I want to play jazz standards on my drums.

yup

My Funny Valentine pg 287 of Real Book sixth edition (yellow cover)

Summertime pg 323 of Real Book volume IV

the form is there and the melody is there

if a drummer needs more than that he is nowhere near ready to play anything related to jazz music

Well, OK, but getting the score would be cheaper and lighter as well as, having better drum notation.
 
Well, OK, but getting the score would be cheaper and lighter as well as, having better drum notation.

why in the world would you need drum notation ?

as I have stated multiple times in this thread .... if a drummer needs anything more than the form and melody he is nowhere near ready to play anything that has to do with jazz
 
why in the world would you need drum notation ?

as I have stated multiple times in this thread .... if a drummer needs anything more than the form and melody he is nowhere near ready to play anything that has to do with jazz

You obviously don't need to read... my posts then.
 
You obviously don't need to read... my posts then.

I'll tell you what. A good combo is John Riley's Jazz book(s) and the Real Book of Jazz. That way you get too practice just jazz pattern ideas and see those written out, and you have lead sheets which you will ALMOST ALWAYS see in above beginner jazz scenarios.

I have only had drum charts for songs from Hal Lenard.
 
2 things

As a rock drummer who learned jazz after college and pretty much on my own the best way to learn is in a band.

I had gone through Jim Chapins book and art of bop by the time I joined the band and realised very soon I knew nothing about how to interact with the musicians and how to play the form.

So once you have a couple of tunes and you are comfy playing jazz time just hook up with a piano player and a bass player and practice the real book together. No pressure just fun and learning off each other. Ask questions of the more experienced players and try each tune in different feels.



SmoothOperator - I think you are missing the point with both the real book and jazz as a whole.

Jazz is an improvised style of music meaning that beyond the head (main melody and form of the song) which is played at the start and end of a tune anything really is fair game.

Bass players walk differently on different nights, Piano players chhuck in substitutions, lead players add flourishes and solo differently each night. That's the part i really dig about the whole style.
And as a drummer we change our part dependant on the feel, tempo, style, player we are trying to emulate, vibe, crowd, if the hot chick just waved at you etc etc...

In order to account for this you would need 400 charts all written out and carried. Not any easier than a real book...which you can now get on an ipad.
All the info on the song is there and sometimes as a drummer at jam sessions you don't get a chart you just get a....oh this is a medium swing ....1234 go!


Don;t get me wrong. Listen , transcribe, emulate do all of these things but eventually you are going to have to trust your ears and play what you want at that particular moment.
And if it's wrong do it twice....then it's jazz!

d
 
Jazz is an improvised style of music meaning that beyond the head (main melody and form of the song) which is played at the start and end of a tune anything really is fair game.

I just think you as a rock or small combo drummer confusing your style of jazz with what jazz is, and in a pretty narrow and emphatic fashion to boot.
 
IN what way?

Even in a big band where your playing needs to be more focused and less improvised you get very little info in the chart.
Sometimes one bar of basic time and endless repeats. Should I just play that???

Without wanting to start any arguments or pander to trolls. How would you define jazz? Or what is the essence of jazz to you?

And without the charts with everything written out how do you play jazz. Do you have them all? Do you want to share?

D
 
I just think you as a rock or small combo drummer confusing your style of jazz with what jazz is, and in a pretty narrow and emphatic fashion to boot.

You are REALLY ignorant. That's what I like about you.
 
Smooth, sorry, but you haven't said a true thing this entire thread. You should really just be trying to acquire some basic facts about this style of music, rather than argue about it.

Whenever, I played aux in a big band class, we always had drum charts, even for the aux percussion sometimes. I thought it was a great way to learn jazz.
 
Whenever, I played aux in a big band class, we always had drum charts, even for the aux percussion sometimes. I thought it was a great way to learn jazz.

What songs were you playing? Brass Machine? Birdland? Pick Up the Pieces? Moanin'?
Those are not "Jazz" music songs. Those are rock-jazz fushions, or have no chord progressions.

Going off sheet music is a great way to understand ride patterns or afro-cuban who-ha. It DOES NOT teach you how to follow the form.

To learn Jazz as a whole, you need to understand chord changes, backgrounds, soloing, interplay, etc.

A lot of the sheet music I had in Jazz Band looked like this: "Medium Jazz" | / / | / / | / / | ....

Literally no notes. At that point I would rather have a lead sheet.
 
Do you really need to practice that though? I would say skip those charts and practice the ones with the cool parts.

Those are the cool parts because I get to make them up as I go. The charts with notes are usually pretty basic.
 
There's no denying that there is such a thing as big band jazz, and that big band jazz requires sight-reading parts. This goes as much for the drums as it does for first trumpet.

It seems that Smooth Operator is having a difficult time communicating that for some reason.
 
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