Baby Steps to Giant Steps

Transcription

1 Baby Steps to Giant Steps By Peter Retzlaff and Jim Rupp Edited by Joe Bergamini Conceived by Spencer Strand Turn It Up & Lay It Down CDs produced by Spencer Strand All songs 2006 DrumFun Inc. Executive Producers: Rob Wallis and Paul Siegel Book Design by Joe Bergamini and Willie Rose Music Engraving by Willie Rose Lead Sheets Transcribed and Engraved by David Richards Cover Design by Rick Gratton Additional Editing by Rob Birenbaum Photos courtesy of the Zildjian Co., the authors, and Dr. Bruce Klauber Catalog HDBK23/HL ISBN: CD Credits: Executive Producer: Spencer Strand Louis Argese: Composer, Arranger, Piano, Engineer and Co-Producer Rick Crane: Upright Bass Bob DeVos: Guitar Frank Elmo: Saxophone Special Thanks to Frank Colonnato for your inspiration, guidance and friendship Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at Bioya Recording Studios 32 Hoxey St., Paterson NJ 07501, Questions or comments to Spence at 2009 Hudson Music LLC International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by means without the prior permission of the publisher. Printed in the USA

2 Baby Steps to Giant Steps T a ble of C ont ent s A Word from Spence About the Authors About the Recording Key Introduction PART 1: Building Blocks of Jazz Drumming Playing the Ride Cymbal Feathering the Bass Drum Jazz Time Jazz Fills Brushes PART 2: The Charts Drum Charts and Lead Sheets Let s Play One MmmPick it up a Little Coolalittle Faster Nice Kick it up a Touch C mon Now Here We Go Feelin Good Louie Lemme Count it Off It s Getting Hot in Here Go Get Em Do You Know Why I Pulled You Over? Appendix The authors: Jim Rupp and Peter Retzlaff 3

3 Baby Steps to Giant Steps PETER RETZLAFF About the Authors Peter Retzlaff is a New York City-based drummer. He has played with Kenny Werner, Greg Osby, Diane Schuur, Ray Vega, Maynard Ferguson, Pete McCann, Loren Stillman, Kim Bock, and the BMI Big Band. As an educator, Peter is a full-time instructor and Director of Curriculum at the Drummer s Collective, where he has taught since He teaches private lessons and classes which include jazz, rock, funk, R&B, Brazilian, fusion, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean, reading, chart interpretation, rudiments, technique, odd times, New Orleans and ensemble repertoire and performance. In addition, Peter teaches at the New School in New York City. Peter received a B.A. in Jazz and Commercial Music and a B.A. in Business Administration from Capital University. He also received a M.M. in Jazz Studies from the Manhatton School of Music. The recipient of three National Endowment for the Arts Grants for jazz study, Peter is a clinician for Zildjian cymbals, Remo drumheads, and Vic Firth drumsticks. Peter Retzlaff (far left)(photo by David Smith) 5

4 Turn It Up & Lay It Down JIM RUPP Having graduated from The Ohio State University in 1979 with a music education degree, Jim Rupp spent many years on the road playing in the great big bands of Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson, and Glenn Miller. He is the drummer on Woody Herman s The Fiftieth Anniversary Tour, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. He also plays drums on the critically acclaimed Woody Herman albums Legacy and Live in London (1999), several CD projects with jazz organ legends Hank Marr and Tony Monaco, as well as numerous other recording projects. Jim spent eight years with three-time Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Diane Schuur, touring worldwide. He continues to do freelance touring and recording with the Woody Herman Orchestra as well as playing at festivals and concerts around the country. Over the years he has performed with other well-known artists and groups such as Ray Charles, Joe Lovano, Buddy DeFranco, Tony Bennett, the Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Hank Marr, Clark Terry, Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, and Natalie Cole. These touring credits, plus his educational background, have prepared him well for clinics and performances at colleges and high schools around the country. He has given workshops at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference, the University of North Texas, Penn State University, the Banff Music Festival, and at schools and festivals around the country. In this capacity he is a clinician for Noble and Cooley drums, Zildjian cymbals, Pro Mark drumsticks, and Remo drumheads. As an educator, Jim has taught jazz drumming at The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan. Jim was also the longtime chair of the drumset committee for the Percussive Arts Society. He is the president of Columbus Pro Percussion, Inc., a full-line percussion specialty shop in Columbus, Ohio one of the largest of its kind in the country. He was a board member of NAMM (the International Music Products Association), where he chaired the market development committee, and he is a founding member and board member of the Five- Star Drum Shops association. Jim Rupp 6

5 Baby Steps to Giant Steps Playing The Ride Cymbal Playing the ride cymbal is the essence of what we jazz drummers do. The ride cymbal is our way of emulating the walking bass line, and it is the center of our time feel. Motion is the key to playing the ride cymbal. Our motion is our sound on the drums, and it s our groove. A relaxed graceful motion not only gives us a good sound on the cymbal, but it actually gives us a good time feel. You would be hard pressed to find a drummer with a good sound, a good time feel, and a stiff motion. The two simply just don t go together! Watching great players playing the drums is like watching a ballet. Players may have different grips and styles, but great players all share a common bond in a graceful fluid stroke. When playing the ride cymbal, try to get a fluid, flowing legato and horizontal motion. In other words, avoid a vertical stiff motion. Remember: it s horizontal, not vertical. Jazz time centers around the walking bass line, so take a moment and listen to track 2 on the CD, and feel the way the bass line has a forward motion, and yet is very relaxed. Most of the time, all four beats have equal weight. It also sits squarely in the center of the beat, not ahead, and not behind. One of my early inspirations in jazz is the Count Basie Orchestra. This band is the classic example of a great time feel in the rhythm section. A good friend of mine, professor Gordon Foote (Associate Dean, Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Quebec), did his master s thesis on what made the Count Basie Orchestra swing so hard. His analysis found that there were four key elements: 1. They placed the time squarely in the center of the beat. 2. The subdivision of each quarter note is divided almost perfectly into the classic 2/3-1/3 swing pattern. 3. The tempos were incredibly consistent. 4. The laid-back feeling of the band s phrasing comes from the band placing the final note of each phrase on the last 16th note of the beat, as opposed to on the last triplet where it is placed earlier in the phrase. Another aid in developing a concept of playing the ride cymbal is to sing the ride pattern. If you sing it with a legato style, and connect each note, then your chances of playing the cymbal with a good feel are much better. Our goal when we play any of the tunes on this CD is to be relaxed and consistent, and have swinging time! I could write all day long about playing swinging jazz time, but the key here is to listen to recordings and concerts, watch great drummers play, and work on playing along to this CD, as well as other recordings. 11

6 Turn It Up & Lay It Down Feathering the Bass Drum There is an old jazz term called feathering the bass drum, which means that the bass drum is played lightly on all four beats of the bar to help add a little bottom to the time. Feathering the bass drum adds depth to the time feel. The idea here is to play it lightly not always an easy task when most drummers have learned to play a heavy bass drum volume for modern rock and funk styles. The are several key points to remember about playing the bass drum: 1. Listening to recordings and studying the masters is the best way to understand when to play four-on-thefloor bass drum and when not to play it. I often think of wanting to play the bass drum when the music has a hard-swinging time feel or when the bass player is playing very constant quarter notes (think Count Basie or the Jeff Hamilton Trio). When the time feel is more open and floating (think of the Bill Evans Trio or the Keith Jarrett Trio), you are probably not going to feather the bass drum on all four beats. Musical study, sensitivity, and maturity will be your best guide. 2. If the other musicians can hear you feathering the bass drum, then it s probably too loud you might be thumping the bass drum rather then feathering it! The idea of feathering the bass drum is to add a little bottom and fatness to the time feel, yet retain the fluid horizontal swinging time feel not to create a heavy vertical thump. 3. The easiest way to feather the bass drum is to play with the heel down. Many drummers are more comfortable playing with the heel up, which is appropriate for playing loud sections of music and accents. This technique doesn t work well for feathering the bass drum. Think of how you play soft quarter notes on the snare drum: your stick is only a few inches off of the head, and your stroke is a light tap. This same technique is used on the bass drum. Play the beater one to two inches from the bass drum head. 4. It can be difficult to get a light round tone while feathering the bass drum if the drum is heavily muffled and/or tuned for a dead/dry sound (as is common in rock and funk). The feathered bass drum sound is rounder and more resonant. A dead, staccato sound (although great for some styles of music) doesn t tend to work as well for a legato, swinging style like jazz. Most of the time, I like to leave the pillows out and let the drum have a bit more ring to it. Some drummers prefer to use a single-ply head with no muffling, while others use a Powerstroke-style head to take some of the ring out. Either way, the drum should still have some tone. In general, use more muffling when you use a larger bass drum. Peter sets up in the studio 12

7 Baby Steps to Giant Steps CD Track 1 1. Let's Play One On this track we have decided to start with brushes, as it seems to fit the mood and the tempo so well. You could also try playing the tune with sticks. Entire books have been written about playing with brushes, but here is some basic information to get you going. Motion, as with the ride cymbal, is key to playing a swinging, relaxed time feel. Practice playing a smooth legato sweep very lightly on the drum head with no pulse or accent. Next, add quarter notes with the right hand. Be sure the time is fluid sounding. Here is a basic pattern that will work with this tune: Here are four points to focus on: 1. Relax and work on a fluid graceful motion with the brush. 2. Keep your motion more horizontal than vertical. 3. Feel the triplet subdivision under the quarter-note pulse. 4. Let the brush rest lightly against the head, and avoid pushing it into the head except for effects. It is very important for the drummer to know exactly where he/she is in the musical form, otherwise the drumming can sound random and unmusical. The drummer s playing should always outline and support the form. One simple way to outline the structure is to play a small fill at the end of the form. In this tune, the form is 12 bars long, so try playing a light fill at the end of bar 12. Use some of the turnaround figures from the previous section. During the bass solo, you might want to change textures by playing the ride pattern on the closed hi-hat with a brush. You also might try riding on a cymbal with a brush. During the drum trades, realize that the 12-bar blues form continues while you are playing the trades. For this song, we have provided you with a lead sheet, a full drum chart, and an abbreviated drum chart. On a real gig, you might see any of these three options, or no chart at all. It is important for the drummer to be able to understand the form of the song and perform it accurately from any of these different charts. The full drum chart will only be provided for the first two songs in this book, after which the lead sheet and abbreviated drum chart will be provided. 31

8 Turn It Up & Lay It Down ìlet's Play Oneî Lead Sheet ìlet's Play Oneî Short Drum Chart Peter Retzlaff performing with the Kim Bock Quartet 32