Rhythmic Commentary

This is a preview of the educational program A Jazz Improvisation Almanac which is under development for the Outside Shore Music Online School. Feel free to browse this preview and learn what you can from it. For a more completed product, though, check out the original freely browsable jazz textbook, A Jazz Improvisation Primer.

If drumming were only about establishing a groove and making the kicks and fills at the right time, then this would be a science, not an art. There are musicians out there who have a low opinion of the musicality of drummers, considering them little more than glorified metronomes. Yet a drummer can contribute immensely to the quality of a performance. A drumset offers as much opportunity for creativity as any other instrument.

Aside from liberties you make take in deciding how to interpret a given groove, the most important avenue for creativity in drumming is in rhythmic commentary. You should not only provide a foundation for others to build on, but you should also be a part of the musical conversation between the members of the group. For example, you should be listening to the soloist, and responding to what he is playing with additional kicks or fills:

[EXAMPLE]

You may also come up with ideas of your own and feed them to the soloist:

[EXAMPLE]

You may choose to set up a counterrhythm against the basic pulse. For example, you may play a figure containing three notes in the space of two beats:

[EXAMPLE]

Your part need not be limited to a few isolated kicks or fills played on top of the basic pulse. You are free to be as creative as you want to be. Certainly, in pieces that do not require you to explicitly state a consistent pulse, your role as rhythmic commentator becomes your most important concern. Relieved of the constraint of constantly maintaining the groove, you can play as much or as little as you wish. Every note you play comes with a purpose besides that of keeping time. You can play as if you were a melody instrument and contribute phrases that relate to what is happening around you just as, say, a saxophonist would:

[EXAMPLE]

You can concentrate on creating different textures, as opposed to specific grooves:

[EXAMPLE]

Of course, you can always go back to playing a groove from time to time to give soloists something from which to work:

[EXAMPLE]

Even if you do not plan to perform in this context much, this type of playing makes great practice, because it forces you to think about every note you play and why you are playing it. The next step, then, is to realize that you can apply these same techniques even when playing in a more traditional setting. Play time as you normally would, but constantly be looking for opportunities to contribute something else. You can layer other phrases on top of the basic groove you are playing:

[EXAMPLE]

If you find it too difficult technically to add new material on top of a groove, you can usually get away with suspending the basic groove while you play something different, even when playing in completely straightahead swing style. The pulse will still be felt because of the momentum you have established, and because the other instruments will be helping to establish the groove as well:

[EXAMPLE]

It should be noted that some soloists are uncomfortable with drummers who play so aggressively, however.

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

Rhythmic Commentary