Drum Set Technique for Beginners

In this introductory hands-on course for the absolute beginner, students learn basic drum set technique. The function of each of the various drums and cymbals and their application in jazz, Latin, rock and other contemporary styles of music is covered. Basic sticking techniques and patterns including the single and double stroke rolls, the paradiddle, and the drum "fill" are covered.

Prerequisite: none. Students must own a pair of drumsticks! Class text: Learn to Play the Drumset, Hal Leonard Publishing (available in The Bassment)

Mondays 6:30 – 8 pm
JOE BAGALE (6 weeks) $250

This class serves as an introduction to basic rock and funk grooves. Class plays along with CDs and students are encouraged to bring in their favorite recordings.

Prerequisite: Drum Set Technique for Beginners or equivalent. Class text: Funky Primer by Charles Dowd and Syncopation by Ned Reed (available in The Bassment).

Saturdays 10 – 11:30 am
JOE BAGALE (6 weeks) $250

This class explores the fundamentals of jazz drumming and the various aspects that relate to this style including coordination, improvisation and musicality. Instructor focuses on jazz time and feel. Class time is spent listening to a number of the great drummers and analyzing various approaches to jazz drumming technique and style.

Click here for a video intro to jazz drum set techniques from Jazzschool instructor Jeff Marrs!

Prerequisite: Drum Set Technique for Beginners or equivalent.

Wednesdays 8:15 – 9:45 pm
CURT MOORE (6 weeks) $250

Latin Drum Set Techniques

A class for drum set players to explore and develop skill in the Afro-Cuban style. Instructor covers many different Latin styles and grooves including Afro 6/8, Bolero, Cha-Cha and Mambo. Students learn how to apply four-way coordination of the many rhythms related to Afro-Cuban drumming. Instructor covers the role of the drummer in the Latin rhythm section and includes material from his DVD Afro-Cuban Drumset: Grooves You Can Use.

Prerequisite: intermediate ability on drum set.

Wednesdays 4:45 – 6:15 pm
CURT MOORE (6 weeks) $250

Proper stick control allows drummers to express their creativity and inner rhythmic vitality. This class reveals the secrets that give great drummers musical flow. Students learn sticking patterns, rolls and diddles (based on the 26 rudiments), and other skills to create a hip, varied and personal technique. An essential class for all drummers! Prerequisites: intermediate facility on snare drum.

Wednesdays 6:30 – 8 pm
CURT MOORE (6 weeks) $250

4-Way Coordination for Drum Set

Class covers four-limb coordination exercises in a variety of styles from swing, to bossa, to funk and more. A challenging class!

Required text: Creative Coordination for the Performing Drummer by Keith Copeland, available in the Bassment.

Saturdays 11:45 – 1:15 pm
JOE BAGALE (6 weeks) $250

A hands-on workshop for beginning and intermediate students focusing on the study and performance of Afro-Cuban percussion. This class covers folkloric rhythms including Bantu and Rumba as well as rhythms for the Latin ensemble.

Prerequisite: none. Open to all!

Thursdays 4:45 – 6:15 pm
DAVID FRAZIER (6 weeks) $250

Afro-Venezuelan Percussion

This hands-on class is designed to introduce intermediate and advanced level percussion students to several Afro-Venezuelan styles of music with an emphasis on playing and singing simultaneously. Students are exposed to authentic Venezuelan drums such as cumaco and campana as well as a variety of hand percussion instruments such as the maracas, guira and charrasca. Various techniques of improvisation are addressed to emphasize the high level of syncopation characteristic to this style of music. Rhythmic styles specific to Venezuelan music such as “Quitiplas” (bamboo ensemble), Fulia drums (ceremonial drums) and Golpe de Tambor (dancing drums) are covered and traditional Venezuelan percussion instruments are used in class.

Prerequisite: for intermediate to advanced-level percussionists: Consultation with instructor required.

Tuesdays 8:15 – 9:45 pm
JACKELINE RAGO (6 weeks) $150

Balkan and Romani  (“Gypsy”) Rhythms

Learn to groove in the irresistible odd-meters of the Balkans. From lilting Macedonian 7/8s to sultry Turkish 9/8s, to driving Bulgarian “Wedding-Style” 11/16s and 15/16s, these rhythms are gaining global popularity as performed by artists including Bulgaria’s Ivo Papasov, Serbia’s Boban Markovic and Goran Bregovic, and Turkey’s Burhan Ocal.

Prerequisite: none.

Mondays 8:15 – 9:45 pm
RUMEN SALI SHOPOV (6 weeks) $250

Rumen “Sali” Shopov is a master Turkish-Romani drummer, singer, and string-player from Goce Delchev, Bulgaria, a crossroads town in the Pirin Mountain region that hosts a rich intersection of Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, and Turkish musical influences. Rumen has toured internationally with the Nevrokopski Folk Ensemble, Edessa, Ziyia, Kitka, and Yuri Yunakov and his Romani Wedding Band. A charismatic and patient teacher, Rumen has taught at the Eastern European Folklife Center’s Balkan Music and Dance Camp, Kosmos World Music and Dance Camp, World Camp, Stockton Camp, Balkanalia, and at universities and cultural centers throughout the US and Canada.

In this hands-on class, students explore various approaches to constructing drum solos. Topics covered include soloing over song forms, trading fours, soloing over vamps, motivic development, compositional techniques, and how to structure and shape a coherent and well-developed solo. Students also listen to, analyze and perform transcriptions of drum solos.

Mondays 8:15 – 9:45 pm
ALAN HALL (6 weeks) $250

Got Time?

Using a metronome and drum machine software programs, this course for instrumentalists and vocalists focuses on developing a sense of steady pulse and tempo memory. Techniques include “re-hearing” a pulse and working with silence within a looped sequence.

Thursdays 6:30 – 8 pm
ALAN HALL (6 weeks) $250

Brush Technique

An overview of numerous approaches and patterns to brush playing – one of the key components of the art of jazz drumming. Students examine alternative sticks, brushes and stick combinations as well as different styles in which to use them. Students listen to and learn from recordings of a number of brush masters throughout the quarter.

Thursdays 8:15 – 9:45 pm
ALAN HALL (6 weeks) $250

Rhythm Gym!

This interactive class builds rhythmic dexterity and awareness while providing an introduction to some of the most fun, common rhythmic feels. Basic concepts of rhythm and time-feel are covered, along with syncopation, rhythmic displacement, polyrhythm, additive rhythm, “degree of swing,” and other topics. Funk, jazz, swing, doo-wop, New Orleans, reggae, Caribbean, African, Afro-Latin, and other world rhythms are introduced and played with instruments, the body, and the voice. All class materials provided. Open to all instrumentalists and vocalists. Prerequisites: ability to read rhythmic notation.

Thursdays 8:15 – 9:45 pm
JENNIFER JOLLY (4 weeks) $140

 Workshops

Indo-Jazz Rhythm Workshop

Sameer Gupta presents the hybrid drumset he uses with his touring groups, integrating tabla into the traditional jazz drumset. Students learn the rhythmic concepts of modern jazz and classical Indian tabla drumming first as separate traditions, and then as fertile sources for hybrids and cross-pollination.

Saturday July 18, 3:30 – 5:30 pm
SAMEER GUPTA
$30 Jazzschool Students/$45 others

The Tao of Drumming

A hands-on workshop for all levels, concentrating on the inner-core of relaxation, connecting to one’s natural breath, and applying this to the infinite world of rhythm. Instructor addresses the concept of the individual connecting to and being part of nature’s rhythm at all times along with being open to the invisible, the dwelling space of “magic”. Instructor explores the use of hands, fingers, feet and sticks to master the art of drumming. Cross rhythms, African polyrhythms and Indian Tabla rhythms are also covered. Students learn how to get a good tone out of any drum and are encouraged to find ideas and sounds to add to their individual styles. Brian Melvin’s book The Tao of Drumming will be available for purchase.

Saturday and Sunday August 15 3:30 – 5:30 pm and August 16 2 – 4 pm
(2 day workshop)
BRIAN MELVIN
$60 Jazzschool Students/$75 Others

Brian Melvin is a world-renowned drummer/percussionist who has played and recorded with many of the world’s leading musicians. Currently he is the leader of BeatleJazz with Dave Kikoski and Larry Grenadier and the Fog Trio. Not limited by styles, he has worked with Joe Henderson, Mike Stern, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Gregg Allman of the legendary Allman Brothers Band and Hall of Fame bassist Jaco Pastorius.  www.brianmelvin.com, www.spiritualdrumming.eu