Drumming Patterns: The Components of Rhythm & Technique

Steve.B

Junior Member
Hi All,

While searching for systems to use with syncopation, this title popped up.

Cant seem to find any reviews anywhere on it and thought you guys maybe able to help?

Steve B
 
I found one review on the book for you. It's on Amazon, this guy sounds awfully frustrated but the book helped him:

"This book I have christened "MY BIBLE after plugging through endless drum guidance crap that in general were ridiculously technical mindlessly boring and so frustrating that at one stage an overwhelming urge to set fire to my kit almost became a reality! Thankfully however along came a breath of fresh air in the shape of a unique book titled Drumming Patterns aimed at all ages from beginner intermediate to pro It is so user friendly logical argon free non patronizing straight forward manual starting from preface I personally think DP blows most of the current drumming education material available on the market out of the water...GET A COPY. Thanking you Mr Brarman."

Never heard of this book myself. The big ones around here seem to be New Breed and Stick Control. Surely someone has been through this book though.
 
That'll take some time to digest just the free download. It looks like a pretty intense library of materials for very committed practicers-- maybe not what I'd recommend for casual use. It would probably be something you would refer to in the course of working on other things, rather than using it as a primary method book.

The author, Chuck Braman, is a real guy-- part of why I started my site was to make sure his Paul Motian interview didn't get lost in the internet. That and a Joey Baron master class transcript were the only worthwhile drumming related things on the internet in the 90s.

If you're looking for things to do with Reed, look through the archives at my site, get the Alan Dawson Complete Drumming Vocabulary book, and also a couple of volumes of Interpretive Stickings by Martin Bradfield, if you can find them. You may have to order that directly from the author. I think Berklee press also put out a book, which I don't have.
 
Hello Everyone,

I'm the author of Drumming Patterns. Thank you for your interest in my book. I'd be happy to directly answer any questions you might have.

To address a couple questions in the thread:

>Steve B wrote: Can't seem to find any reviews anywhere on it

It was published in 1988 and at the time well-reviewed in Percussive Notes, Downbeat, Modern Drummer, Kansas Music Review, Rimshot Magazine and Rhythm Magazine. You can read quotes from these reviews and also endorsements from Jim Chapin, Louie Bellson, and Ed Soph, and from readers who sent me complimentary emails, here: http://bit.ly/2Xwe1b7.

Unfortunately, it really hasn't been heard from since because I self-published it, immediately afterward moved to NYC, and got too involved in trying to make a living to take the time to find a distributor.

Steve, your interest in reading full reviews just gave me a good idea, thanks! I'm in the process of redesigning and expanding the site, and in the new improved version, I'll include the full text of all of those reviews (provided I can locate them all). By the way, any suggestions for improving the site or making it clearer or more informative would be appreciated.

>Alain Rieder wrote: It is based on stickings and there's a site where you can download a portion of the book.

It's actually based on a new method of organizing stickings logically, embellishing them logically, and subsequently, converting the stickings into rhythms and plugging the rhythms into ostinato patterns. By the time I do all of this there is a complete system that is created, but it's based on the initial idea of arranging all of the possible sticking patterns in a sequence from short to long.

I made the first 37 pages available for free (http://bit.ly/2XwheHH). They include all of the sticking patterns, as well as the contents, forward and introduction.

I'd recommend to anyone who is curious to download the first 37 pages that include all of the stickings. If you find value in pages 5-7 of Stick Control, I think you will find a lot of value in these. (If you are familiar with Stick Control, after you download these stickings, reading this comparison of the two books might help clarify the approach I take: http://bit.ly/2XzxPdI.)

>Todd Bishop wrote: It looks like a pretty intense library of materials for very committed practicers-- maybe not what I'd recommend for casual use. It would probably be something you would refer to in the course of working on other things, rather than using it as a primary method book.

It's actually intended as a primary method book that a beginning student should start out with (starting with the stickings), but it's also comprehensive so that the more committed to mastering drumming technique and rhythm they become, the more applications of the basic patterns they will find.

* * * *

Thanks again everyone for the discussion. If you find any value in the material I offer for free or have any other comments or suggestions, please let me know.
 
Hello Everyone,

I'm the author of Drumming Patterns. Thank you for your interest in my book. I'd be happy to directly answer any questions you might have.

To address a couple questions in the thread:

>Steve B wrote: Can't seem to find any reviews anywhere on it

It was published in 1988 and at the time well-reviewed in Percussive Notes, Downbeat, Modern Drummer, Kansas Music Review, Rimshot Magazine and Rhythm Magazine. You can read quotes from these reviews and also endorsements from Jim Chapin, Louie Bellson, and Ed Soph, and from readers who sent me complimentary emails, here: http://bit.ly/2Xwe1b7.

Unfortunately, it really hasn't been heard from since because I self-published it, immediately afterward moved to NYC, and got too involved in trying to make a living to take the time to find a distributor.

Steve, your interest in reading full reviews just gave me a good idea, thanks! I'm in the process of redesigning and expanding the site, and in the new improved version, I'll include the full text of all of those reviews (provided I can locate them all). By the way, any suggestions for improving the site or making it clearer or more informative would be appreciated.

>Alain Rieder wrote: It is based on stickings and there's a site where you can download a portion of the book.

It's actually based on a new method of organizing stickings logically, embellishing them logically, and subsequently, converting the stickings into rhythms and plugging the rhythms into ostinato patterns. By the time I do all of this there is a complete system that is created, but it's based on the initial idea of arranging all of the possible sticking patterns in a sequence from short to long.

I made the first 37 pages available for free (http://bit.ly/2XwheHH). They include all of the sticking patterns, as well as the contents, forward and introduction.

I'd recommend to anyone who is curious to download the first 37 pages that include all of the stickings. If you find value in pages 5-7 of Stick Control, I think you will find a lot of value in these. (If you are familiar with Stick Control, after you download these stickings, reading this comparison of the two books might help clarify the approach I take: http://bit.ly/2XzxPdI.)

>Todd Bishop wrote: It looks like a pretty intense library of materials for very committed practicers-- maybe not what I'd recommend for casual use. It would probably be something you would refer to in the course of working on other things, rather than using it as a primary method book.

It's actually intended as a primary method book that a beginning student should start out with (starting with the stickings), but it's also comprehensive so that the more committed to mastering drumming technique and rhythm they become, the more applications of the basic patterns they will find.

* * * *

Thanks again everyone for the discussion. If you find any value in the material I offer for free or have any other comments or suggestions, please let me know.
Hi, Mr. Braman, I was researching a question I had about 4-Way and stumbled across your download, perhaps in this thread. I've working it really intently and have more feedback than I willing to type on myphone. Left a fairly detailed email on your site, if it's still functional, the Facebook and Twitter links are not.
 
To everyone here who expressed an interest in and/or curiosity about my book, I have good news: I spent the first several months of the lockdown making a modern e-commerce site for the book that is now live: https://www.DrummingPatterns.com.

For the curious, it includes a 20-minute animated video introduction to the book explaining the book's concept and comparing and contrasting it with the rudiments and Stick Control. You can also watch this video on YouTube (please give it a "like" if you do):

For those interested in delving into the book slowly without having to buy it, it includes a combination of free and inexpensive .pdf downloads of individual chapters: https://www.drummingpatterns.com/book

And I've created a blog with lots of valuable free content, including hundreds of pages of detailed transcriptions of the difficult timekeeping of jazz masters like Roy Haynes, Paul Motian, Tony Williams, and others: https://www.drummingpatterns.com/blog
 
Hi Chuck, I will definitely check out your system, it looks interesting. I have been working on some ideas from Efrain Toro around harmonic rhythm and I can see some similarities in the way my brain processes his ideas with your system (at least at first glance) so I am excited to work through the basics and see how it goes :)
 
Hi Chuck, I will definitely check out your system, it looks interesting. I have been working on some ideas from Efrain Toro around harmonic rhythm and I can see some similarities in the way my brain processes his ideas with your system (at least at first glance) so I am excited to work through the basics and see how it goes :)
Thank you, Rob, please let me know how it goes.
 
I would think the 4 digit patterns would include R+L+RR and L+R+LL and not just RR+LL
Good comment and good question. I'm limiting the patterns to single strokes and double strokes. If you're treating those as two distinct patterns to be repeated, they would have triple-strokes (i.e., RLRRRLRR, etc.). If you combine them, that sticking is eight digits in length. (RLRRLRLL)

I'd recommend taking advantage of the free download of the first 23 pages of the book including pages 8-9 of the Introduction, which should help make the selection and organization of patterns clear. The first 8 minutes or so of the video is clarifying too. Also, "Appendix I: Organization of Patterns/Labeling System" is a free download that helps clarify the pattern length and the difference between different patterns and inversions of the same pattern, which is often an initial point of confusion to some.

What are the most fundamental patterns, how many there actually are, how they are organized by length, and all the ways they can be applied to technique and rhythm is the system that the book details. It can really clarify and simplify one's thinking about nearly everything one does, once grasped.
 
Thanks for the response. I have downloaded your free pdfs and have been reading them. I did see your comment in the pdf on inversions so I did think about making sure that my prior comment wasn’t an inversion.

I didn’t see a comment on avoidance of triple strokes. The five stroke pattern R+LL+RR would have the same issue, where repetition would yield RLLRRRLLRR. This also yields triple strokes.

Sorry to be a bother on this. I’m very interested in the concept and I’m analyzing it for a better understanding.

I appreciate all the information you’ve presented and I digest information by challenging it. So, again, sorry for the trouble.
Ah, you noticed that! Yes, you spotted a major typo that has gone unnoticed for 30 years! That is REALLY helpful to me, thanks!

If you go to page 18, which shows the two five-digit patterns and lists their inversions in various rhythmic groupings, you'll see that the patterns that I should have listed in the Introduction are R+L+R+LL and L+R+L+RR

I don't actually have any comments in the book discouraging triple strokes, although it's worth noting that once one grasps the methodology of the book they should be able to discover and add them to their practice if desired. My reason for excluding triple stokes is that single and double strokes are more fundamental than triple strokes and so provide a means of delimiting the patterns to those that are the most fundamental.

From page 8 in the Introduction:

Stick technique is comprised of strokes, in which a drumstick strikes a drum head. There
are two basic kinds of strokes: single strokes, in which the stick rebounds once off the drumhead;
and double strokes, in which the stick rebounds twice off the drumhead.
Single or double strokes may be executed with either the right stick or the left stick. This
means that there are four fundamental units of stick technique:
1) A right-handed single stroke (R)
2) A left-handed single stroke (L)
3) A right-handed double stroke (RR)
4) A left-handed double stroke (LL)

Once these four fundamental units of stick technique have been identified, it is possible
to identify all their possible combinations, as well as to create a mathematical progression
organizing all the combinations from shortest to longest (up to nine digits in length). This is
illustrated on the facing page.
 
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Hi @Chuck Braman , really interesting stuff.

I'm a sucker for the analytical approach to drumming, it's one of my own areas of work.

Could you tell me a little about how this applies to the drum kit and snare drum repertoire? I appreciate you are offering free pages (which I have read through), and offering individual chapters, but I'd really like to hear your own words on the matter.

For example, how might your approach be applied to snare drum composition, or a drum solo?

Thanks, and nice work.
 
Hi @Chuck Braman , really interesting stuff.

I'm a sucker for the analytical approach to drumming, it's one of my own areas of work.

Could you tell me a little about how this applies to the drum kit and snare drum repertoire? I appreciate you are offering free pages (which I have read through), and offering individual chapters, but I'd really like to hear your own words on the matter.

For example, how might your approach be applied to snare drum composition, or a drum solo?

Thanks, and nice work.
Thanks for your compliment and interest.

As you become familiar with the progression of patterns you'll start to recognize them as the component parts or building blocks of almost everything we drummers play, technically and rhythmically, in one form or another. So it should help you conceptually as well as technically. That's about as much as I can say in very general terms. As you mentioned, the free pages, especially the introductions to the first part and the second part explain this in more detail, as does the video.
 
Hi @Chuck Braman , really interesting stuff.

I'm a sucker for the analytical approach to drumming, it's one of my own areas of work.

Could you tell me a little about how this applies to the drum kit and snare drum repertoire? I appreciate you are offering free pages (which I have read through), and offering individual chapters, but I'd really like to hear your own words on the matter.

For example, how might your approach be applied to snare drum composition, or a drum solo?

Thanks, and nice work.
Hello again, Jonathan,

I just took the time to go through the links under your signature, and yes, we do have A LOT in common! Both in the theoretical/conceptual and in the aesthetic realm. I'm interested in exploring your work more closely. In overview, it looks impressive.

Something you may or may have not noticed on my site, because I just uploaded the bulk of them a few days ago, are the transcriptions on the blog page: https://www.drummingpatterns.com/blog-categories/transcriptions. With your interest in and scholarship on the subject of broken-time drumming, I think you'll find the extended transcriptions of the time-keeping of drummers like Paul Motian and Roy Haynes to be of interest. I also have two extended interviews with Paul there where I had the opportunity to learn just how his new conception of drumming came to be: https://www.drummingpatterns.com/blog-categories/interviews

In my book, the section on non-independent patterns might also be of special interest to you given your context.
 
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Hello again, Jonathan,

I just took the time to go through the links under your signature, and yes, we do have A LOT in common! Both in the theoretical/conceptual and in the aesthetic realm. I'm interested in exploring your work more closely. In overview, it looks impressive.

Something you may or may have not noticed on my site, because I just uploaded the bulk of them a few days ago, are the transcriptions on the blog page: https://www.drummingpatterns.com/blog-categories/transcriptions. With your interest in and scholarship on the subject of broken-time drumming, I think you'll find the extended transcriptions of the time-keeping of drummers like Paul Motian and Roy Haynes to be of interest. I also have two extended interviews with Paul there where I had the opportunity to learn just how his new conception of drumming came to be: https://www.drummingpatterns.com/blog-categories/interviews

In my book, the section on non-independent patterns might also be of special interest to you given your context.

Hi Chuck,
Thanks for the kind words. There does seem to be a similar aesthetic and approach with our concepts towards the drums.

I’ll have a look at the links you’ve shared and explore further. It’s certainly a fascinating take on it.

How do you think your approach sits alongside similar fundamental approaches like that presented by Gary Chaffee (Patterns Series, especially Sticking Patterns)?
 
Hi Chuck,
Thanks for the kind words. There does seem to be a similar aesthetic and approach with our concepts towards the drums.

I’ll have a look at the links you’ve shared and explore further. It’s certainly a fascinating take on it.

How do you think your approach sits alongside similar fundamental approaches like that presented by Gary Chaffee (Patterns Series, especially Sticking Patterns)?
I haven't looked at his book in 30 years, so it's unfair to comment on it from my recollection. But in general terms, the essential difference between my approach and all others I've ever seen is that I define the basic list of patterns objectively and then embellish and apply them systematically. Essentially, I think of my book as detailing a historic discovery that's the equivalent in drum technique and rhythm to what the harmonic system is to other instrumentalists or what the system of grammar is to those who work with language. In other words, as something fundamental that was discovered and identified, not something that was created by me, other than my thinking everything through and developing it into a book.

If you watch the (admittedly dry) introductory video or click on the comparisons link in the blog, I expound a bit on this idea in those places.

Not to discount or disrespect the immense value of other and previous achievements, and not to sound immodest, but in full honesty that's how I see things historically and in comparison to other materials.
 
That Drumming In All Directions looks like an interesting book. Looking at the sample pages, it's all normal stuff he's doing there, but he's kind of made it needlessly difficult-- to me. I'm writing some comments on it on my site. I'll post a link when that's done.
 
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