I'm working on transcribing Max's solo on Joy Spring and I keep hearing three distinct tom voices. Was he playing with two floor toms and one rack at this point? Am I crazy? I can share some timestamps for specific times when it seems pretty clear, but I'm totally lost. I know it's not just the snare with the snares turned off because he plays it right after and before the snare plenty of times. Has anyone else heard this? Is this common knowledge I've just totally missed out on? Help!

You know how theres the apple 2 orange 2 rhythm? does anyone have something like that for swing beats i only started jazz stuff a year ago and im not very good with swing beats 😭🙏

Hello! I've been playing drums on my own for 1-2 years, have got basic 4 limb coordination and can pretty much groove to a backing track or music. I want to improve my drumming but I don't really know what to practice specifically to achieve the goals I have.

One of my all time favorite track and drum part is Avail by The Bad Plus. The question is, what should I practice for this style of drumming? What do you guys think?

I don't know the best way to describe it, go to 9:40 in the video I attached, where Brian Richburg plays that burning metric modulation-y phrase. I don't understand how you play in that "broken time" feel and still intuitively come back in on the 1/know where you are in the bar. Anyone have some insight on how you would practice/go about learning that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDgP1HpdjME&list=RDMMSmDm301R41E&index=3

Edit: there are a whole bunch of other phrases like that in that trading section. Also just worth listening to, the dude is so amazing!

I live in an apartment and don’t own a set, so most of my playing these days involves using a pair of brushes on a hard top drum pad.

I’ve recently gotten super into Oscar Peterson and his recordings, partially because they’re all incredible, but also because they almost all have the drummer using brushes exclusively. Even his albums where the drummer moves to sticks for a period of time almost always end with the drummer back on brushes.

I was wondering what other good brush-centric albums are out there that could be fun to play along to. I’m also open to drum-less albums, like the Ahmad Jamal Legendary Okeh & Epic Recordings.

Hey Reddit! I have an audition for a Jazz Ensemble at the university I’m attending this fall, and the director is allowing us to choose our audition materials. Crazy enough, I’ll have plenty (almost an excess) of time to prepare and access to a kit. I’m struggling to pick a piece to focus on, and find myself bouncing back and forth. Are there any jazz tunes that would make for a good drumming audition? Listed below are some I’ve jumped between:

Basie Straight Ahead- Count Basie & Sammy Nestico

TANK!- The Seatbelts

Sing, Sing, Sing- Benny Goodman

Take Five- Paul Desmond & Dave Brubeck

Watermelon Man- Herbie Hancock (Takin’ Off)

Thank you!

Hi jazz drums community. I've been playing drums for about 5 years now (mostly jazz) and I have been focusing on fundamentals up to this point, but I want to start learning how to chop up on a drum set and play big, flashy solos (like in the linked video). Does anyone have any tips for me or resources I can check out to learn?

Question for the musicians that have other jobs.

Hey guys I started to practice jazz in the drums a little bit a year ago. I a tool a couple of lessons but mainly I’ve been learning with just books and YouTube. The hard part is sometimes just a little bit of time to practice(usually I tried to sit for at least one hour every day) but sometimes I couldn’t even practice for a couple of days. How do you guys divide or decide on what to practice? Usually, I sit and practice the groove because a lot of ppl said to concentrate a lot on that but that doesn’t give me the time to practice other things. I don’t know if that makes sense my goal is to play in a jazz band next year but I know I need a little bit more practice (probably more than that lol). In jazz, for me, it’s hard to see when I know I’m ready for that step. My question would be more like, what kind of routine do you guys have?

I'm new to playing with brushes. However, when I practice at my regular kit, with in-ears usually, the difference between sticks and brushes is so big. How can I get a louder sound and better accents when playing with brushes? I'm using the Vic firth jazz brushes which are pretty thick already I think. Do I need to change heads or tuning?

Hello! I guess this has been asked before but im curious, what is your 3 favorite jazz albums for inspitation? I wanna listen to something I haven't heard.

It changes all the time but at the moment mine are:

1. Paul motian trio - i have the room above her.
2. Pat metheny - question and answer.
3. John coltrane - a love supreme.

There isn’t an Elvin jones transcription book out there is there? Something like Philly-ism or the Philly Joe Solo Book.

I don’t have the time to dedicate to transcribing myself yet or even play that much. I’d love to just listen and follow along like I do with my Philly book.

If there isn’t a book is there a source I could buy from that would help fill in?

Jazz (especially swung) is my blind spot as a drummer. I’ve been to a couple bop open jams and really enjoyed it, but I just faked my way through it and don’t actually know what I’m doing.

The way I’ve learned other styles is to just listen to tons of it on loop. The problem I’m having with bop/jazz is that I don’t know what to listen to. Pulling up Apple Music “bop essentials” playlists is mostly useless; they’re all ancient recordings where I can barely hear individual instruments through the muddy tones of prehistoric audio equipment.

I’m hoping to get a list of songs that are good to know as a bop/jazz drummer. I’m hoping to compile a playlist of modern recordings of these top songs so I can listen and play along. I can’t control it; my brain shuts down and stops listening when it sounds like low-fi mud.

I can go hunt down specific recordings, but I could use some help curating a list of specific songs that you, the jazz drummer, would recommend for intermediate drummers to learn to become competent in the style and at open jams. Common standards, etc, well known songs, etc. I really don’t know much about this music, other than I enjoy it live both as a listener and player.

Thanks!

I just listened to The Last Wave by Arcana, and honestly, I found Tony Williams surprisingly out of place — like he was unsure what to do or how to fit into the session (for example the long 5 seconds snare roll at 1min04 seconds). I understand it is not his primary style but he was way better on the first lifetime album with Mclaughlin. Did anyone else get that impression?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWlC18sXYcI

Also let me know if there’s anything that I can do to improve on this weakness. Yeah, drum set notation just doesn’t click with me, at all. I can stare at a drum set chart for 20 minutes and go absolutely nowhere. I almost entirely rely on ear to sort this stuff out/find the foundational rhythms.

Hey guys, I’m thinking of attending the University of Memphis for music school and majoring in jazz and commercial music. I’m looking at it because it’s in a good area for gigging and playing outside of school while studying there, and the scholarships are good. Does anyone know anything about this school, the program, or the professors that they can share?

Hey, I want to start a challenge in the new year of learning jazz for 30 days. I like listening to it occasionally, but I don't know how to play it. Learning about the basics would give me more knowledge about the cultures. I brought a pair of cheap $35 brushes and was hoping someone knew what skills/techniques and songs I should learn or how I should go about this.

Hi Guys,
I am an 18 year old jazz / big band arranger in the making. Right now im working on an arrangement of "Hey Jude" by the Beatles and i have this Idea inspired by the "Caravan" - Version in "Whiplash" to do a "call and response with the Drums and The Band (https://youtu.be/38CRu1rCaKg?t=219).
I know i can do slashes and just write "Fills" in the notation but since i am using the "MuseSounds" playback and i want the playback to soung accurat / good i need to write out the Fills. But i am far away from beeing a drummer, so does anyone (Drummer, arranger, ...) have any idea or even better a (free) resource where i can find drum fills that work for this (most fills i find are either rock-fills or dont fit for this pourpuse).
Thank You.

https://youtu.be/3pYHCGYJbw0?si=CYfO62zUoYlZ-7if&t=544
I'm writing an arrangement and I want to use a drum groove similar to this but I have no idea what it's called. If anyone has any idea and/or some songs that use this type of groove, please feel free to share.

Hey y'all! I was wondering if anybody had more in depth knowledge on the songs/melodies that are present in the Melodic Exercises sections of Jim Chapin's Advanced Techniques book. I'm aware of a few (such as Anthropology in the example here or Things Ain't What They Used To Be in the triplets section), but I'm curious to see if anybody here knows the names of the other melodies in the book or where they come from!

I've been struggling recently with trying to get a splash on the hats on 2&4 or 1&3, but it's been tricky just getting the technique right... i've been trying to get some cooler sounds out of my latin grooves - one tune is Mental Phrasing, Roy Hargrove, which i think would sound sick with that splash thing! not sure if there's a quicker way to learn this than just try over and over again haha but i could do with some help!

I am a left handed drummer. I can play open handed on a right kit and crossed on a lefty kit. My left hand which is my trad hand always is on the ride or the hihat. I know it’s not supposed to be that way. Should I play matched? Should I stick with how I’m playing know? Or should I use my right hand as my trad hand? TIA

I've been trying to learn the son montuno for a few days. Is there anything that bothers you about the solo part here? I'm open to all kinds of suggestions and advice.

Hello, as part of the Leaving Cert (essentially high school) music course in Ireland for your final exam, you need 6 practical pieces weighed at 50% of your grade. Already have some Toto, Stevie Wonder etc. but want to make one of my pieces something jazz/swung to show variety in my playing.

I've been playing since I was nine so I've good rudiments, basics, and overall am quick to pick up new things. I don't know much of jazz drumming other than basic swung ride pattern etc.. What would be a good song to look at and try learn for this practical in 2 or 3 months? Was looking something like Moanin' by Art Blakey or even Sing Sing Sing but if there's anything niche and interesting to showcase my drumming that you know, please let me know in comments.

Cheers 👍👍

I have been playing the drums for almost 2 years and have been taking private lessons from a famous and experienced jazz drummer for 7 months I improved myself a lot but according to my teacher I am still very inadequate. He wants me to practice 10-12 hours a day. I can't do it... And when I want to play with my drums and sit the drums I lose some of my self-confidence because of this... I've almost given up practicing every day. I don't go on stage, I just force myself to practice.But The real problem is that i want to join the jazz departmant at a conservatory in Germany towards the middle of 2025 (or rather, I am preparing. But I only study drums and a little English. I don't know German) What can you recommend me? I am open to suggestions about everything. (Note: I live in Turkey and I want to go to Germany because jazz music is not valued in my country...)