lesson of the week May 10th, 2015

disecting beats...for tricky beats, it is good practice to break them down to the root and build them back up gradually.
The following are two examples...

working up the rosanna beat

begin the half-time feel with quarter notes on the hi-hat...

x
4
.
4 .

..

now switch to a shuffle on the hi-hat...

..

xx

x x

xx

x x

xx

x x

xx

..

..

..

add bass suncopations...

..

xx

x x

x x

x x

xx

x x

xx

add ghost notes...

..

x x

x x

x x

x x

xx

x x

xx

same rhythm written with sixteenth-note triplets instead of eighth-note triplets...(either way is acceptable)...
3

x x

x x

x x

x x

x x

transcribed by: www.grdrumming.com 2015

x x

x x

working up the digging on james brown beat

this is the root. it can be played as the main beat without all the embellishments and still work great with the song.

..

..

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

begin adding 16th-notes on the snare...

..

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

..

add ghost notes and hi-hat opening (which can be done on any of the hi-hat notes for variation)...

..

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

..

the digging on james brown variation has alternating 16th-notes on the hi-hat in the 2nd measure...

..

r l r l r l r

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

..

^ ^
.. x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

..

add accents and an open hi-hat to get the actual beat used in the song...

transcribed by: www.grdrumming.com 2015