Tom rhythms

I play twice a week at church, and I go into a tom rhythm thing whenever I am inspired to do so. The rest of the musicians and singers seem to like it. Peace and goodwill.
 
This is a good example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O-8Cm_uo5g, Toto made a hit single with that song back in 1995.

I love tom rhythms, I love the feel it creates if it suits the piece you're playing, it adds another dimension than the regular hi-hat, snare, kick pattern.

Generally speaking, the music will provide the platform for tom rhythms, I often hear it in my head simply by listen to the others playing before I even touch the sticks, I then try to reproduce what I heard and felt on the kit.

I also like to try "ideas" while practicing and sometimes I can come up with an interesting pattern, I think it helps to develop that type of feel and approach.

Sometimes songs are tom rhythms based, the whole song is constructed around the drummer's tom pattern(s) when he present it to the rest of the band in the same way that a particular song is build around a drummer's groove.
 
One thing that can help smooth out a transition like this is to decide on a bass drum rhythm that will tie the two parts together. Even if you're moving both hands to the toms in one swoop, you'll still have your foot holding down the under-rhythm that you can use as a foundation in your tom part. You might be surprised what you get out of simple quarters or half notes on the bass drum if you keep them consistent while your arms move around the kit.

Hopefully that makes sense... Obviously it's not a one size fits all solution, just something to work on. Incidentally, it works just as well if you anchor on anything you want to keep constant... Keep the hats going, or focus on keeping your snare 2 and 4 going through the "tom part".
 
I gotta suggest listening to "Stop Swimming" by Porcupine Tree....tom work as part of an overall groove...and a classic from Terry Bozzio - "Mental Hopscotch" by Missing Persons.

Breaking down the barrier that makes you think of it as different from the rest of your playing is a good place to start.
 
Re: Tom rythms

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Watching other drummers succeed in that particular area...gives you a great opportunity to follow their lead. Perhaps you should observe the holy crap out of them and reverse engineer what they are doing so you can understand better for yourself. Just steal their stuff, everyone does it.

Better yet, go up to them, compliment them, and ask specifics.

This. I know what you are talking about and it is an area I am focussing on right now.
I love tom rhythms and want to develop more there myself.

What I did was to listen for songs (on the radio) that had the kind of tom rhythms
I liked, I took them apart, wrote out the parts and learned them note for note.

Once I did that, I had those patterns to call on, and I use them now, and am learning more as I go.

My limited experience is that there are many fairly simple tom rythms that sound good.
It is the style and accents that make them work.

Well the simple ones work for me anyway, mostly cuz I can play them. :)
 
At the urging of one of the guitarists in my band, I've been really getting into doing more tom rhythms in our songs. One of my favorite drummers who does these beats at will is Danny Carey. He has a new album out with his other band Volto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OnbKsE-D20

I used to be horrible at them but I think just doing some pad work and four way limb exercises and shaping up the left hand and hi-hat pedal has really freed me up because I can keep time on the hi-hat and do whatever i want with the toms throwing in some snare and tasty cymbal work. It's not easy to get the hang of. Sometime I fumble and bumble my way through some mediocre stuff before I come upon some good rhythms.
 
I still kinda suck at these but I thought I'd add something else - playing between the right hand and right foot on the floor tom seems to have opened doors for me.
 
I still kinda suck at these but I thought I'd add something else - playing between the right hand and right foot on the floor tom seems to have opened doors for me.

I just started working on this myself. It's like a new tool to use. Hasn't entered my gigging playing yet, it's not internalized enough yet. But I'm having a fun time with it.
 
I just started working on this myself. It's like a new tool to use. Hasn't entered my gigging playing yet, it's not internalized enough yet. But I'm having a fun time with it.

Sounds cool Larry. What kinda stuff are you doing?

I just play singles, switching the leading limb between the foot and hand... and I also play 3 stroke ruffs (HFH FHF HFH FHF). 8th notes/16th notes or triplets.
 
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