EZ Reed method with flams and 16th notes

Another “EZ” Reed method for rock/funk fills, similar to our recent triplet method, this time using pp. 24-27 from Syncopation. I won't break it down completely, but you can figure it out by looking at the page. Basically we'll flam the 16th notes, except the last one in a series, which we'll play on the bass drum. So, if there are two 16th notes, the first will be a flam with the hands, and the second will be a bass drum note; if there are four 16th notes, the first three will be flams, the last one on the bass. The first 8th note after the 16ths will also be a bass drum/cymbal hit. For the rest of the measure— at first— we'll play bass drum and cymbal together, with an alternating sticking. Once that gets a little boring, you can improvise whatever you like during that part of the measure. But the basic lick is one or more flams with the hands + a bass drum note + a bass drum/cymbal note.

Play exercises 1-25 on pp. 24-26, plus the 40 bar exercise on p. 27. I do all of the flams left-handed— the big note with the LH, the little note with the RH. Where there are multiple 16th notes, you have the option of playing them alternating between the hands and feet, as you see in a couple of the examples. You're really free to do whatever you want for the rest of the measure— go ahead and fill it out with an improvised time feel or solo/fill-type ideas if you want.

Get the pdf