Messin Wid Da Bull By Jeff Salem Edited by Joe Bergamini Conceived by Spencer Strand Turn It Up & Lay It Down CDs produced by Spencer Strand All songs DrumFun Inc. Executive Producers: Rob Wallis and Paul Siegel Book Design by Joe Bergamini and Willie Rose Music Engraving by Willie Rose Cover Design by Rick Gratton Cover Photo by Neal Burstyn Photos by Neal Burstyn/NTB Creative, Rob McNeil, and Philippe Lapointe Catalog HDBK18/HL6620127 ISBN: 1423466116 CD Credits: Executive Producer: Spencer Strand Tenor sax, horn compositions and arrangements: Josh Harris Bass guitar, rhythm track compositions and arrangements: Dave DiMarco Trombone: Matt Haviland Trumpet: Scott Wendholt Keyboards: Jon Hall Horns recorded, mixed, and mastered at The Living Room, Stony Point NY Engineered by Frank Dickinson Pre-production and engineering by Mitch Shaivitz Rhythm tracks recorded at Green Hill Studios, Abingdon MD 2008 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 www.hudsonmusic.com
Messin Wid Da Bull A Word from Spence About the Author About the Recording Online Examples Key Acknowledgements Introduction PART 1 Building Your Funky Beat Broken 16th-Note Patterns Paradiddle Sticking Patterns Linear Sticking Patterns Fill Shop Putting It All Together. PART 2 Chapter 1. Burn the Bridge Chapter 2. Laid Back in Chi-Town Chapter 3. Blood, Sweat & Beers Chapter 4. Calif-Horn-Ya Chapter 5. Trump Tower Chapter 6. Tiujana Fool Around Chapter 7. Dead Saxy Chapter 8. Punch Drunk Chapter 9. Stab Chapter 10. Brown Baggin Chapter 11. Bad to the Bone Chapter 12. Saturday Night in Memphis Chapter 13. Lucky Chapter 13 Resources: Funklopedia 3
Messin Wid Da Bull About the Author Jeff Salem is an internationally recognized drummer based in Toronto, Canada, who has performed in over 60 countries worldwide. His professional career started in his late teens, performing and recording with well known rock bands such as Fist (A&M), Sword (Aquarius), Saints & Sinners (Savage/BMG), Lee Aaron (Attic), Randy Bachman, Robben Ford, Coop-De-Ville, Kalan Porter (Canadian Idol Winner 2004), and many other artists. Jeff has also performed on many cruise ships as a player in the orchestra as well as a band leader. He is known in the industry as a versatile drummer, performing and reading all styles of music. He had the opportunity to perform on a millennium cruise to Antarctica working with various artists including The Chieftains, Diana Krall, Natalie McMaster, Art Garfunkel and actor Dan Aykroyd. Jeff is actively involved with music education in many school boards, performing percussion workshops and clinics to students of all grades. He has become a public motivational speaker, inspiring students to learn a musical instrument. His program is entitled Music Is My Passion. He has delivered this performance to over 500 schools in the past 15 years. Jeff is involved with the program P.L.A.S.P. (Peel Lunch & After School Program). He offers his hand-drumming clinic performance "A Little Drumming In Everyone" to this program. It caters to youths between the ages of 4 and 12. Jeff has released three instructional videos: Groove-A Diddles, Drumology, and Double Bass Vocabulary-Vol.1. He has performed at many music trade shows including the NAMM show, both in Anaheim, CA and Nashville, TN; the Musikmesse in Frankfurt, Germany; Music West in Vancouver, BC; Cape Breton International Drumfest in Sydney, Nova Scotia; Guitar Workshop Plus in Oakville, ON; and Canadian Music Week in Toronto, ON. Jeff Salem is a freelance writer for the magazines Canadian Musician and Modern Drummer. He also maintains a large roster of students for private instruction at J.S. Music Studio (his teaching facility in Brampton, Ontario). Jeff Salem is endorsed by Yamaha drums, Sabian cymbals, Vic Firth drumsticks, Evans drumheads, Latin Percussion, Mountain Rythym, and HQ Percussion (Real Feel Pads). Please visit his websites at www.salemdrum.com and www.jsmusicstudio.com 5
Messin Wid Da Bull Introduction I was introduced to the Turn It Up & Lay it Down series from my friend, the creator and innovator Spence Strand, over five years ago. I thought it was a great tool for drummers to understand how our parts work with everything from bass guitar lines and piano montunos to full band compositions in the style of rock, metal, jazz and now including this funk series. As the title says What Do You Get When You Mess With The Bull? The horns! Yes, that s right! This CD has it all! Thirteen full songs with talented musicians who recorded these compositions with influences from many popular horn bands of the 60s to present. You will have a chance to sit in the driver s seat and experience performing tracks with a band consisting of bass guitar, electric guitar, keybords, piano, trumpet, saxophone, and trombone. In this book you will learn how drum parts work in this style, and how to read through a band rhythm chart. Each song is divided into five sections: 1. Information on the song 2. Grooves for the song 3. Full chart 4. Quick road map 5. Drum fill ideas This book will also include a section on how to create your own funky beats, a page of fill ideas, hi-hat foot patterns, hi-hat and ride cymbal ostinatos, and a resource for great listening and instructional material in this style. Let s take a look at each section in detail and then mess with that bull! Getting Started My first advice is to listen to one of the tracks without playing along. Get a feel for what it s all about. The next step I would suggest is to have a look at either the full chart or the quick road map, and listen to the song to see if you can follow along. No drumsticks are required yet. What s most important in reading a chart is not to get lost. Try to follow along carefully from the beginning to the end. Next step: grab your sticks and have a look at each beat from every section. Even if you are an advanced player, I encourage you to go through each beat and see how they vary from level to level. Always start off at a slow tempo (without playing to the music) when learning the beat. I suggest practicing with a metronome, and once you have worked up to the tempo of the song, play your beat through that section with the music. Keep repeating it until you are comfortable enough to move on to the next section. Don t worry about the fills yet. Once you have all the parts down and you feel you can tackle the song, it s time to Mess with the bull! When you are comfortable with the song, start to incorporate some fill ideas. In time, with daily practicing, these songs will become muscle memory. From this point, if you have tried all of the beats and fills in the book, it will be time for you to create your own. Information on the Tune Each song will have a brief description with some information on the feel, possible artist influences, tips for the song (including fill ideas), odd changes in the song, important figures to catch, and much more. Grooves for the Song The second section will include drum beats that work for the song at all levels from beginner to advanced. When you re comfortable, you can mix and match different beats from different levels. They will all work well with the song. All of the groove examples are lettered to match the section of the song in which they should be played. Charts All the songs are in 4/4 time. Each of the charts will have tempo markings. All of the songs in this book have a full band chart that is very detailed for the drummer. Some of you might look at this busy layout and wonder, What language is this? My idea was to provide the drummer a level of detail on the song that would help them 9
Turn It Up & Lay It Down to see how their parts work with the bass guitar figures and the horn figures. I have notated all the horn rhythms in the songs except for their solos. I have also included the duration of the notes from staccato to legato, as well all the dynamic markings, repeat signs, ensemble figures, and sectional figures. Some things are not notated, like adding a crash cymbal on beat one after a fill or at the beginning of a new section. I highly recommend for any student who is interested in pursuing their reading skills to study with a great teacher who can assist you if you are new to drumming. The best part of learning to read charts is that you will take your music vocabulary to a whole new level of versatility. For those who are not quite comfortable in reading charts just yet, no worries, the next section in this book is designed for you. Quick Road Map This is a shorthand version of the full chart. Most of the time, when I become very comfortable and know the song quite well, a quick outline of the song will get me from the beginning to the end. Each section is labled by a letter which is the section of the song, as well as a number with the letter X. The number and the X tells you how many bars you play in that section. For example: The letter A over top of 8X means you play the A section 8 times, or 8 bars (even if the A section beat is a two bar beat). This is also a great way for you to work on counting bars since many drummers would rather feel things through. Sometimes the unpredictable happens when you get 7 bars in a section. Enjoy your counting journey. Fills In this section, I will present detailed drum fills that work for all levels, and are specific to certain parts of the song. It will include ensemble figure ideas. 10
Turn It Up & Lay It Down Building Your Funky Beat When I first heard David Garibaldi s groove to The Oakland Stroke by Tower of Power, or the unique feel and pattern Zigaboo Modeliste created and laid down for the song Cissy Strut by The Meters, I had to ask myself: How did these guys come up with these ideas? I would often analyze many great funky drummers. I realized most of their ideas came from three areas or concepts in creating beats that I would like to share with you. Hopefully you can use these ideas to create your own beat, and to help develop your own sound and style. Three concepts for developing a funky beat: 1. Broken 16th-note patterns 2. Paradiddle sticking patterns 3. Linear sticking patterns Lets take a look at each area in detail. Broken 16th-Note Patterns If we look at all the possibilities and variations of playing one, two, three, or four 16th notes to equal the value of one quarter note, we would have a total of 15 different rhythms (see example A). This is what I call the Rhythm Alphabet in 16th notes. Example A: Rhythm Alphabet in 16th notes When we look at a basic beat in this style, the bass drum and the snare are like the floor and walls of the groove. When we add the ride, hi-hat, cowbell, or crash cymbal, that s like the color of paint to the existing walls, or the choice of hardwood or carpeting to the floors. If we take each of the 15 rhythms and create all the possibilities of voicing them between the bass drum and snare, we have a total of 80 combinations (see example B). With this type of vocabulary, there are endless options for creating beats. 12
Messin Wid Da Bull Example B: Voicing possibilities, snare drum & bass drum 13
Turn It Up & Lay It Down CD Track 1 1. Burn the Bridge The opening track on the CD starts off with a great funky syncopated bass line. The A and B section beats are two-bar patterns. This song doesn t require many fills. It s important to lock in with the bass player to make this song groove. Have fun with this one. TIPS: 1. Play the tune first without trying to play any fills; get a feel for the form (don t get lost). 2. The bass drum is anticipated at the end of the 2nd bar of letter A. 3. Notice the 7-bar pattern in section B; its not 8. 4. Watch your dynamics and work towards the build-up to section C. 5. Catch the ensemble figures in the last bar of the tune. 6. Catch some of the horns figures, especially at the end of section C. The grooves are lettered to match the section of the song in which they belong. For example, groove A (in all sections from easy to advanced) belongs in section A of the song. Grooves: Easy A B C 28
Messin Wid Da Bull Grooves: Intermediate A B C Grooves: Advanced A B C Optional groove for section C: C 29
Turn It Up & Lay It Down ìburn the Bridgeî Chart 30
Messin Wid Da Bull Quick Road Map Fills One-beat fill ideas to transition from section B to section A: 1 2 3 Two-beat fill ideas to transition from section B to section C: 4 5 31
Turn It Up & Lay It Down Horn Figure Fills: Bar 8 in section A going to section B: 6 Last bar of section C: 7 Ensemble figures in last measure of song: 8 9 32