Page o' coordination: in 4/4 — 01

Extending this coordination series a little further, way out there into 4/4. What he have here is a little Elvin Jones-like phrase, ending with an accent on the & of 4, with a space at the beginning of the pattern, for the cymbal to ring through. If you've been putting off getting into this series, I encourage you to take it up; the learning curve is steep but short— you should find the environment reasonably comfortable after learning one or two of these pages. The language we are developing is advanced, but not so advanced you can't use it all the time— when it makes sense musically.

Hopefully you know the drill by now: first play the ostinato until it is comfortable and swinging without any snare drum at all; then learn the entire page; then drill the page with the tom moves. The accents written on the plain ostinato are for phrasing; play them lightly, or not at all, when playing the exercises. Notes in parentheses are optional; where they are present, learn the exercise both with and without those notes. If you experience any problems with the rest at the beginning of the pattern, you can play the snare drum lightly on 1 until you get the timing. You may also find it easier to start the exercise playing the ride cymbal on 1, and then playing the pattern as written on the repeats.

Get the pdf