I have not posted a drumming video in a while, but I have been playing. I am currently doing a course on Drumeo by Nic Collins, whose dad Phil you may have heard of. Nic played on the last Genesis tour as Phil has some health problems. The course is on 'odd' time signatures. Most music you hear is in 4/4 (standard rock/pop) or 3/4 (jazz and some ballads), but you can have any number of beats in a bar or even change it through the song. This course starts off with 5/4. That feels odd as each bar goes on a little longer than you expect. Nic introduces it gently and builds up a more complex beat.
I wanted to record something of my progress, but getting that set up takes time. Luckily someone on the Drumeo community has extracted the backing track so I could use it for the video. I did make a few mistakes, but I do have a feel for this now. My jazz band have talked about doing Dave Brubeck's Take 5, so that is something to aspire to.
The course moves onto 7/8 this week. I do not find that too bad as you just miss off a beat, but when you could it you should not count the last beat as sev-en or you may find you actually did eight. Counting is really important in music generally to keep track of where you are and there are lots of different ways to do it .You can split more complex beats into smaller sections. Ultimately it is about feeling the beat and making it feel natural when you play. I have a way to go with that.
I have a gig coming up with the folk band this month at the druid festival that we have played for the last two years. I could also be playing in my jazz duo with @daniellemurray at a local free festival in September. There will be some open mic nights coming up too.
The other news is that I have made contact with a local drum teacher. I am meeting her this week to see what she can do for me.
Rock on!
▶️ 3Speak