic Jazz in 3/4 Time
Solo Figures #1
Solo Figures #2
3-Beat Figures #1
Learn the basics of playing 3-beat figures on the Ride Cymbal. These are repeating rhythmic figures that are 3 beats long. In 4/4 time, this creates a feeling of going "over the bar-line", because the figures don't always resolve on beat 1. The result is that the time you play on the cymbals is a little less obvious but a whole lot more interesting.
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3-Beat Figures #2
The foundation of our time-keeping is the swing pattern on the Ride Cymbal. This is a very repetitive pattern however. Using 3-beat figures you can open up your cymbal phrasing and give it a more melodic quality.
This content is for VIP Pass (Rock N Roller), Rock ‘n Roller, and Drum Hero members only.
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Recent Reviews
Engaging, well organized instruction
Sep 11/2023
My 13 year old son has been taking lessons with Kevin for about a year and loves the combination of having an instructor who is well prepared for lessons, with a particular goal in mind for each lesson, and who is willing to work with him to play the music he likes best. My son really wanted to learn a song by a particular band, so Kevin found one that was at the right level and taught the skills my son next needed to learn for the next lesson.
Kevin sends a video of the lesson afterwards so his students can relook at what they are learning in case they forgot or are finding something challenging. My son hadn’t used that perk much until Kevin started teaching him songs from his preferred band. My son did end up rewatching parts of the video after that so that he could get through difficult sections.
You can’t get much better than an instructor who is BOTH engaging and well-organized/goal oriented. I highly recommend SimpleDrummer.
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Best way to learn!
Apr 20/2023
I’m a beginner (never played any music instruments in the past) and Kevin has been phenomenal for my virtual learning process. I’ve taken lessons with couple of other instructors (for about 8 months prior to starting with Kevin) and there are a plenty of times I felt like I’m not seeing the path forward, or come out of the class confused and more frustrated. With Kevin that’s not the case; he has a good structure in place and helps to build on top of each lesson (like building blocks). He also records and sends you videos of the lessons if you take his 60 min class, which helps me with the review process when I practice offline and I can go back to the video to watch and relearn.
Kevin is multiple time zones away from me and yet I have the flexibility to schedule time that works for me and learn when I want to learn. There is NO pressure to meet every week or take x number of lessons or you loose your money etc., When you are ready to take a lesson, you simply schedule with him 48 hours ahead and pay online on his website. Then you Join the online class at the scheduled time. It’s that easy!
I highly recommend Kevin for your drum lessons regardless of your skill level.
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