All of my best teachers wanted me to learn jazz drumming. I wanted to be a rock star, of course. Why would anyone want to learn how to play jazz drums? Who can even understand it? But because I trusted my teachers and learned rhythms I could apply to any musical setting, I worked to resolve these questions and more.
The drum set was developed in a jazz setting. Different types of jazz contributed to the instrumentation and approaches to playing, and many of the great drummers in rock ‘n’ roll or pop music studied jazz to develop their vocabulary on the instrument. In other words, if a drummer learns how to play jazz drums, they’ll be able to learn anything.
The following lessons are brief introductions to some of the jazz drum set basics. It takes a lot of listening, practice, and time-keeping development to become a good jazz drummer. It takes four or more hours a day to be great, and that’s only if you are doing the right things.
1. Swing Patterns
Swing is a specific feel with many interpretations. The skip or shuffle occurs because the grouping of two eighth notes, commonly on beats two and four, are treated like the first and third notes of a triplet grouping. Different interpretations can open the space between the notes or crush it.
The swing feel comes from the African bell pattern. The shuffle created by skipping an eighth note is the same feel that the swing pattern establishes. The interpretation of the rhythms in both the swing and African bell are played in between four and six. Michael Spiro calls it “fix.”
The swing pattern can be played with any combination of the following variations to phrase most swing tunes. The quarter-note accents are the common theme among all of these variations. The variations are a matter of moving eighth-note groupings around and whether or not you choose to emphasize certain accents.
The following examples are not comprehensive, nor are they the rule. Time-keeping patterns establish style and should be used deliberately to achieve a desired musical results.
Example 1
This ride pattern is the standard swing pattern. Try it on the ride cymbal and the hi-hat to start.
Example 2
Although the following swing pattern is only different from example 1 by one eighth note, the effect on a song phrase can be huge.
Example 3
Experiment moving the eighth notes around the measure. Listen to how jazz drummers will play the two eighths on any beat.
Example 4
This ride pattern variation doubles up the eighth notes to add a bit of a shuffle feel. The two quarter notes in this variation, however, help maintain the straight ahead jazz feel.
2. Comping Figures
The improvised rhythms that drummers, pianists, or guitarists play under a solo, for example, are called comping figures. These rhythms are improvised but they generally follow some sort of rhythmic theme and variations on that theme to establish a style.
Many drummers are heavy on the snare drum when it comes to comping. It’s important to use the entire instrument – not all of the time, of course. The kick drum, rims, and toms are also options for comping. Just remember to keep it tasteful, play with style, and make listening to the song or soloist your priority over playing something “cool.”
To develop a comping vocabulary, it takes strong chops, technique, and independence. It also requires drummers to listen to the great players for rhythms that work well. This is why transcribing Jimmy Cobb, for example, is an excellent idea for any drummer who wants to understand how to play comping figures.
The following rhythms can be used to support soloists or melodies. Practice them to the point that they become second nature. This helps develop your vocabulary so you don’t have to think about what you are playing. Your playing can become a conversation with the rest of the band.
The following examples are ideas for complementing a soloist or melody. Examples 1 and 2 use a back beat cross-stick approach, while example 3 is more complex. Reading through books like Syncopation by Ted Reed is a great way to develop more vocabulary for improvisation.
Example 1
This example seems basic with a snare drum cross stick on beats two and four over a swing pattern. But don’t underestimate the effect it can have on establishing phrasing for a song.
Example 2
The ride pattern and cross stick are a more sparse variation of Example 1. This phrase is nice when leaving space makes more sense, like when the solo section needs time to develop.
Example 3
The example below includes comping figures on the snare drum that establish a theme and variations. Consider voicing these kinds of comping figures with the kick and snare to level up your time-keeping on drum set.
3. Playing Melodically
You have pitches, articulations, and dynamics to establish melody on drum set. The pitch is the how high or low the note sounds, and the articulation is how long or short the note is played. Dynamics are how loudly or softly you play the note.
For drum set, we have limited options for pitches, and the choices we make are never going to be perfect. It’s still important to work hard on playing jazz melodies on the drums because it develops your improvisation vocabulary while learning songs. These are two goals you should adopt if you want to learn how to play jazz drums.
Try playing jazz standards. “Oleo” was the first one I had to learn and voice on drum set. I used buzz strokes on the snare for the longer notes, toms for the pitches, and rim shots for higher notes beyond the tom range. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. The right way is the one that sounds good.
4. Latin Grooves
Becoming familiar with Latin styles is critical to learning how to play jazz drums.
Latin is not the best way to describe the rhythms and styles of music coming out of Latin America. It gives people a sense that they are all part of the same tradition. It’s kind of like saying that something is African. Think about it. Egypt is in Africa and so are the Congo and Somalia. Those places are nothing alike.
The most of Cuba and Brazil dominate the Latin jazz rhythms and styles. Although Peruvian and Colombian, and Puerto Rican styles are relevant to jazz, they are not as common. You can be very successful, even playing pseudo-Latin grooves, just knowing which country the style of the song is employing.
Check out this article to learn 17 Latin grooves for drum set. The article shares several examples of different styles from Cuba, Brazil, and Africa. It includes notation and performance tips and analysis.
Brazilian Styles
Bossa nova and samba are two styles you need to know for playing Brazilian music. The bossa nova is a lighter beach music that could be performed by a pandeiro (brazilian tambourine), guitar, and vocals. This is important to know when adapting the parts to drum set because you want to avoid playing it too heavy on the low-sounding drums or too loudly in general.
Samba can be heavy. This is from the streets, especially the parade and carnival music. The samba schools have anywhere from around 15 players to 50 or more. These grooves have individual parts that need to be adapted to drums set. The example below is one of many interpretations of samba.
Cuban Styles
Cuban music is mostly the mambo and cha cha. Okay, it’s a lot more than that, but those are the two styles that I think are the best to learn first. It’s not enough to just learn these rhythms on drum set. You need to listen to great players performing this music to learn how to differentiate the feel of the grooves.
5. Brush Patterns
Developing brush technique is one of the keys to learning how to play jazz drums. It will help you with swing feel and fluid motions with your hands better than almost anything.
Brushes are like a dancer’s feet. They need to be smooth, rhythmic, and defined. If you struggle with relaxation, developing your brush playing technique may be just what you need.
The brush sounds can be long or short. The sound can be made from the ends of the brushes striking the drum or the shafts gliding across the drum head. The important thing to remember is to remain consistent because the brushes expose your technique.
To make a more staccato sounds, play the drum like you would with drum sticks, but stop the brush abruptly before striking the drum. The brush will bend toward the drum and strike it with a shorter contact.
Legato strokes remind me of the ocean. The waves of brush movement establish the pattern and feel of the groove. Although there are several different approaches to playing these longer, droning brush patterns, the example below is probably the easiest to learn.
6. Up Tempo
Playing faster swing eventually loses the space in between the eighth notes. At tempos exceeding 200 beats per minute, you’re eft with a pattern that sounds more straight than swing. The swing is still there – it’s just hard to perceive it with how fast the beats are flying by.
The variations on the swing pattern are not much different than playing slower tempos, and the comping is still an active part of the groove. These activities are just a little more difficult to execute at faster tempos until you get used to it.
Techniques come in all shapes and sizes for uptempo swing. Some players muscle out every stroke while others use their fingers to capitalize on the bounce. I do a combination of the two. Staying relaxed and making good sounds is the most important part regardless of the specific approach to technique.
7. Ensemble Playing
The bass player maintains the tempo and the drummer establishes the style and kicks the band. These roles are fundamental and can be shifted for various reasons at different levels of playing. I learned this approach playing in lab bands at the University of North Texas, so I’m very confident in how well it works.
We’ve talked a lot about style in this article, so let’s get into the kicking the band part. Drummers play section figures for support and set up the band for ensemble figures. Section figures are rhythms usually played by one section of the band beneath a soloist or melody. Ensemble figures are a little different. They are the bigger hits (or rhythms) that the whole band plays.
Section figures are not usually set up in the sense that a fill is played to ensure the downbeat preceding the figure is well defined. That would be the approach for an ensemble figure.
For a section figure, the drummer needs to consider the instrument and the articulations to make decisions about how to support it. If it’s trumpets playing a long and a short note, maybe the drummer plays a buzz and shot on the snare. If it’s trombones, the drummer uses the kick drum, and so on.
Ensemble figures, as I have mentioned, require the drummer to play a fill to define the downbeat that precedes the beginning of the figure. Like the rest of the band, the drummer also has to play the ensemble figure, and s/he needs to make instrumental choices based on the articulations of the figure and the dynamics.
Are you maximizing your results? FREE Download
Final Thoughts
This is an introduction to the basics of how to play jazz drums. The three keys to success are practicing, listening, and playing with great players. If you want to be even a good player, you’ll need to find players who are better than you to push your limits. Don’t be shy. I’ve found that the better the jazz player, the more helpful and kind they are toward any lack of experience.