Kerrigan syncopation exercise in 6/8

I guess there's no getting around it: we're all about the 6/8 these days— there's a whole bunch more of this on deck. This is a Chuck Kerrigan syncopation exercise, from his very useful Syncopated Rhythms for the Contemporary Drummer, originally written in 3/4, but transcribed into 6/8 by me.

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After the break: a full page of things to do with this.




Most of these interpretations fall under the “survival chops” category, which just means they're easy to learn, and you will use them a lot when playing in 6/8, or moderate triplet feels in general. Where doubles are indicated, also run the interpretation just playing singles.

With the last two, the Afro-Cuban interpretations, start by learning them using two voices only. The bell pattern I would play with the right hand only, combined with each of the other limbs playing the melody; for the clave rhythm interpretation, I would play clave with the left hand, right hand, and left foot alone, along with the melody with each of the other limbs. E.G.: When playing clave with your right hand, you would play the exercise three ways: melody with the left hand, melody with the right foot, melody with the left foot. You'll find these easier to do after you work through our previous pages o' coordination in 6/8.