(upbeat music) -: Hi, nice to see you. I'm Sister Sumayya. And I am going to share a dance, song, and drum rhythm with you today. The name of the dance – and some of you may already know it, and if you do, please sing along, if you know the dance, please dance along, if you know the drum rhythm, please drum along with me. So the name of the dance and the name of the drum rhythm is "Fanga." Fanga is drum rhythm. Alaffia – yeah, see, I know you remember – alaffia is welcome from the Yoruba people of Nigeria. And ase is power. In some circles they say it means, "And so it is. "And so will be it." But I like to use it as power, and personal power, we all have personal power.
So fanga, drum rhythm. Alaffia, welcome. Ase, power. Drum rhythm, welcome, power. Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase. This song is a call-and-response, meaning, when I – I'm the caller, and you'll be the response. I call and you respond. We don't sing together, we sing separate. It's like an echo. I'll say it first and then you say it. Fanga. Alaffia. Ase. Ase. Good. Fanga. Alaffia. Ase. Ase. One more time, my turn. Fanga. Your turn. Alaffia. Ase. Ase. Very good! Now I'm gonna sing. ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪ Your turn. There you go. ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪ Two more times. ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪ Nice.
♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪ Now we're gonna go into ase, ready? ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ Very nice. ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪ (clapping) You see I'm clapping,
(clapping) keep time.
(clapping) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(clapping) (clapping) Good, very good! Remember we have to keep time,
(clapping) so the way we keep time is snapping (snaps), clapping (claps), or tapping (taps). Snap (snaps), clap (claps), tap (taps). Snap (snaps), clap (claps), tap (taps). That's how you keep time in music, that's how you keep time in dance.
So now I'm gonna keep time with my feet while I sing. ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(tapping) You see I'm keeping time with my feet. (tapping) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(tapping) That's called the downbeat. (tapping) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(tapping) (tapping) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(tapping) Now I'm gonna add my hands,
(tapping) up to the sky, here we go!
(tapping) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(tapping) (tapping) Can you do it with me? ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(tapping) (tapping) Yes? Up to the sky, and down to the earth. There's a poem: from my mouth, we welcome, and from our hearts, we reach down to the earth. That's what your hands are translating. That's the language. From our mouths, we welcome! And from our hearts, we reach down to the earth.
Yes? I'm going to play the drum while you do the dance. Maybe we should go over it one more time. ♪ Fanga, alaffia ♪ See that? Now go to the earth, go back. ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Fanga, alaffia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ Yes? ♪ Fanga, alaffia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ Yes? We're gonna go to the drum, now you're gonna do the dance, while I play the rhythm. Gonna introduce my drum to you, this is called the djembe, this is the bowl, this is the stem. Just like the human body, the drum has to breathe in order for it to get the maximum sound from it. Now, this is goat skin, I call these (taps drums) my kids, because kids (taps drums) are goats! Anyway, the middle of the drum is the bass (pats drum), and the side is the tone (pats drum).
Bass (drum beat), tone (drum beat). Now you can, yourself, get a pot, a pan, or your thighs (pats thighs), or your hands (claps), and clap the rhythms. (thigh pats and hand claps) Bass, tone-tone-tone!
(claps) Bass, tone-tone-tone!
(claps) Right? Bass, tone-tone-tone!
(drumbeats) Bass, tone-tone-tone!
(drumbeats) You can use your thighs! Bass, tone-tone-tone!
(Thigh pats) Bass, tone-tone-tone!
(Thigh pats) So there's one bass and three tones, yes? Bass, tone-tone-tone!
(drumbeats) Bass, tone-tone-tone!
(drumbeats) You ready to dance it? All right. I'll do the singin', and you're gonna sing while you dance. Now there's something called the musical break that I'm gonna play for you that tells you when to start the dance, when to change the dance step, and when to stop the dance.
That's called a musical break. A musical break, and it sounds like this. (drumbeats) That's the musical break. (drumbeats) That tells the dancers and the drummers and anyone else in the city, in the village that there's something going on at Sister Sumayya's house. Sister Sumayya is getting ready to dance, Sister Sumayya is getting ready to sing, Sister Sumayya is getting ready to drum. That's called the musical break. (drumbeats) Okay? And then we go into the rhythm. I'm gonna play that, and then I'll start the song. That's gonna be your cue. (drumbeats) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(drumbeats) (drumbeats) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(drumbeats) (drumbeats) Did you get it? Did you understand that? I'll go over one thing. (tapping) bop, bom-bom-bom, bom-bom buh-bom! bop, bom-bom-bom, bom-bom buh-bom! bop, bom-bom-bom, bom-bom buh-bom! bop, bom-bom-bom, bom-bom buh-bom! bop, bom-bom-bom, bom-bom bop! Yes? That's your job.
Bop, bom-bom-bom, bom-bom buh-bom! bop, bom-bom-bom, bom-bom bop! Now that you're keeping time with your feet. ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(tapping) (tapping) Very good, very good. And then you're gonna jump four times, ase. ♪ Ase (claps), ase ♪ ♪ Ase (claps), ase ♪ ♪ Ase (claps), ase ♪ ♪ Ase (claps), ase ♪ Fanga? ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(tapping) Okay, let's try it with the music! Remember the musical break! Here we go. Take a deep breath in (breaths in), let it out with sound (breaths out).
Deep breath in through the nose (breaths in), let it out with sound (breaths out). Deep breath in through the nose (breaths in), let it out with sound (breaths out). One more, in through the nose (breaths in) let it out with sound (breaths out). (drumbeats) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(drumbeats) (drumbeats) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(drumbeats) (drumbeats) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(drumbeats) (drumbeats) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(drumbeats) (drumbeats) ♪ Ase ♪
(drumbeats) ♪ Ase, ase ♪
(drumbeats) ♪ Ase, ase ♪
(drumbeats) ♪ Ase, ase ♪
(drumbeats) ♪ Ase, fanga ♪
(drumbeats) ♪ Fanga, alaffia, ase, ase ♪
(drumbeats) (drumbeats) Very good! (claps) I know you're out there, it was good to spend time with you today! My name is Sister Sumayya, and stay safe, be kind, and spread joy. Thank you. (upbeat music).
(upbeat drumming) – Hi, I am Edu Ribeiro and
welcome to 2 Minute Jazz. That rhythm that I was playing is a baiao. Baiao is another rhythm from
the northeast in Brazil. And I just tried to imitate
the percussion lines for the drum set. And what I'm doing here is simple. I'm taking the zabumba, there
is a different instrument, the lower instrument for the rhythm, and trying to imitate from my bass drum. The zabumba plays with
two sticks like that. (drums rhythm) Not with this way. You have two hands to play but I'm trying to imitate in here. And what I'm going to do, I take the lower part from the zabumba, put from the bass drum, like that. (drums rhythm) One, two, one, two. (drums rhythm) (speaks foreign language) The highest part from
the rhythm like that, we call it (speaks foreign language). That making the syncopation
things like that. (drums rhythm) I'm gonna put in my
snare with my left hand and I'm trying to go that. (drums rhythm) And there's another instrument,
there is the triangle.
It's the same instrument that
you have in the symphony, the triangle from symphony
but different way to play. You play just the six you note
with some sound like that. One, two, one, two,
di-gi-di-gi, di-gi-di-gi, di-gi-di-gi, di-gi-di-gi, di-gi-di-gi, di-gi-di-gi,
di-gi-di-gi, di-gi-di-gi, di. Like the pon-der-ee-yun samba. And I will try to
imitate it with my hi-hat in my right hand, like that. (drums rhythm) (speaks foreign language) I'm trying to put together.
One, two, (speaks foreign language). (drums rhythm) Okay. Happy practicing and see you next time. (upbeat jazz music).
>>> WELCOME BACK TO "HOUSTON >>> WELCOME BACK TO "HOUSTON
LIFE". >>> WELCOME BACK TO "HOUSTON
LIFE".
AS WE WRAP UP THE LAST WEEK OF LIFE".
AS WE WRAP UP THE LAST WEEK OF
BLACK HISTORY MONTH, I GOT A AS WE WRAP UP THE LAST WEEK OF
BLACK HISTORY MONTH, I GOT A
LESSON WITH THE DRUM ENSEMBLE BLACK HISTORY MONTH, I GOT A
LESSON WITH THE DRUM ENSEMBLE
HERE IN HOUSTON.
LESSON WITH THE DRUM ENSEMBLE
HERE IN HOUSTON.
I LEARNED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE HERE IN HOUSTON.
I LEARNED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE
EXPRESSIONS. I LEARNED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE
EXPRESSIONS.
WITH EVERY BEAT OF THE DRUM, AND EXPRESSIONS.
WITH EVERY BEAT OF THE DRUM, AND
EACH STEP OF MOVEMENT EXPRESSES WITH EVERY BEAT OF THE DRUM, AND
EACH STEP OF MOVEMENT EXPRESSES
THE MEANING OF AFRICAN CULTURE. EACH STEP OF MOVEMENT EXPRESSES
THE MEANING OF AFRICAN CULTURE.
[INAUDIBLE] THE MEANING OF AFRICAN CULTURE.
[INAUDIBLE]
THEY HAVE BEEN SHOWCASING SINCE [INAUDIBLE]
THEY HAVE BEEN SHOWCASING SINCE
2004.
THEY HAVE BEEN SHOWCASING SINCE
2004.
>> I HAD STARTED TO LEARN TWO 2004.
>> I HAD STARTED TO LEARN TWO
TECHNIQUES OF TRADITIONAL DANCE >> I HAD STARTED TO LEARN TWO
TECHNIQUES OF TRADITIONAL DANCE
AT THE SAME TIME. TECHNIQUES OF TRADITIONAL DANCE
AT THE SAME TIME.
SOUTH AFRICAN AND WEST AFRICAN. AT THE SAME TIME.
SOUTH AFRICAN AND WEST AFRICAN.
>> Reporter: THERE WAS NO SOUTH AFRICAN AND WEST AFRICAN.
>> Reporter: THERE WAS NO
REPRESENTATION OF WEST AFRICAN >> Reporter: THERE WAS NO
REPRESENTATION OF WEST AFRICAN
DANCE IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON REPRESENTATION OF WEST AFRICAN
DANCE IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON
WHICH SENT CHRISTINA ON A DANCE IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON
WHICH SENT CHRISTINA ON A
MISSION.
WHICH SENT CHRISTINA ON A
MISSION.
>> GOT TOGETHER WITH ANOTHER MISSION.
>> GOT TOGETHER WITH ANOTHER
DANCER, AS WELL AS ONE OF THE >> GOT TOGETHER WITH ANOTHER
DANCER, AS WELL AS ONE OF THE
DRUMMERS YOU WILL SEE LATER ON DANCER, AS WELL AS ONE OF THE
DRUMMERS YOU WILL SEE LATER ON
WE STARTED TO DANCE COMPANY. DRUMMERS YOU WILL SEE LATER ON
WE STARTED TO DANCE COMPANY.
>> Reporter: THIS DANCE WE STARTED TO DANCE COMPANY.
>> Reporter: THIS DANCE
COMPANY HAS SINCE BEEN >> Reporter: THIS DANCE
COMPANY HAS SINCE BEEN
RECONNECTING CURRENT AND FUTURE COMPANY HAS SINCE BEEN
RECONNECTING CURRENT AND FUTURE
GENERATIONS TO THE HISTORY AND RECONNECTING CURRENT AND FUTURE
GENERATIONS TO THE HISTORY AND
TRADITIONS OF AFRICA ALONG WITH GENERATIONS TO THE HISTORY AND
TRADITIONS OF AFRICA ALONG WITH
TRANSITIONS AND CURRENT TRADITIONS OF AFRICA ALONG WITH
TRANSITIONS AND CURRENT
APPLICATIONS THROUGH DANCE, DRUM TRANSITIONS AND CURRENT
APPLICATIONS THROUGH DANCE, DRUM
AND CULTURALLY EDUCATED APPLICATIONS THROUGH DANCE, DRUM
AND CULTURALLY EDUCATED
PERFORMANCES. AND CULTURALLY EDUCATED
PERFORMANCES.
>> EACH COUNTRY CAN CONTAIN AS PERFORMANCES.
>> EACH COUNTRY CAN CONTAIN AS
MANY ETHNIC GROUPS AS POSSIBLE.
>> EACH COUNTRY CAN CONTAIN AS
MANY ETHNIC GROUPS AS POSSIBLE.
IT IS A VERY RICH, AND VERY MANY ETHNIC GROUPS AS POSSIBLE.
IT IS A VERY RICH, AND VERY
AMAZING AND DYNAMIC PLACE. IT IS A VERY RICH, AND VERY
AMAZING AND DYNAMIC PLACE.
A LOT OF STUDENTS, YOUNG FOLKS, AMAZING AND DYNAMIC PLACE.
A LOT OF STUDENTS, YOUNG FOLKS,
AND OLD FOLKS REALLY DON’T HAVE A LOT OF STUDENTS, YOUNG FOLKS,
AND OLD FOLKS REALLY DON’T HAVE
ANY KNOWLEDGE, OR EDUCATION AND OLD FOLKS REALLY DON’T HAVE
ANY KNOWLEDGE, OR EDUCATION
ABOUT THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA. ANY KNOWLEDGE, OR EDUCATION
ABOUT THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA.
>> Reporter: CHRISTINA HAS ABOUT THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA.
>> Reporter: CHRISTINA HAS
BEEN PERFORMING FOR OVER 20 >> Reporter: CHRISTINA HAS
BEEN PERFORMING FOR OVER 20
YEARS AND USES THAT TO CREATE BEEN PERFORMING FOR OVER 20
YEARS AND USES THAT TO CREATE
PASSION AND DRIVE IN OTHERS.
YEARS AND USES THAT TO CREATE
PASSION AND DRIVE IN OTHERS.
>> TRADITIONAL DANCE IS ONE OF PASSION AND DRIVE IN OTHERS.
>> TRADITIONAL DANCE IS ONE OF
THE THINGS THAT EMPOWERS ME AS >> TRADITIONAL DANCE IS ONE OF
THE THINGS THAT EMPOWERS ME AS
AN INDIVIDUAL. THE THINGS THAT EMPOWERS ME AS
AN INDIVIDUAL.
WHEN I TEACH STUDENTS, THE YOUNG AN INDIVIDUAL.
WHEN I TEACH STUDENTS, THE YOUNG
FOLKS ESPECIALLY. WHEN I TEACH STUDENTS, THE YOUNG
FOLKS ESPECIALLY.
I TELL THEM TO FIND A PLACE FOLKS ESPECIALLY.
I TELL THEM TO FIND A PLACE
WITHIN. I TELL THEM TO FIND A PLACE
WITHIN.
TAKE THIS KNOWLEDGE AND PUT OUT WITHIN.
TAKE THIS KNOWLEDGE AND PUT OUT
THERE. TAKE THIS KNOWLEDGE AND PUT OUT
THERE.
WHEN TIMES GET HARD, LIKE WHAT THERE.
WHEN TIMES GET HARD, LIKE WHAT
WE ARE GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW. WHEN TIMES GET HARD, LIKE WHAT
WE ARE GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW.
DRAW FROM THAT AND HAVE THAT WE ARE GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW.
DRAW FROM THAT AND HAVE THAT
STRENGTH FOR YOU TO PICK DRAW FROM THAT AND HAVE THAT
STRENGTH FOR YOU TO PICK
YOURSELF UP AND KEEP GOING.
STRENGTH FOR YOU TO PICK
YOURSELF UP AND KEEP GOING.
IT IS WHO YOU ARE. YOURSELF UP AND KEEP GOING.
IT IS WHO YOU ARE.
IT IS IN YOU. IT IS WHO YOU ARE.
IT IS IN YOU.
YOU JUST HAVE TO REDISCOVER IT. IT IS IN YOU.
YOU JUST HAVE TO REDISCOVER IT.
>> Reporter: I WAS EVEN ABLE YOU JUST HAVE TO REDISCOVER IT.
>> Reporter: I WAS EVEN ABLE
TO DISCOVER MY INNER PASSION OF >> Reporter: I WAS EVEN ABLE
TO DISCOVER MY INNER PASSION OF
DRUMMING AND I AM TOLD IT IS TO DISCOVER MY INNER PASSION OF
DRUMMING AND I AM TOLD IT IS
SOMETHING THAT WE ALL HAVE DRUMMING AND I AM TOLD IT IS
SOMETHING THAT WE ALL HAVE
INSIDE OF US. SOMETHING THAT WE ALL HAVE
INSIDE OF US.
>> IT IS A POWER THAT WE CAN ALL INSIDE OF US.
>> IT IS A POWER THAT WE CAN ALL
DRAW FROM. >> IT IS A POWER THAT WE CAN ALL
DRAW FROM.
IT IS SOMETHING THAT WILL DRAW FROM.
IT IS SOMETHING THAT WILL
ENCOURAGE YOU AND KEEP YOU IT IS SOMETHING THAT WILL
ENCOURAGE YOU AND KEEP YOU
FOREVER.
ENCOURAGE YOU AND KEEP YOU
FOREVER.
AS WELL AS PRESERVE AFRICAN FOREVER.
AS WELL AS PRESERVE AFRICAN
TRADITIONS AND THE CULTURE. AS WELL AS PRESERVE AFRICAN
TRADITIONS AND THE CULTURE.
IT’S AN AMAZING THING. TRADITIONS AND THE CULTURE.
IT’S AN AMAZING THING.
IT KEEPS YOU YOUNG AND HEALTHY. IT’S AN AMAZING THING.
IT KEEPS YOU YOUNG AND HEALTHY.
IT KEEPS YOU WHOLE. IT KEEPS YOU YOUNG AND HEALTHY.
IT KEEPS YOU WHOLE.
THAT IS ANOTHER THING. IT KEEPS YOU WHOLE.
THAT IS ANOTHER THING.
I WOULD LIKE TO PEOPLE TO WALK THAT IS ANOTHER THING.
I WOULD LIKE TO PEOPLE TO WALK
AWAY FROM OUR PERFORMANCES I WOULD LIKE TO PEOPLE TO WALK
AWAY FROM OUR PERFORMANCES
FEELING SATISFIED. AWAY FROM OUR PERFORMANCES
FEELING SATISFIED.
>> I DEFINITELY FELT WHOLE AFTER FEELING SATISFIED.
>> I DEFINITELY FELT WHOLE AFTER
DRUMMING UP SOME EXPERIENCE WITH >> I DEFINITELY FELT WHOLE AFTER
DRUMMING UP SOME EXPERIENCE WITH
MY PASSION REDISCOVERED IN THIS DRUMMING UP SOME EXPERIENCE WITH
MY PASSION REDISCOVERED IN THIS
ENTIRE COMPANY.
MY PASSION REDISCOVERED IN THIS
ENTIRE COMPANY.
THE DANCE COMPANY CONTINUES TO ENTIRE COMPANY.
THE DANCE COMPANY CONTINUES TO
HOLD PERFORMANCES AND AUDITIONS THE DANCE COMPANY CONTINUES TO
HOLD PERFORMANCES AND AUDITIONS
WHILE EDUCATING THE COMMUNITY OF HOLD PERFORMANCES AND AUDITIONS
WHILE EDUCATING THE COMMUNITY OF
THE CULTURE OF AFRICA. WHILE EDUCATING THE COMMUNITY OF
THE CULTURE OF AFRICA.
I WILL HAVE A LINK ON OUR THE CULTURE OF AFRICA.
I WILL HAVE A LINK ON OUR
WEBSITE, HOUSTONLIFE.TV.
I WILL HAVE A LINK ON OUR
WEBSITE, HOUSTONLIFE.TV.
SO YOU CAN LEARN HOW YOU CAN GET WEBSITE, HOUSTONLIFE.TV.
SO YOU CAN LEARN HOW YOU CAN GET
INVOLVED. SO YOU CAN LEARN HOW YOU CAN GET
INVOLVED.
I’M SORRY, I CALLED YOU COURTNEY INVOLVED.
I’M SORRY, I CALLED YOU COURTNEY
[LAUGHTER] I’M SORRY, I CALLED YOU COURTNEY
[LAUGHTER]
>> IT IS OKAY I RESPOND TO BOTH. [LAUGHTER]
>> IT IS OKAY I RESPOND TO BOTH.
>> DERRICK, I APOLOGIZE. >> IT IS OKAY I RESPOND TO BOTH.
>> DERRICK, I APOLOGIZE.
>> DON’T EVEN WORRY. >> DERRICK, I APOLOGIZE.
>> DON’T EVEN WORRY.
IT’S ONLY BECAUSE I MISSING >> DON’T EVEN WORRY.
IT’S ONLY BECAUSE I MISSING
COURTNEY. IT’S ONLY BECAUSE I MISSING
COURTNEY.
>> WE ALWAYS MISS COURTNEY. COURTNEY.
>> WE ALWAYS MISS COURTNEY.
I LOVE HOW SHE SAYS DRAWING >> WE ALWAYS MISS COURTNEY.
I LOVE HOW SHE SAYS DRAWING
STRENGTH FROM DIFFICULT TIMES.
I LOVE HOW SHE SAYS DRAWING
STRENGTH FROM DIFFICULT TIMES.
I LOVE HOW WE ARE ADVERSE TO STRENGTH FROM DIFFICULT TIMES.
I LOVE HOW WE ARE ADVERSE TO
DIFFERENT THINGS. I LOVE HOW WE ARE ADVERSE TO
DIFFERENT THINGS.
WE WANT TO BE COMFORTABLE. DIFFERENT THINGS.
WE WANT TO BE COMFORTABLE.
WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THE HARD WE WANT TO BE COMFORTABLE.
WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THE HARD
STUFF THAT IS WHEN THE GROWTH WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THE HARD
STUFF THAT IS WHEN THE GROWTH
OCCURS. STUFF THAT IS WHEN THE GROWTH
OCCURS.
>> THAT’S LIKE JAZZ IS OCCURS.
>> THAT’S LIKE JAZZ IS
EXPRESSION. >> THAT’S LIKE JAZZ IS
EXPRESSION.
I THINK IT’S AMAZING HOW THEY EXPRESSION.
I THINK IT’S AMAZING HOW THEY
REALLY CARE ABOUT THE INTEGRITY I THINK IT’S AMAZING HOW THEY
REALLY CARE ABOUT THE INTEGRITY
OF THE CULTURE OF EACH OF THE REALLY CARE ABOUT THE INTEGRITY
OF THE CULTURE OF EACH OF THE
DANCES WHICH THAT WAS GREAT.
OF THE CULTURE OF EACH OF THE
DANCES WHICH THAT WAS GREAT.
>> THEY HAVE THE STORIES THAT DANCES WHICH THAT WAS GREAT.
>> THEY HAVE THE STORIES THAT
ARE TOLD IN EACH SINGLE DANCE >> THEY HAVE THE STORIES THAT
ARE TOLD IN EACH SINGLE DANCE
THAT SHE DOES. ARE TOLD IN EACH SINGLE DANCE
THAT SHE DOES.
SHE SAID EVERY MOVE REPRESENTS THAT SHE DOES.
SHE SAID EVERY MOVE REPRESENTS
SOME TYPE OF EMOTION FROM A SHE SAID EVERY MOVE REPRESENTS
SOME TYPE OF EMOTION FROM A
CULTURE. SOME TYPE OF EMOTION FROM A
CULTURE.
SHE’S REALLY INVESTED IN THIS CULTURE.
SHE’S REALLY INVESTED IN THIS
COMPANY. SHE’S REALLY INVESTED IN THIS
COMPANY.
I LOVE THE FACT THAT SHE IS COMPANY.
I LOVE THE FACT THAT SHE IS
BRINGING THAT EDUCATION I LOVE THE FACT THAT SHE IS
BRINGING THAT EDUCATION
THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY OF BRINGING THAT EDUCATION
THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY OF
HOUSTON.
THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY OF
HOUSTON.
>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. HOUSTON.
>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
>> THANK YOU COURTNEY. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
>> THANK YOU COURTNEY.
[LAUGHTER].
Sometimes you might be called on in a musical
situation where there might not be a drummer so you have to carry the whole thing. You notice I'm using my right, my left, I'm
very ambidextrous when I play. Now what I'm going to try to do is play all
of those things at the same thing. It's going to
be called for you to play just a nasty, nasty groove. And that's what you wanna do. That's basically all it is, just sped up,
of course. It's an art, and a beautiful art to play with
other people who really know how to play a certain idiom and then when you find your
space, when you find your identify and play in with them it's going to sound great.
So in this series we're going to talk to you
about, everything about rings that you'll need to know. About the different kinds of
bottom rings you may encounter weather it be a rope ring, this drum has a rope ring
and we're going to show you how to remake the bottom ring for your drum out of rope.
You may encounter although this is kind of a rare system with, it has a bolt and on there.
And then over here which is the most common most likely that you will find is a solid
ring that's been welded once put on the drum. So we're going to talk to you about all that.
Also for the materials you'll need, you'll need an inner tube from a bike and we're going
to cut that into strips so you'll need some scissors that are pretty decent. And you'll
need to have your rope ready. We'll talk to about different types of rope too that are
good. And we're actually going to show you a little bit about, briefly about how to make
a ring.
If you have some rings that are not very good that are either too small or too
big or even a broken ring, sometimes it happens..
Hi guys welcome to a new episode today
we're going to talk about bomb blast beats bomb blasts are basically blast
beats but we will play thirty-second notes on the bass drums which means that
instead of alternating snare and kick we're going to play thirty-second notes
with our kick drums and the snare on top of it there are different ways to play
the bomb blast depending on if we want to have a more faster feeling when
we use this having the snare drum on the upbeat or a lay back feeling having
the snare drum on the downbeat which usually doesn't give that kind of
feeling of going even faster how having the snare drum on the upbeat does to
have the perfect control of the bomb blast we have to first of all as we
usually do in the coordination exercises have to know which part of the body it's
going to be the guide of everything and which part of the body instead it's
going to play on top of it since we're going to play many notes with our bass
drums the easiest thing is to keep the bass drums as reference and then we
will play the hands on top of this so here we can choose it to kind of
technique that we want to use for our bass drums I usually use depending on
the speed leg motion if it's a slow kind of motion heel up if it's
in a medium kind of speed and the swivel technique if I go very fast in that way
I don't feel any stress I don't feel tired I don't get tired while I play
very fast so I suggest you to kind of figure out this before starting the bomb
blast because if not you will have hard times executing this since it's very
exhausting because all our limbs are going to play thirty-second notes and
everything is going to be very fast so once we have that let's
start to understand what kind of bomb blast we can play let's try I will
play a very slow I will play very slow every kind of bomb
blast that we can do so that you guys have an idea and then we will speed it up
and we'll understand how to work on coordinating and controlling the bomb
blast so so as you can see there are different solutions but really there are only three solutions which means alternated hands having the snare drum
on the upbeat unison hands having the snare drum on the downbeat alternated
hands having the snare drum on the downbeat again having the snare drum on
the upbeat still gives you that feeling of going faster even faster than the
blast beats probably because of the bass drum being so fast but having the
snare drum on the down on the upbeat sorry
in my opinion sometimes gives can also give a feeling of being more laid-back
giving a very fast feeling with the bass drums but the snare drum it's like it's
laying back on the track I don't know it's just a feeling that it gives to me
but of course then depending on how you musically adapt and apply the bomb blast
it will be different so now that we know what kind of bomb blasts or how we can
use the bomb blast and which are the different solutions to play it we have to
figure out the most important part which is how to
coordinate and have control of it so first of all we have to understand which part
of the body is the one that will be the guide and which part of the body is
going to be the one that will play on top of that guide since the bass drum is
going to be very steady and we're going to play many notes with the bass drum
probably the easiest thing is to have the bass drum as a reference or at least
this is how I do it and it really helps me to not lose where the one is and not
go out of you know the bars and playing the exact amount of notes that I want to
play and so I will start working on the bass drum first having the bass drum
notes very even and being able to play very fast and without getting too tired
because we're going to play many notes as I was saying before so this can be
very exhausting very quick so once we have that we can start thinking of
putting the hands on top of this so the first bomb blast we're going to work
on is going to be unison hands having the snare drum and the ride on the
upbeat so the easiest way to work and learn to play this type of bomb blast is
to think of our right foot and our hands playing unison so in this way so thinking the bomb blast in this way
will help us to having to think only of one thing when we play when we use three
parts of our body so it's like our right hand left hand and right foot
becomes a one thing that we have to think about and our left foot becomes
the second part which will still be playing in reference to the right foot
doing alternated strokes so it's like if instead of thinking of four things we
think of two so the unison part of our body
plus the alternated left foot so I'll play one bar of the actual bomb blast
and then one bar of where I put my concentration so that you can hear what
I hear while I play this so in this way for me it's way easier to
control everything that's going on I know exactly where my hands should play
and they don't move around the bass drums and the whole thing doesn't go
around the BPM the click track but it stays exactly where I want it to
stay so the first workout to work on this
bomb blast it's going to be play four bars alternating one bar playing only
right foot and unison hands and one bar playing the the left foot alternated to
the right foot so what I just played for four times and then four bars of rest
playing just regular sixteen notes with the bass drum and simple a simple think
on your with your hands you can also choose to you know play something else
but this will allow you to not get tired like immediately doing this workout but
having four bars of rest and four bars of pushing on the bomb blast will allow
you to work on this for way longer and we will play with our right hand on the
ride first and left hand on the snare and then we will switch playing
the right hand on the snare and the left hand on the hi-hat doing exactly the
same thing but switching cymbals basically the second part of the workout instead
it's going to still be alternating four bars of bomb blasts four bars of rest so
playing a simple groove slow so that we can rest every four bars but we will
alternate we will keep our bass drums going and we will alternate one bar of
playing the bomb blasts with our hands on top of it one bar of rest with our
hands keeping the bass drum going then we will do the same exact thing but
we will keep playing our hands and we'll alternate one bar of playing the bass
drums one bar of resting the bass drums in this way okay so in this way we will learn how to
control every kind of combination for the bomb blasts so we will be able to
just play the right foot and then alternate and add the left foot we will
be able to keep the bass drum going and put the hands on top of it or keep the
hands going and put the bass drum on top of that and in this way we will create a
lot of references but also we already have more than three or four different
solutions and different ideas to use in our songs so it's also good for a
creative matter because we learn how to play different things in different type
of bomb blast then the same kind of workout we will do it with alternated
hands instead of having unison hands so, our goal of course it's going to be that we want
to work on endurance and like being allowed to and being able to play these
for as long as possible and speed so in time we want to work on speed this up
putting a click track also and raising the speed and then playing four bars of
bomb blast and then one bar of the alternated exercise that we're doing so
for example in these two ways so as you can see I was playing four
bars of the actual bomb blast and then one bar of just unison kick right kick
and hands or four bars of bomb blast keeping the hi-hat and
upbeat and then one bar of bass drum without the hands on top of it so from
here a very nice thing that I like to use sometimes it's when I apply the
bomb blast is breaking down the bass drum patterns to whatever usually what
the guitar is doing so basically instead of playing a break down
keeping the back beat on the snare I play the break down keeping the bomb
blast with my hands which creates kind of like a very dynamic bomb blast I will
just do an example and you can imagine guitars playing on top of the bass drums
but I think this is a very cool way of using the bomb blast so yeah you can become very creative
with this also changing you know the hands you can keep quarter notes 16
notes 5 whatever you want on top of this we will probably work will do another
lesson on working on different combinations that you can use on top of
the bomb blasts but you can you know build your own yourself and have fun
with this have a good practice and I'll see you next week
I was just thinking
that sometimes, when around people, it's very embarrassing to leave a group
to use the bathroom. Well, when you need to pee,
you just say it. However, when you need
to do more than pee, that is to say you need to [honka honka],
well, you never say it. So he bought a motorcycle and the thing is,
it was too heavy for him, so he could not —
but yeah, that's it! Well, Norman,
where are you going? Oh, I'll be right back,
there is something I need to do. But what do you mean,
you're going to do something? There is something I need to do, I will be right back!
>> Come on, tell us, it is not difficult! You can tell us!
>> Answer, Norman!
>> What do you want to do? Fine, OK, I am going to poop! Just like that! Is that fine? Everyone knows?
Can I go now? Thanks! It's true that it's shameful
to go [honka honka].
That is the reason why
I try to pretend that every time I go
to the restroom, it's to pee. Smart! When I visit a girl,
I never go [honka honka], because if I'm scared of one thing, it's
that the flush does not work anymore. Oh no! Because then,
you will necessarily have to tell her! Hey Vanessa, hum… I think your flush
does not work anymore. Yeah, it's broken.
>> Oh! So how do I… Well, I'llll show you.
>> No, no, I'll do it myself. No, don't worry about it!
>> No, no, but in fact, you should not go! OK. So you are the one that… ?
>> Yeah. Yeah, that's me. This woman will never sleep
with you in her life! If one day that happens to me,
I will flee the country! In fact, when you are in a relationship,
at the beginning, it is always embarrassing to use the toilet
while your girlfriend is there, because it ruins the romance. However, there are little methods
that can be used, two in particular. The first is to put as much TP as possible
at the bottom of the toilet bowl.
Very classic! The second that we all have used is to
turn on very loud music so that all the noises are covered up. I am coming, I'll be right back. But at that moment,
I am always scared that the music will end
right at the crucial moment. Noooooooo! And then, when you are in a relationship,
there's always the question of the toilet lid. It's damn annoying, because
when I don't put it up, I'm told: Norman, you could
at least put the lid up! And when I put it up,
I'm told: Norman, you could
at least put the lid down! So I found a solution:
the half-up lid. Fortunately, smartphones
managed to achieve what women have been trying to
do for almost 100 years: make men pee sitting down. Maybe you don't know,
but at the urinals, we don't only pee.
We also play games. Yes! 500 points!
Good evening. Tss! Another thing that's very embarrassing
when you are on the toilet, is when you receive
a professional call on your cell phone and you have to answer. You know, in that case,
you can't say you are on the toilet.
You know, it's not professional. Hello?
>> Mr. Thavaud, I hope I'm not bothering you? No, you don't,
but right now, I am pooping. Hey, truly, I really, really need to.
Can I call you back later? Especially because some
fart sounds could be heard. One time, I answered the phone just like that.
I really should not have. Yeah, very well, do you have
something to write with? Right now,
I can't write, no. Why is that? Because I don't know how to write. I can only read, in fact. I only attended half of my elementary school years. I don't know if you had the chance
to try public toilets in cities, but the guys that designed them were smart,
they had the great idea to add a little voice that comments on your flush
choice as you leave the stall. Cleaning in progress.
You selected the high-volume flush. Congratulations, you really must have needed it. See you next time in the public toilets! Yes, this is the toilet's little voice talking to you.
Apparently, you have picked
the high-volume flush. You are live on the radio!
Congratulations! That's why I don't even use
public toilets, in fact. I pee on the street,
like a big pig. Share my video
on your Facebook wall. Swag! Swag! Swag! Swag "de poule"! A speech! A speech! A speech! At that moment,
I become very shy and the only speech
I can think of is: hum, thanks!
>> Yeah!.
Following on from the earlier video I did
showing the muffled slaps, which is strictly speaking a technique from drums like this
kpanlogo drum, but I showed you how to do it on the djembe, and I showed you an exercise
to practise it like this… So what that helps you work on is your ‘pitter
patter’. Which sounds like this… It’s all these little tips and taps that
you put in between the hits to change the way the thing feels. And if you’re just starting to learn, sometimes
it’s too hard to put it in there – it’s too many little hits and you need a lot of
control and finesse to incorporate it into your playing, but if you’re practising muffled
slaps, I think it’s a good way to start, focusing on that pitter patter. So, the exercise I showed you before like
this… where you’re doing tap tap slap slap… that’s a good thing to practise,
and if you slow it right down and you’re actually thinking tap tap slap slap, that’s
alright, it’s OK to start there. The feel’s not going to be there but doesn’t
matter, you’re just trying to get the different levels of control in your hands.
If you can get to the level where you’re
a bit faster, you can start feeling the groove coming out… And you can do, like, little things with your
shoulders as well. And your eyebrows. That helps
the groove, like this… So that’s a good exercise to help work on
your pitter patter. There are a few other things you can do if
you want to focus on that explicitly. So, one, you may or may have not heard the
bell rhythm I’m about to show you, but if you haven’t yet, you will soon. You can play it on the drum, it goes like
this: ken-ny ken-ny ka, cha cha. And if you try and put it on the drum, try
and put the pitter patter in between, like this… It can be any pattern, it’s just this is
one that’s a common pattern that we’re going to use a lot. And you probably already know it – if you’ve
done any African drumming before, it’s possible you’ve heard this.
So what I’m doing there is playing the bell
– kenny kenny ka cha cha – but I’m playing on this grid of pitter patter. So my hands aren’t stopping moving the whole
time I’m playing, I’m sort of laying out this grid for myself, and every hit’s going
to be somewhere on this grid… So one way to approach that – there’s
kinda two ends to approach it from – one is just start by playing the rhythm, or start
by playing the pitter patter… 1 e and a 2 e and a 3 e and a 4 e and a…
and then just try and bring the hits in, and see if you can keep your hands, my hands are
just doing this, really. It’s like when you’re walking, you’re
not thinking about walking, you just keep going, but then when you start having to emphasise
one foot over the other that might make it difficult… I’ve never actually tried that, you should
try it.
Let me know if you fall over. So, my hands are just going like this, and
I’m trying to just put the hits in, I’m thinking ‘kenny kenny ka cha cha’… So I’m not really doing the technique correctly,
I’m just showing you how to get the idea. And mucking it up. That doesn’t matter too much. So that’s one way, is just get the pitter
patter and see if you can just jump in with the hits. That might or might not work. The other way is slowing it right down and
thinking about every hit, and then gradually slowing it up from there. So the way that works is I’m doing tone
tap tap tone.
That’s the first bit. Tone tap tap tone… Again, tone tap tap tone. And then, from there, tone tap tap tone tap
tap tone. Like this… Again… That’s the first bit. If you need to stop this, try it a few times,
go back, that’s fine. That’s why it’s on video. So we’re going, after that, ding ta ta ding
ta ta ding ta ta ta – three taps… So you’re trying to get the difference between
your tones and taps – if you have to slow it down more, that’s fine. Ding ta ta ding ta ta ding ta ta ta… And then from there, the last bit, ding ta
ding ta ta ta, like this… So you’re going ding ta ta ding ta ta ding
ta ta ta ding ta ding ta ta ta… So, maybe you have to do it slower than this…
and I’m not really worrying too much about the technique of my taps.
They’re just little taps for now, to fill
the time and to get myself used to filling that gap. So ideally those taps are nearly inaudible
– I’m playing them a little bit more heavily so you can hear them. Ding ta ta ding ta ta ding ta ta ta ding ta
ding ta ta ta… So once you can do that, then try and make
the taps a little bit softer, and make the tones a little bit louder, like this… So that’s using that as a basis for adding
some of those muffled slaps in… and playing it around that bell pattern.
So the pattern doesn’t really matter, you
can work out something that works for you. The bell pattern’s a good one because it
makes you move from your right to your left hand, but, you know, anything will work. As long as it’s consistent and as long as
you’re working on getting those taps happening. And it might be quite frustrating at first
because… it’s hard… Welcome to drumming. So another thing you can practise is just
moving between tones and taps, slaps and taps, tones and slaps and taps, things like this..
tone tone tap tap slap slap tap tap… and because I’m practising this particular type
of technique, remember my slaps are these muffled slaps.
That’s why I’m doing this on a kpanlogo. If you’ve got a djembe, try and do those
different slaps. – Learn how to play djembe and other African
drumming with African Drumming Online.
the people he going today I'm just gonna
show you the last coins of death ie you don't know what five-year is so well it
still is a country it's called the Democratic Republic of the Congo now and
at this time when his country is ruled by president coma Bhutto says his echo
and he was just a virtual dictator yeah these coins of brass as you can say they
pretty simple and they so actually issued journey flexion era period and
this currency was a really nominated in 1993 at that 1 million to one is a net
they lasted into 97 when I was replaced by the current Frank
1000 to 1 and they're no longer existed because I the president took over after
the Civil War long Kabila Indian I'd like to name say because I'm it was too
much associated with Beauty says he had cold anyway he was shot in 2001 so much
with dictators okay this is the one it is a coin alignment
it's almost issued in 1987 so I reversed it just um
him on this is when I was a sport I probably like 70s and these coins would
probably be near the circulation for 1990 and they were too low value as you
could say both won a 97 98 and yeah that's about it for these coins to shave
sides it's all plain and you can get these for like I'm
probably about ten bucks on eBay and these are pretty much probably extremely
fine or something okay thank you very much please like and subscribe and have
a nice day
– It's maybe, if we
encouraged a little bit more tasteful experimentation,
and also to remind ourselves that this is an artwork
that you're working on, and you're a musician;
you're not just someone that's just blasting these things, that this is a musical instrument– – Absolutely, yeah. – And that you have an imagination. (drum beats) (drum beats and cymbal clashes) – Yeah, man. (clapping) – Okay. – (laughing) That was awesome! – Thank you.
– That was awesome. Ladies and gentlemen, it's
Mr. Dave King here at Drumeo. Thank you so much for
coming out, buddy, yeah. – I'm gonna catch my breath
for about 20 minutes. – Go for it, man, go for
it, I'll introduce you: For those who don't know who Dave King is, he is, well obviously he's
an incredible drummer.
Also, the drummer an
co-founder of Bad Plus, one of my favorite jazz groups. In fact, that was the jazz group that really got me into jazz, and, so I thank you so much for that. – I'm glad, thanks. – Yeah, you also do a lot of other things. You have a quintet, the
Dave King Trucking Company, Dave King Trio as well, King's Speech. You have a lot of cool
little side projects and projects of your own
that you're working with, so go and check him out online.
If you want to follow him online, go to his website, daveking.net. – That's right. – You can see his little about section where you can see what
he's currently working on, you can see tour dates and
all that kind of stuff, and if you want to follow him online, you can check out his Instagram and social channels which is @googlebully. Is that correct? – Yeah, that's for the Instagram thing. – That's the Instagram, googlebully. – That's right. – So are you a bully on Google? – No, no, it was a character I developed 'cause I visited the Google campus, a friend of mine worked there, and I went to their campus in Northern California, and I thought, 'cause it's so wide
open and everybody seems so friendly to each other, that if they hired one
person that was just there to cause tension, and he just
kinda hangs around the campus, and "Where are you going?", and he stops and grabs somebody's laptop
and throws it on the ground.
– (laughing) That'll be you? – Yeah, I thought it'd be a fun character. – I love it, I love it. Check him out on Instagram @googlebully, (Dave laughs) and the other cool thing
that I haven't mentioned yet, you gotta check Dave out on YouTube. He's got a really cool YouTube
channel called RATIONAL FUNK, and he's got, you were
saying 60 episodes on there. It is so funny, it's so
good, you just gotta go and check it out; after this lesson, go to YouTube and find RATIONAL FUNK. – It's been over for a few
years, but they're all there.
– They're great. – We did it for about a year and a half. – You've had some guests on, you had Mark Guiliana on there. – Yeah, Mark was on there,
Jim Black, Jim Burns, some other people, Reid from
the Bad Plus, Reid Anderson. It was fun. – Very cool. Well you're here at Drumeo now to teach a lesson on improving your improv. (laughing) – We worked on that title for a long time, had some focus groups, (laughing) and they passed– – [Host] Took us two years
to think of that title.
– Two years, we've been here. I've been here for about
two years, living with Dave. – It's been good. – In his spare bedroom with
I think it's a Murphy bed. – I've got to know Dave
on a whole new level. – We work out together, we
do white belts in karate. – We do our Pilates every morning. – Oh this one, yeah. I've been looking at the wrong one, I've been looking at the still camera. – Yeah, you're still getting used to it. We got a lot of cameras
in here. (laughing) – I was looking at this one down here. – So, improving your improv. Now, improv is a tough,
tough topic to teach.
How do you teach someone
to improv, you know? – Yeah, improvising, obviously it is sort of a mysterious space;
I'm not sure even how the neurological studies that have been commissioned over the years to figure out what's actually going on when people are, but in the way that we're
improvising all the time, talking, I think it's a language
when you're playing music, and we talked about that
on some of the lessons that we have put online
today, and whatever– – The course that we've put online. – Yeah, and rhythm languages, and, it is a difficult thing though
to actually get yourself in a pure improvisational space.
Even the greatest jazz musicians, some of 'em aren't necessarily improvising as much as they're a sign
of, developed a language that's personal to them
that they play within, and rearrange letter and
numbers, and things like that, and I try to put myself in a position to not play many rifts, just
even looking over and seeing, oh, there's a music stand
here, whatever this was, we didn't use all day, and it's like, oh I've played on those before, they sound good, and do whatever.
It's almost like setting
yourself up to have a dramatic and sometimes vulnerable
space to work within to create these rhythmic structures, or just to develop a
language that you can use when called upon, and not feel tense or hiccupping through
it, and not feeling like you have to rely on
your rifts, and rely on flashy things to get you over. It's more like actually trying to create some sort of artistic space.
– Yeah, so for those watching, this is gonna be a really cool lesson. We have done stuff on creativity
and soloing stuff already on Drumeo, but this a
cool different approach, and I thing you're gonna like it. We're gonna talk about
preparing yourself for improv, and basically the technical
agendas to improvisation. So throughout this you're
gonna do a lot of improv. In fact, this whole lesson is improv. – That's correct. – Yeah, I don't even know who I am. – I might not be that good. (laughing) – Yeah, we're making it up on the spot. So where do you begin, man? What are some tools that you
can start developing for this? – Well, you know, one thing
if you're interested in jazz music or in contemporary jazz, whatever, using of course lots of different reference points
throughout music history. Modern jazz musicians are
dealing with a lot of texts. Not just the texts of jazz history, but music from all over the world in contemporary classical music, and lots of different, like I said, reference points to
start improvising with.
One thing that I thought I could do, is do a little playing based around just a mid-tempo kind of swing feel. Almost just like a small
group jazz-type setting, and then talk about
what I'm thinking about when I'm just getting the
orchestra or the drums together. All these different tones,
using different touches to get different sounds. To prepare myself for a
situation when I'm with people, and I can react or not react to things, or I can support things
or not support things, create counterpoint, create tension, create the release of
tension, all of these things, and then I can talk about
just note value improvising where I just have a
quarter note in my head at different tempos that I play against, and I sub-divide– – I love it.
– And do these things, and then
you could do the same thing with different time signatures, or focus on playing over the bar, or all these other ideas that basically unlocks you, and
that's kind of, I suppose the way a melodic improviser uses either melody based improviser,
or chord based improvising, or anything where you're
learning how to thread your way through different
chord changes and what not. Understanding the way that works, but that's still not personalized. – Right. – What you really want to
try and do in my opinion is prepare yourself to receive
the information as it comes. – Love that, yeah. – And so a lot of that is about unlocking channels that hiccup,
give you hiccups, or, stop the flow of maybe ideas coming in which everyone experiences.
– [Host] Oh yeah. – But, I guess these are ways that I use to put myself in a
position to have to deal with these things and let them
keep flowing and not stop. Try to keep a stream of
consciousness of ideas, if you will. – Let's give it a try. – Okay, I'll start with
sort of a jazz thing. This'll just be kind of a complete idea, and then I'll talk about
how it breaks down, and everything like that. – Yeah, what was going through your head. That's a big one, I'd love to hear that.
– A lot of it is going through my head is thinking that the sushi near the ocean is better than in the Midwest. – (chuckling) In Minneapolis. It's a little bit better, that's good. – That was something I was thinking about during that last one. (laughing) So, well since we had sushi today. – I love it, yeah. (laughing) – Alright. (drum beats and cymbal clashes) – It's beautiful. – Thank you. – That was beautiful, man. So what was going through your head? – Well, there, I was playing
like I was soloing a bit. So, I probably wouldn't
have been going that nuts if I was having to interact, but maybe in a duo setting,
something like that could've been nice with
a saxophone or something.
With the sort of center of the time being (cymbals clashing) I'm playing 4-4, and then I was experimenting
with different triplet figures and then double
time figures, 16th note. (drum beats and cymbal clashes) You know, playing: (drums boom and cymbals clash) and 16th note, just kind
of using those subdivisions with just a straight core note field. The idea that I'm just trying
to create streams of ideas. I'm not necessarily
concerned with the ultimate taste zone at this point. – Sure. – It's much more like
here I'm using dynamics, tonal things, moving around the drums, but the whole thing is
a sort of time choir. There is a center to the time, but it's almost like I'm experimenting with different, like
I said, tonal quality, dynamic color, but at the same time, always adhering to this sort of pulse, and I'll do something like that. I used to that a lot more when
I was practicing a lot more, but in different tempos, and then sometimes I
don't even have to think, I don't think about so
much like in a swing feel.
When it's over, I can
just take the same idea, that whole first solo, for instance, was based on just this idea of here, broken 16th note. (rhythmic drum beats and cymbal clashes) – Right. – It's just this, I like looking at you the whole time there
because then I don't have to think about the sushi too much. – I'm giving you, what is it, all the encouragement that you need. – (laughing) Exactly. But that idea that, what I'm hearing there are these syncopated streams
that can over the bar, use different groupings, five groupings.
(drums and cymbals alternate beats) But you hear this almost
marching band drum line. (drums and cymbals beat in rhythmic time) You hear that? You hear that sort of
center that's just funky. (drum beats) Now it's easy to get tripped up, and be like, where do I go from here, and that's this idea that
the stream keeps going. All this different syncopation. And these aren't rifts, you know? They're more like syncopated musical phrases that
just are streams coming out. – Now, are you thinking
ahead when you're doing this, and thinking, well what should I do next? Should I go to this pattern next, or, – No.
– This grouping next,
or you're just doing it and you're reacting to how it sounds? – Yeah, I'm just kind of reacting
almost like a line drawing in art where you start this line, and it's gonna go where
it's gonna go, but, there is a flow to it,
a shape, a composition. And so, I'm not saying this is something that happens right away,
but I'm saying these are sort of the spaces that I use to, the idea of practicing
improvising is very interesting because we can work on
different time signatures, compositions, you've got a read a chart, you gotta do whatever.
Some of the information is there. This is just information for you to borrow from, use from, to
stop those moments of tense lack of ideas or whatever. Sometimes even in jazz,
sometimes if I'm playing some up-tempo or any other tempo, just having a nice strong ride beat, which we talked about in the other lessons is a safe space to go to when
you're sort of like ha ha ha, you know, you've got a lot of information coming at you, or your whatever.
You've still go this
really solid time space. The exact same thing with
what I'm doing there. I still feel a very strong
internal quarter note. So even if I'm doing these
triplet based things, I've still got: (drum beats softly) Even I'll use huge spaces or rests, I can still hear this center to everything, and for me, even the most abstract music, the most avant-garde music,
it can be rubato music, having that pulse, whether it be esoteric, or a strict rational pulse, is the key to all of it
as far as I'm concerned.
– So you're singing that quarter note? – Absolutely. – You're subdividing that quarter note. – I'm just feeling that
space and then trying to improvise within it. I'm not trying to rely
on a 12-8 jazz pattern with a bell cymbal or something. Of course, all of those things
I've worked very hard to do and all these different Ed
Blackwell based patterns, whatever, he's one of
my favorite drummers. Some of these things, but
also just be able to improvise within those spaces in
a way that feels fresh.
It feels like I'm actually taking risks, I'm actually creating a
dramatic element, and, hopefully the audience
can ride along with that and feel that from you, and I think that's what makes it, to me, a high art form is that there is risk involved, and like I said, vulnerability involved, and I like that; I like
knowing that someone is in there trying to deal,
not just coolly doing everything they know they can do. – Where they heard something a
hundred thousand times, yeah. – Yeah, and when you see something, you hear some of the greatest jazz masters like Tony Williams, and, some of my heroes like
Elvin Jones, Paul Motian, Jack DeJohnette, people like that, you can hear it's real
improvising, it's real risk taking, especially certain people like Paul Motian or Jack DeJohnette, are people
that are edgier that use elements of really progressive
ideas and modern ideas.
It's not always nailed. It's not always this idea
that everything has to be really nailed and perfect. I don't know, I mean in certain elements of your music career, yes. You're playing drums for a big pop gig. You're playing drums
with Justin Timberlake. You can't just be back there
doing all this esoterical– – [Host] (laughing) Yeah, of course. – You gotta be like
nail it to the sequencer and do your thing, but as an improviser, there are other tool-sets,
and there are other parameters that have to be adhered to. – So we got that, we
understand your head space, and that's, I think, the
goal for a lot of people. I'd love to get in that head space where first off, egos aside,
and you're okay with trying stuff out and improving, but, now how do we get there? What are some of the steps that you took, or some of the ways that
we can build that facility? – Well like I said, it depends on, if I'm talking to a broad audience, I'm not sure the life experiences or their technical
abilities, but I would say there are ways to immerse
yourself in those languages of creative music, jazz music, by checking out all the master recordings, and all of the mountain of music that's out there.
To just immerse yourself in languages that might turn you on, but as a player, just setting up, you don't even have to
be someone that can play a really great jazz ride beat or whatever. It's much more like if
you're just interested in getting an improvisational
state together that you can use in pop,
in rock, in anything, I would say trying to diminish the idea
that there are roles in the, and I don't mean technically
roles, I mean role-playing. That the hi hat plays
this role in the thing, and the snare drum plays
this role in the thing, and the floor tom plays this role, all these rational roles that we hear. Instead, maybe think about the whole thing as this tonal orchestra,
and then from there, you can start to just play with it. – Okay. – And that's one of the
ways that I play with touch, and then I'll give myself a center or not. I can say I'm gonna have a center, I'm gonna focus on a 12-8
triplet field to a center, and then maybe I'll say I'm
gonna do it without one, I'll do it with one stick in my hand.
So then it'll be like
okay, I've set myself up. I've given myself a couple of rules, and within that arena, I
try to explore those spaces while keeping the rules of the arena. Then there can be some
moments when I've decided I'm just gonna create some drum piece that doesn't necessarily
adhere to a time relationship. It's much more tonal or color based. I can bring out some time
vignettes within it or not, but I give myself two to three minutes; I talk about this when I teach, I give myself two to
three minutes at the end of maybe a really regimented
technical exercise. Or I'm just hitting, playing ride cymbal, up-tempo ride cymbal for ten
minutes, or doing whatever, where you're just feeling really
comfortable doing whatever.
Then give yourself some
space to just improvise and explore the instrument. So, do you want me to play
another example right now? – Show us an example about– – Like, so if I said to myself
those parameters like I said. So like a 12-8 kind of thing, and I've decided I'm doing this now. I've done this many times, so I'm not sitting here going like oh, what am I going to do? I have an idea of something I want to do, but within that, I don't know
really what the flow will be.
So again, you're facing the realities of what improvising is. It's not this pure from
the mountaintop channel of galactic energy– – There's still parameters that you put. – But there is some of that in there, and, at the highest level, there's a lot of it. And so you prepare yourself
to get into a space of those lines start to appear, and the flow starts to appear, and like any great saxophone solo, or any great artist,
any great composition, it just, how these things
begin and end are mysterious. So within them, you just
try to follow that line.
So okay, I'll think about that, okay. So here's my boom, boom, boom, boom. I'll start there, okay? Three, four: (drum beats with stick tapping) – Unreal. That was unreal, man. – Oh, thank you. – That was very cool, yeah. – So, there you have this
stream of this sort of: (mimics drum) and then every now and
again, I busted out some: (mimics drum) and it's just a line that you follow, and again, this idea
you're touching the drums, this is an organic experience, and, personal, and– – So are you thinking melodies
at that point in your head? Or are you like, just take us
through that thought process.
– Yeah, well again, this thing, it doesn't have to start there, of course. You can just start at
any rudimentary level by just thinking triplets. Having these things and then
developing a language of, I'm not sure where the line crosses from, struggling through it, even though I went through all those
struggles of these things, but again, recognizing
music as a language, and rhythm as a language,
and as also a tonal, colorful, melodic language, so, right there I've got all
these things I can do and hit the drums a certain way, touch them a certain way, but, I could also start just with the basic: (beats drums and clashes cymbals) just mono dynamic sticks in my hands.
I'm not thinking ultimate, you know, I'm the genius improviser that I am. – You are a pretty genius improviser. – No, that was a joke. – No, I wouldn't say it's a joke. – I'm saying that with
a mid-western humility which is sort of passive-aggressive– – You are a very humble guy. – Anyway, the point is, is that (laughing) I'm just gonna play
those triplets right now, and I'm thinking mono dynamically, here's that same language. (mimics drums) Right? (drums beat and cymbal clashes) Make them bleed separate from
each other, they can overlap. (drum beats and cymbal clashes) That wasn't as mono dynamic, that was getting more into dynamics. Here I go, I'm getting excited again, but again, I decided the 16th note: (drum beats) Used rests, so it's not
just a constant stream of 16th notes, but I give
that as my parameter. I'm playing 16th notes and rests. (drum beats and cymbal clashes) I messed up there, but check it out: (drum beats and cymbal clashes) Now let's say we're in there playing rock: (drum beats and cymbal clashes) Now if you heard a fill, we've both heard a fill like that on some pop tune, we'd all be a little bit
like, well, that's unique.
– That's fresh. – Yeah, but that's just 16th: (drum beats and cymbals clash) Because you're using the whole drum set with this less, more dynamic, and breaking up the rolls. (drum beats and cymbal clashes) Ha, I messed up there,
but there it is again. – Well, you were improving it. – We're just sitting here going like oh, I'm gonna play these odd phrases, and this is how you get
to a space in my opinion, where it doesn't matter what kind of music you're playing,
or time signature. So if you wanted me to play an example of odd time version? – Yeah, let's do that, yeah. – Okay, so here's a seven version. So, seven's an odd time
that people like to play in both jazz– – [Host] Rock. – Prog music, prog rock, or whatever. So: (drum beats and cymbal clashes) When you're playing in seven, you hear the 16th notes and rests. (drum beats and cymbal clashes) Just thinking along those, that's…
Beginnings of that kind of thing of subdividing and playing
over the bar, and– – Beginnings, just begin there. But what kind of an exercise did you do or could you recommend to students that want to get into this, and, just to get free with those 16th notes? Kind of like what you did there, I guess? – Well, that was more, I guess, an advanced version of playing seven, and that's an, and we're talking about
improvising within them, and not just playing
figures you've worked out and doing whatever, but again, I would say just starting very simple, and just playing note values like if you're playing 8th: (drum beats and cymbal clashes) If I'm playing in seven, that a simple version of 2-3-4-5-6-7: (drum beats and cymbal clashes) And what I would try and do, personally, is try not to repeat myself a lot because sometimes you can get into a zone: (drum beats and cymbal clashes) because I'm not really
playing my artwork right now, I'm preparing myself on some level.
So I'm just moving around the drums and trying to think in those values. The same thing when I did the 12-8 thing. If I'm playing 4-4, just playing swing, that becomes more of an art thing when I'm trying to play some
jazz versions of whatever. Right now, just this idea
of moving around your drums and experimenting with different touch. That's really how you can start to break down the barrier
of mysteries of improvising. – I love it. So you set a couple parameters, and then just free form 16th
notes with rests if you can. – Yeah, 8th notes, triplets
of values of those things. Use rests, different phrases,
you make sure you use space so it's not just a stream
of 16th notes going around. (drum beats) Now that's its own challenge which I used to do as well which is no rests. And that can be a thing. (drum beats and cymbal clashes) There was a full– – So when you're doing this– – even amount of bars.
– How do you prevent
yourself from stopping when your ears freak you out? You know what I mean? I don't know if this ever happened to you, but I remember doing this many times, and I would hit a cymbal, and I would not expect it, and then it would stop me from playing, or it would throw me off where I would take an extra, you know. – That's that trial
and error like you said if you're used to hearing
something a certain way, that's the whole ideas,
we're jumbling up the roles within the kit, we're exploring. – While still keeping that 16th note. – While keeping it going
and of course if you hit a cymbal in a space with your left hand where you usually are, whatever, and you've got an accent going there, this is a perfect opportunity to be aware that you can control those moments, not be messed up by them, and try to repeat a
moment that messed you up.
I know what you mean, though, as simple as if you're doing triplets, and you start do the main
values of four there: (drum beats and cymbal clashes) or a five: (drum beats) Any of these values, it can
definitely mess with your ears. It's one of the great things that a lot of great masters
use, is this sort of– – To an illusion. – Illusion, and polyrhythmic illusion, and all these other things, by using rests and
accents, and odd groupings. These things all are
developed by just continuing these beat basic streams, and then experimenting within them. And then, of course, this
idea of the rubato version, or just playing a drum piece, which we can do at the end
if you want to do that. – Yeah, let's do that at the end. The couple last things that
I want you to touch on, one of them is the dynamic challenge, too, 'cause you were just
moving around the kit, but you also were using a
lot of dynamics in there. So how do you practice that? How do you get that
into the mix of improv? – Well, again, this idea that oftentimes when people are doing exercises where they're reading accents.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to realize that an accent to
me is the hill and valley, to anyone I suppose,
it's really what creates the shape of great syncopation or of all music, obviously, it's
the basis of all phrasing. And so the idea that how
do you get to that space either when you're working on things where you're accenting a ride beat and then you've got a figure
you're playing with whatever, and you're working on
something maybe academic. My thing was always that we have to find a way
for the drums to sing, to speak like a musical instrument 'cause it is a musical instrument. So often, I feel like it's an instrument that hovers around the space of, and this by no means is
damning anyone's approach, but, it hovers in the space
of not fully explored a lot of the time in the
most popular cultural spaces.
Of the greatest shredding
drummers that show up at the festivals and go (mimics drumming) and blow people's minds,
as brilliant as that is, and as fun as it is to listen to, and I dig it, too, and it's
fun to do if you can do it, and it's cathartic, and
it's all these primal, human element that goes into
what's so great about drums, at the same time, it's like, think about what's
possible versus just like what's possible is how fast you can play on a double pedal, like double
stroke rolls on the double. It's like mono dynamic
avalanches coming at you with spraying a bunch of… You know what I'm saying. – I know what you're
saying, I like that, yeah.
– Instead of all the idiosyncratic corners and unswept places, if you will, in rhythmic language that are possible, not only that you could
use in your compositions, and use whatever music you're playing from the most banal pop music to the most insanely, stressfully academic, and also, deeply spiritually cathartic
music that there is, and I don't mean to
say that, first of all, not that all pop music is banal, but I'm saying we all know
there's some banal pop music where the drum roll– – Yeah, I think we get
what you're saying there. – The drum position is like,
hey, this is what it is.
– Timekeeping. – There's an artwork
to be able to do that, but there are little things that you can bring a personality to, and some of the heaviest
rock drummers as we know, the ones that are the Mount
Rushmore of rock drummers which most people agree on, they all, to the letter,
brought something personal, and some sort of approach
that left the norm. Whether it just be an absolutely
ridiculous feel or touch, or definitely ideas you didn't hear before these people arrived, and they contributed to the pantheon of the great drumming and pop music. And I'm talking about in
the 60's to John Bonham, to, you start a list of them all.
Stewart Copeland and people like that where there's one and onlies. You know what I mean? Well, there's a lot of room
for that still, I think. – Interesting, yeah. – And even with… The commercialization of everything, there's still this space that drummers can inhabit to really state, claim a space in the music that takes it to another level, and there's so many
incredible drummers out there playing the big pop gigs,
and they're all masters, but I'm not sure how deeply personal.
You know, my opinion is like I'm not sure I can sit there and go oh, that's that. I mean, a lot of it is just
this impersonal mastery whereas maybe if we encouraged a little bit more
tasteful experimentation, and also to remind ourselves that this an artwork that you're working
on, and you're a musician. You're not just someone that's
just blasting these things, – Absolutely. – That this is a musical instrument, and that you have an imagination, and you have the ability to hear music in these instruments. – Well, it also separates
you from other drummers, too. 'Cause, yeah, I can hear
Dave King in his playing. It's a personality that
you have on the drums, and I can hear, you can hear
John Bonham in his playing, whereas if you're just
structure playing in the beats and the patterns that you
need to play a timekeeper, and a drummer, not really a musician, it really doesn't separate
you from the rest, right? – Yeah, and there's, like I keep saying, there's a great artwork, as we all know, to being that person that
goes in and does the job and nails it, and is the working thing, and then you roll into whatever drum showcase festivally thing, and you blast a bunch of insane chops, and everybody goes insane, but at the end of the day, the contributions to
the artwork of drumming, there's a ton of room
for people to be thinking about ways to incorporate that musically, not just in your practice
space, and not just in jazz, and not just in these
things where you feel oh, it's jazz, so there's a
lot more room to be whatever.
Well, there's spaces
everywhere in all music. – Yeah, big time. – And so when I think about improvising, I don't think about improvising
just within the jazz canon. I think about improvising and ways I can use it within everything
because I play all music, or at least not just improvising, but at least taking tonal
qualities from my improvisational explorations and using them in regular beats, or if I'm
playing in a hip-hop thing, and I'm thinking, well,
what if I put a towel on my floor tom, and I muted
my snare a certain way, and I played my hi hat a certain, someone like Chris Dave, for
instance, who's a master at– – Master at that stuff, yeah. – Manipulating that
sort of Dilla time warp, temporal time fractures of like whatever, and that's caused a way that people are listening to that music. That's changed it. And I think that… there's tons of room in all music for that no matter how, I suppose just encouraging experimentation is really important, and I
think that's just the more time you spend just searching
and listening to yourself, and using your imagination, I think improvising starts to come up, just like any other language.
Just like being able to play drum line. Just like being able to play great modern country music, or whatever. – Totally. Well, just the way
we're talking right now, where it's all improv,
but we're so comfortable in our own language that
we're able to do that. – That's exactly correct. – And, you need to get to that
stage on the drums, right? – I think it's important, yeah, I think that no matter what
kind of music you're playing, you don't have to be relegated to this, and here we go again, the same anonymous masterful drum solo, or the same masterful just blowing through
things and do whatever.
– Yeah, yeah. – And ultimately, though, who are you, and what do you have to say, and what can you bring to this family, and what can you bring to
the evolution of the music. – [Host] Very cool. – And in jazz, the same,
it's not like everybody playing jazz out there is
ultimately blazing some trail. You can be incredibly
proficient and hireable in doing all these
things, that's wonderful, but there is always room
to try to contribute to this language, and I
suppose I'm interested in humbly attempting to try and– – I love that, though, yeah.
– To at least search for
something that's personal. – Big time. Well, that's a whole topic. I'd love to do a podcast
with you at some point, man. Just stress you on that topic alone, but we're running low on time here, and I want to wrap everything
up in terms of improv. For takeaway for the
students watching this, because there's a lot of great quotes, and great information here, but what are some
takeaways that we could do, and we could use to start
bettering our improv? I know you've already
talked about a lot of it, but maybe just recap. – Well, I suppose, number one, just putting yourself in a safe position of experimenting with, like I said, simple relationships to a quarter note, or a feel. If you're playing some
just jazz ride beat, and you can give yourself the
structure of a tune you like. If you like Thelonious Monk,
those are very memorable tunes. They're typically 32 bar forms or 12 bar blues' or whatever, and you can just play a nice ride beat in different tempos, play
waltzes, play in three, play whatever, and give
yourself the parameters to improvise within those situations.
You're not necessarily just playing time, you're exploring a little bit. I mean, you're playing time, but you're not playing piano
trio time or something. You're experimenting, you're playing solo, but you're playing within that parameter. Different tempos, different whatever. So you can start with those structures, or you can start with zero jazz structure, and more of just like I was doing there of like, oh, well that kind of language, it's got almost a West African language with the 12-8 feel, and
all these other things. But I'm really an improviser. I'm not sitting here saying that I'm a guy that understands the
nine million year history of West African drumming, whatever. It's more like I'm an American artist which means I hear things, I try to have an honest
relationship with those things, and I try to attribute
them to my life experience.
– [Host] Right. – I use them within the avant-garde. I use them within improvised settings. I use them within moments of frantic creativity. I try to draw upon what
I've heard in my life from electronic music
to jazz, to whatever, and I try to use it as an
improvisational language. So it's the same thing
if I'm sitting down, and I'm doing these things. If I'm just exploring on the drum set, I'll give myself that parameter, and then I let myself have free reign, dynamically, my touch, everything.
– Love it. – So again, recapping, sometimes if you have 90 cymbals, take
'em all away and have one. Give yourself limitations. Play only your base drum when you have no hi hat foot anymore, or just hi hat where
the base drum would be. Pushing yourself to hear
the rolls change, you know? – Yeah. – I mean, it's incredible
when you think about someone like even Jim Keltner, something where you have snare
drums positioned everywhere, and what that immediately does, while you're playing you've got two deep tuned snare drums,
tight tuned snare drums. – Now that's a great way
to improve your creativity. – Absolutely. Mess with your setups, yeah, absolutely. Then you'd say someone like Jim Keltner, who's a master studio musician, master drummer of all levels, but Jim Keltner isn't a, he doesn't go out and
play 100 dates a year of progressive jazz music or whatever.
He's someone, but who uses, I feel, and I don't want to be presumptuous, but there is an
improvisational spirit there. There's just like these fills or these things that come out. They have it, they have a
personal idiosyncratic quality that belong to him, and that's why he's on the highest level of those things. It's like a masterful use of
taste and color, and whatever. And it's messing with those systems. Well, what if I have a snare
here, and a snare here, and a snare here, and I've
got shakers taped to me, and I've got all these other
ideas that are deeply personal. Well, that shouldn't end
with just Jim Keltner. There are so many spaces we
all can be contributing to and sometimes we need to free ourselves from the fears of leaving that nest of like, well, this is a
comfortable space historically.
I've studied all the masters
and I know what to do here. Hey man, if that's your role
in life, that beautiful, but there is room, I keep
saying, to personalize it and to try and contribute
something out there. – Very cool, man, very cool. I love this stuff. We filmed the chorus
with you earlier on today for all of you guys
who are Drumeo members, and if you're not, go and
check out drumeo.com/trial, and give it a try because
we filmed a great chorus in developing your
sound for jazz with you, and you talked a little bit
about this stuff in more depth, but thank you so much, man.
We could go for another hour, I'm sure, especially when we're improving, but, (laughing) is there any last things you wanted to say before we wrap up, and then we'll get you to play
a solo in a more rubato feel. – Sure, that'd be great. I don't know, we covered so much today. I'm almost at a loss other than I'm still, I think anyone that cares about improvising and pushing yourself
out of comfortable spaces, I think that it's just as important to, that no matter where you're at, never consider yourself finished, and rely on things you
know you can do well.
We all do that on some level. Everybody does rely on
certain comfortable spaces, and that's okay, but, I think
it's just really important to continue searching for a
dramatic element in the music, and that again, elevates
it to some other space. I suppose there's nothing more human than a certain level of
vulnerability and frailty, and I think that when that
enters your art realm, people can relate to that, no matter how intellectual it might be, or no matter how abstract. When there's a human
being going for something, everyone can get behind that idea no matter what you do in your life. – It's relatable. – It's relatable, and
it's relatable to the idea we might not get out of this, and there's something
beautiful, vulnerable, and humble about that, and so I just think no matter where you're
at in your development from the most masterful drummers ever, I have to say that I think on some level that level of mastery can be
a little boring, you know? – Interesting.
– You know, it's just sort of like– – Yeah, yeah, okay. – I mean, who wants to
hang out with the most unbelievably nailing it, I don't know, I'm interested in those– – Is that why I don't
have any friends, Dave? Is that why? – Yeah, me neither. – Yeah, I wonder why
that's what he thinks. – I have to rethink that idea. (laughing) Because no one want to hang out because I nail everything so hard. (laughing) I don't think I nailed much today. I'm gonna have so many friends when I leave here, it's unbelievable.
– We'll find out in the YouTube comments, I'm sure, how many friends we have. – This guy doesn't know what he's saying. Who is this lunatic? (laughing) – That's so good, man. Hey, thank you so much, buddy. – Alright, thank you. – We're gonna wrap it up there because time is of the essence, but if you guys like what you saw here, come to drumeo.com/trial,
check out the whole course. It'll be up in a couple months from now if you're watching this
lesson live, that is, and make sure you follow Dave King online, daveking.net, or on
Instagram at the googlebully, or just @googlebully, and
check out his YouTube channel, which he hasn't updated in a while, but there's 60 great episodes from his RATIONAL FUNK persona. – Yeah, that's a persona. – We'll leave it there. (laughing) Okay, then I'm gonna head out the room. You're gonna play us out with a solo– – Sure.
– Free time, right? – Sure, yeah, it might
incorporate elements of time here and there, but we
won't think about that. I'm not thinking about that. – Improv it, and take your time with it. – I'm gonna, this one's gonna
be about 45 minutes long. – [Host] Perfect, alright! – So anybody who tunes out,
you're not keeping it real. – (laughing) Yeah, I love it. We'll see you guys a
little later, bye bye. (bell ringing) (cymbal chiming) (drum beats and cymbals clashing).
Are you a gamer? Are you a drummer? No to both questions? Shoot… Well, if you want to stick around, we're going to break down a rhythm from the Super Mario Bros. soundtrack. Let's get odd. ("Transmission from Ganymede" starts playing) Hello everyone. Edmond here. I make videos on drumming and video games. Subscribe for more of that. We're taking a look at the main theme for Super Mario Bros. Everything about it is iconic. It was released in 1985 on the Famicom in Japan and the NES system in the U.S. It was composed by the legendary Koji Kondo. You know how it sounds. ("Super Mario Bros. Theme Song) starts playing) If you're new to drumming or music, let's dive into it a little bit. Disclaimer: there is a bit of a swing to this track but for the sake of simplicity, we'll leave that for another video.
This rhythm consists of 16th notes, eighth notes, dotted eighth notes, eighth note triplets, an eighth rest, and sixteenth note rests. Let's try counting it out a few times. 120 BPM is pretty fast, so let's try 80 BPM. First, let's try clapping on the downbeat and just count out every note for two measures. One Two Three Four One a and e a e and One and a Two and a e a Four e One a and e a e and One and a Two and a e a Four e If you messed up, don't worry. Just keep practicing. Slow it down if you need to. Other ways to practice this? You could try clapping on the downbeat and singing the notes. You could try counting out the downbeats and clapping each note out, or counting out and clapping each note. Let's try that. One Two Three Four One a and e a e and One and a Two and a e a Four e One a and e a e and One and a Two and a e a Four e You could also try singing that out.
I would sing it but– No one wants to hear that. I think the trickiest part of this phrase is the transitioning from this sixteenth note and eighth note into eighth note triplets and then right back into an eighth note and sixteenth notes here. If anything is confusing or unclear, let me know in the comments below and I'll do my best to help, but don't worry about it too much. Just keep practicing and take drumming one step at a time. This is just one exercise and there are so many ways to practice it. You could practice playing the rhythm with each individual hand, with both hands at the same time, or alternating hands. And here's a different way. Here you are playing every note out, even the rests. but we can play accents on the main rhythm. All the other notes are not accented. So here's what that sounds like. You can add flams or diddles. Try playing around with it and come up with some ideas of your own.
If you're a beginner, don't worry about all the bells and whistles. Just keep going. Keep practicing and keep drumming. You could also apply this rhythm to the drum set. Let's check out a few ideas. This first idea is just the first measure and the bass drum is playing the main rhythm. For this second idea, we can play two full measures. The beginning of the second measure is just two simple bass drum hits. For this third idea, it's just for fun.
The second measure is a little bonkers. There are some thirty-second notes on the hi-hats there. This is pretty difficult. I'll be honest; I haven't even tried playing this one, so I'm not even sure if I can play it. If you can't play it, don't worry about it. Slow it down or just practice through ideas one and two or even better yet, play around with it and see if you can come up with ideas of your own. So this was my first video. Was it any good? Was it any bad? Did you learn anything? Did you come up with any ideas of your own? Definitely let me know in the comments below. Thanks for watching. Stay odd and keep on drumming. ["55 Seconds" starts playing].
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