An Interview with my Mentor - Jim Blackley

                    Interviewing Jim Blackley was a treat…. The talk was smooth, ample and of considerable substance. Most of all, it had heart, which is very important to Jim. He simply refuses to do half a job…. He has traversed continents and musical boundaries, he has sacrificed willingly the material amenities – all in a journey toward a life of honour, proportion, balance and excellence. I left his house clear headed and relaxed, notwithstanding having held off on cigarettes and coffee for several hours…. I’d had my first lesson with Jim Blackley.

                    Jim is something of a curiosity to many musicians. Billed the “Swinging Scot” during one of his spells in New York, he is well respected by the upper circle of Toronto drummers, many of whom make return visits for chats, repairs and inspiration. While Jim’s system arises from the best of Scottish and American drumming traditions, it is a true method for any instrument. Never before, perhaps, has music been stressed so much at the expense of technique. Jim believes that if you know music – really know music – and can hear it at any tempo and grasp it’s inner logic, you will discover surprising technique. And nobody leaves Blackley’s once a month sessions with any doubt about what it takes to make music….

                   But don’t rush to buy a ticket to Toronto, Jim’s home. There is a waiting list. It all seems to work out nicely though. Jim is helping others turn craft into art, and he spends his time enriching his musical and spiritual being. Although you’ll seldom see Jim perform in public, let me assure you, the man can play!

Read More Here:Jim Blackley

Music Lessons Are Now A Tax Write Off - Children's Arts Tax Credit (CATC)

5. What programs are eligible for the CATC?
To be eligible, a program must be supervised and suitable for children. Eligible programs include:

• a weekly program of a minimum eight consecutive weeks duration in which a minimum of 90% of all the activities are eligible activities;
• a program of a minimum five consecutive days duration in which more than 50% of the daily activities are eligible activities;
• a program of a minimum eight consecutive weeks duration offered to children by a club, association or similar organization offering a variety of different activities when more than 50% of the activities offered are eligible activities or more than 50% of the time scheduled for activities offered to children is for activities that are eligible activities (if both 50% tests are not met, a prorated portion of the fees will be allowed, representing the percentage of eligible activities offered by the organization or the percentage of time scheduled for these activities by the organization); and
• a membership of a minimum eight consecutive weeks duration in an organization if more than 50% of all the activities offered to children by the organization are eligible activities (if the 50% test is not met, a prorated portion of the fees will be allowed, representing the percentage of eligible activities offered to children by the organization).

Read More Here: Music Lessons Are Now A Tax Write Off - Children's Arts Tax Credit (CATC)

Bill Stewart- One of Modern Jazz Drumming's top Drummers

As a drummer, Bill Stewart's playing is distinguished by its melodic focus, and its polyrhythmic, or layered character. To describe someone's drumming style as "melodic" would mean there is a sense that you could "hum along" with discernible linear phrases which tell pieces of a story, akin to a vocalist, pianist, or saxophonist. Stewarts improvisations favor the development and layering of motivic ideas over the raw generation of excitement or display of technical prowess. Stewart has great touch, or dynamic precision, so that his ideas are articulated with an exactness and clarity. He has also achieved a very high degree of independence of his limbs, so that not only the ride cymbal and the snare/toms, but also the bass drum and hi-hat, are free to participate as melodic "first-class citizens." One possible reason for his continued success could be that his drumming is very approachable, being mostly vamp and lick based. Moreover, budding jazz drummers find him to be a very attractive influence because he has essentially taken exercises out of Ted Reed's Syncopation (a popular drum method book) and basic bop drum licks and turned them into music by articulating them fast and cleanly. This makes him very easy to transcribe.


Read More with Youtube Links Here:Bill Stewart

Movement & Dancing

                    An important concept of my philosophy is that the stroke is the most important aspect of playing the drums.  It’s the one way in which you get to express your own personality.  My belief is that, in terms of content, there really isn’t much new to be played.  When you think of the history of drumming, almost everything has been covered.  There are certain rhythms that keep cropping up again and again because they feel so good.  So what really makes a rhythm come off and the listener respond?  It’s the way the rhythm is played.  This is one reason why, as I said in the drum lesson on Attitude, it’s good to have a predetermined about what you’re going to play.  That way, you can concentrate your mental energy on how you are playing, rather than using that energy to think about what you’re going to play.  It’s also a good reason for keeping the basic idea simple.  In terms of ideas, you may think that one idea is “hipper” or more interesting than another, but the corniest idea can sound better than the hippest idea, depending how it is played.

Read More Here: Movement and Dancing

Ari Hoenig - Musical Drumming at its Finest!!!!!!

Ari moved into Brooklyn and found himself playing extensively with a variety of groups, including Jean Michel Pilc Trio, Kenny Werner Trio, Chris Potter Underground, Kurt Rosenwinkel Group, Joshua Redman Elastic band, Jazz Mandolin Project and bands led by Wayne Krantz, Mike Stern, Richard Bona, Pat Martino, Dave Leibman, and Bojan Z.  He has also shared the stage with such artists as Herbie Hancock, Ivan Linz, Wynton Marsalis, Toots Theilmans, Dave Holland, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, and Gerry Mulligan, although he got kicked off the stage by security shortly thereafter See more here: Ari Hoenig

Drum Lesson #6 - Micing the Drums

What are some different ways to mic my drum kit?

This should help: Micing Drums

Drum Lesson #5 - Par II

Internal Hearing – Part II
Some tunes are based on vamps.  Generally speaking, when a tune has static harmony, it tends to have a rhythmic/harmonic vamp.  In many ways these type of tunes, such as John Coltrane’s “Equinox,” the vamp is the bass line. 

Read the whole article here: Drum Lesson #5 - Part II

Drum Lesson #5 - Internal Hearing

Internal Hearing
Once you have accepted the concept that you should always play off of something, the next important point is this:  there is a distinction between what you play and what to play off of.  In other words, there is often a difference between what you are hearing in your head and what you – or the band – are actually playing.  This brings us to the concept of internal hearing.  Let’s call what you are actually playing the external.  That’s what everyone can hear.  However, what you are playing off of is sometimes an internal thing.  Only you hear it in your head.  So there is a separation between what you think about and what you play.
See More Here: Internal Hearing

Drumm Lesson #4 - Attitude

In this Drum Lesson, I take directly from Bob Moses' book "Drum Wisdom" which now out of print. In my opinion "Drum Wisdom", Billy Ward's Inside_Out and all of Jim Blackley's Books the best Drum Books out there. Catch Bob demonstrating this concept HERE
attitude
The first step in my concept is always having a musical idea behind what I play, and getting this idea across to my listeners.  I always play from something; I never play from nothing.  Sometimes when I hear people playing, it’s difficult to know what idea they are off of, because the musicians are not making enough use of the specific elements of the song they are playing.  Melodic musicians should use the original melody as the idea behind their melodic improvisations.  Even the drummer should be able to relate a drum solo to the original tune in such a way that a listener will be able to recognize that tune in the solo.
More Attitude

Drum Lesson #3 - Matched Grip

A relaxed, natural grip is essential for effective drumming.  There are three main grips used in modern playing.  Many players use the Matched Grip , Germanic Style, in which you play with the sticks held the same way in both hands, palms facing down.  It is the most versatile of all the percussion stick / mallet grips.  This grip is detailed here: The Modern Drum Room - Matched Grip 

Drum Lesson #2 - Videos on Drum Tuning

Well respected engineers will say that if the drummer can tune and play proficiently, recording a drum sound takes care of itself. So don’t ever sell yourself short as an important ingredient in the scheme of things. Drummers need to know a lot about how sound works.
Read More and get the Videos here:
The Modern Drum Room - Drum Tuning

How To Set Up your Drumset

Just imagine you're coming to dinner to eat..............at my house and we're having chicken."  - Billy Ward
This is the opening analogy for how one should position him/herself at the drumset.  It is taken from Billy Ward's award winning instructional DVD "Big Time" and in my opinion is on of, if not the best instructinal DVD out there.

Read More and see clips here:
http://www.themoderndrumroom.ca/forum/view-postlist/forum-2-techniqueconcepts/topic-16-a-couple-of-videos-about-set-up-by-billy-ward.html

Drums, Music and Performance: Soloing Over a Melody in the Jazz Idiom

Drums, Music and Performance: Soloing Over a Melody in the Jazz Idiom: "Soloing Over a Melody in the Jazz Idiom &nbs..."

Soloing Over a Melody in the Jazz Idiom

                  In jazz the drums should always be subservient to the melody.  Therefore, I am going give you a method for learning how to do this and at the end I will put a link to Elvin Jones demonstrating this very topic.
                  Firstly, you have to learn the melody, so grab a Real Book or some sheet music and sing along to the melody of the song that you want to learn.  You don’t have to be great singer, but you do have to sing it.
                  Secondly, learn to play the rhythms of the melody hand to hand on your snare drum (feet basic time – bass drum quarter notes and hi hat 2&4), while singing the melody out loud!!!!!!

Read More Hear
http://www.themoderndrumroom.ca/forum/view-postlist/forum-2-techniqueconcepts/topic-75-soloing-over-a-melody-in-the-jazz-idiom.html