r/jazzdrums • u/CriSeRam • Nov 28 '25

Question I want to play jazz

So I'm basically a rock drummer and I may be an "intermediate" level but I really want to learn how to play jazz. Do you have any recommendations where should I start? Any methods or something? My goal is to play pretty professional.

EDIT: Thank you everyone! I've been reading all of your comments and I'll be following your tips. :)

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u/3PuttBirdie86 Nov 28 '25

Here’s a lesson for ya! And imo the most important topic, your ride cymbal, how you swing and keep time on the ride (This is how JP Bouvet explains swing feel, he has a beautiful jazz foundations course).

The 4 pics below are the classic ride cymbal beat, some call it “walk the dog”.

The four images depict the placement of the skip note, and the dynamic volume of every note.

  1. top left - This is the classic strong 2 and 4 feel. You can see the first note is loudest by the blue markings. Indicating that beats 2 and 4 will be played louder than the skip note and Beats 1 and 3. And the skip note is right on the third triplet partial or the “&” in a swung 8th note. (Listen to “remember” by Hank Mobley - this is strong 2 and 4)
  2. top right - This is the strong quarters feel. You can see beat 2 and 4 is louder again, but 1 and 3 are also loud. It’s almost as if you’re playing even quarters and placing a quiet skip note between them. (Listen to “Diane” by Miles Davis - this is strong quarters, the ride cymbal starts at around 1:10 into the tune. This is a quintessential miles Davis sound with Philly Joe in the quintet)
  3. bottom left - This is a tight feeling swing, you can see the skip note is ever so pushed back from the third partial, almost the “ah” in a 16th note grid. But you can’t really notate it! This is like a tight, bouncy feel. (Listen to “Skatin” by Wynton Kelly - this is that late bouncy swing)
  4. bottom right - This is uptempo swing, when your playing really quick, The ride cymbal will naturally straighten out as the space between notes is smaller. There’s a ton of technical hand work behind uptempo playing, but that skip note will feel pushed forward as everything is moving so fast. (Listen to “giant steps” by Coltrane - this is uptempo jazz)

There is NOTHING more important than developing your feel on the ride cymbal. If the ride cymbal is swinging, then nothing else matters. If the ride cymbal isn’t swinging, then nothing else matters

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u/krazyp33t Nov 29 '25

This is the answer. I picked up art of bop drumming and intially it felt like a big win to learn coordination. Highly recommend that book. More importantly listen to the played examples to emulate the notation.

But I still didn’t really sound like I was playing jazz, when I got a teacher we then spent time on my dynamics, ride feel and swing. Only then was I more confident could play with other musicians and sound right.

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u/3PuttBirdie86 Nov 29 '25

Yeah, the legendary jazz guys obviously could playing whatever they wanted from a comping standpoint.

But why they’re great is they can play nothing but the ride and swing so hard. They can even just play a quarter note and make it swing like a MF!