Mart61's Learning Thread

Had another go at 50 ways. It's not as Mr Gadd did it but it sounds similar but obviously nowhere near as slick.

I need to get the speed up a but tho. :)

http://youtu.be/5VexloY2EVk
 
Just had a play with a bit of a variation on the Mersey beat. Added a few random fills and even tho I kinda lost it on the last but one bar or so, it sounded like it recovered it without losing the original beat. Well I thought so. How about you?

http://youtu.be/BxgNUJuDG4I

I did forget my drumming helmet tho but it's still there on the tom mount.

:)
 
Mart61 said:
Had another go at 50 ways. It's not as Mr Gadd did it but it sounds similar but obviously nowhere near as slick.

I need to get the speed up a but tho. :)

http://youtu.be/5VexloY2EVk
Click to expand...
Now this is very good indeed! You internalised the groove really well, & played the spaces. Nice job!

Mart61 said:
Just had a play with a bit of a variation on the Mersey beat. Added a few random fills and even tho I kinda lost it on the last but one bar or so, it sounded like it recovered it without losing the original beat. Well I thought so. How about you?

http://youtu.be/BxgNUJuDG4I

I did forget my drumming helmet tho but it's still there on the tom mount.

:)
Click to expand...
This one not as good. Probably too much concentration on the fills, rather than keeping the whole piece straight. Must be the lack of drumming helmet ;)
 
Thanks for the input. I've gotten a little quicker with 50 ways but perhaps at the expense of cohesion.

I thought my latest attempt was not too bad. I think you're right about concentrating on the fills tho. They were unplanned and, as such, I wasn't sure what I was gonna do. I was quite pleased with losing it towards the end and staying (sort of) in the groove on recovery. I couldn't have done that a week or two ago.

:)
 
keep it simple said:
You internalised the groove really well, & played the spaces.
Click to expand...

Blimey! Not too sure what this means but thanks for the compliment.

:)

Now waiting for my 16:00 drum lesson. Might be in trouble for not practising enough. :)
 
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Just nailed the homework set during my last lesson:

c0588a94829d20d53bf7173a745f9d74_zpsqt3etgtf.jpg
 
Zak Law said:
Great thread, your progressing well Mart, it's Awesome to see someone coming in totally fresh and progressing like this.

I'll be following your progress for sure, keep the effort up man!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your kind words, Zak. I'm having a go but have much to learn.

:)
 
Had a crack at moving around the kit a little today. Lost tempo a little here and there but it got better towards the end...I think.

:D

http://youtu.be/b9h7SlxDSkU
 
Good stuff Marty!!! The great thing is that you're able to recognise where you're tripping up, & you'll be able to correct that with time. Try doing exactly the same exercise, but at half speed. That will make it both easier & harder in equal measure. Once you've conquered that, try it at half that speed again. Now it's getting really difficult! Once you've nailed that, then build the speed back up again in small steps - concentration on the spaces, not the notes. Sounds like an easy exercise? It isn't, but a really valuable one :)
 
Thanks Andy. Appreciate the comments and the suggestion. I'll put your exercise into practice when next I'm at my kit.

Ya know what tho? I felt a little unwell earlier - tired and a little heady - and almost didn't play. But, as if by magic, half an hour at my drums and I feel much better. How cool is that?

:D
 
Just had a crack at a jazz groove. This triplet lark isn't as easy as it sounds.

I've also discovered that my ride cymbal is not cut out for jazz. No matter where or how delicately I hit it, it drowned out my feathered kick drum.

http://youtu.be/PLAYNZ2HwkA
 
Just had an hour behind my kit and, don't worry there's no video, I feel I'm moving forward. It's very slowly I'll admit, but I came away from my kit smiling.

I tried the jazz groove I posted a video to yesterday and couldn't do it for toffee. So I just had a bit of fun on the kit, some basic rock grooves, a little orchestration, a few paradiddlediddels, you know the sort of thing.

I then went back to the jazz groove and it seemed to come together. I began with playing quarter notes on the bass drum and just kept them going. I then added half notes on the hi hat with my foot and then slowly added the triplets on my ride cymbal. I could do it!

I then added a four triplet fill on the snare and, at that point, it all fell apart. I had a little more fun on the kit and went back to it and do you know what? I could do it. It wasn't perfect I'll grant you but I could do it.

Twenty minutes or so later I found I could do it without thinking about it. Three of my limbs seemed to be working independently. Almost autonomously. My right foot playing quarter notes, my left foot half notes and my right hand quarter note triplets, all with little thought or effort.

I'm a happy bunny! Time for a beer!

:)
 
Forgot to bring my pad and sticks with me so just bought a 6" pad and a pair of 5As such that I can keep my hand in:

ed5a1afc272660dc81587e1e1a681b91_zpsw2nrwrej.jpg


:D
 
Glad to see you're getting to grips with triplets. I *love* triplets, and their close cousin, shuffles.

I was taught to count triplets as 1-trip-let, 2-trip-let, 3-trip-let and so on, which never really gelled with me. Somewhere along the line I realised that 1-and-a, 2-and-a etc did the same thing in a more natural (to me fashion).

Have a look at Alannah Myles's "Black Velvet" for an example of a triplet groove, and Queen's "Crazy Little Thing" for a groovy shuffle. (With CLT, your life will be a lot easier if you cheat and only play kick on 1, 3 instead of 1, a-3 ('a' of 2).

Larry is the King of Shuffles, so ping him if you want some more shuffle-y pointers.
 
Hi James and thanks for the triplet song suggestions. I must admit to have just listened to them both in iTunes and I'm not getting the triplets. I'll search for the transcriptions and play them once I'm back home.
 
Crazy Little Thing is a shuffle. Instead of playing 1-and-a, 2-and-a... etc. on the hats, leave out the 'and', so you play 1-<rest>-a, 2-<rest>-a... etc.

On Black Velvet the bass is playing a shuffle-y pattern while the hats are playing triplets.
 
Think of the theme tune to The Archers. One a-Two a-Three a-Four, etc. Then speed it up, and voila, you haz shuffley triplets.
 
Thanks guys. I'm gonna go listen to the Archers theme tune now Madge. Not sure I've ever heard it.

:)
 
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