History of Drums

Added by: admin  |  Date: 07-Mar-08  |  Class: Studio-technique

Description

Performed by Jay Webler,at a local Atlanta private school, during a teacher recital. The "History of Drums" is a solo that goes from Baby Dodds to Steve Gadd, with Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Max Roach, etc. in between. This was a solo that I developed when, at the insistance of Rebecca,(one of my 5 children, who thought it would be a neat, I entered a local contest. I won the contest and have since gone back into full time private teaching.

EXPLANATION OF SOLO:
The popular music of our day did not just pop up one day out of nowhere. The same is true for the styles of Drumming. As with life everything has a beginning in this world. This solo captures 100 years of drumming styles in 8 minutes starting with the old military drumming at the turn of the century:

1. The beginning is a prelude which I use to prepare for what is about to happen. The patterns I am playing on the cymbals are based on a 6/8 March tempo.

2. Upon the conclusion of the prelude I break into a strong 6/8 cadence which is familiar to everybody. This cadence is basic rhythm which early Dixieland drummers based their style on. Coming out of the cadence I begin with the father of Dixieland drumming, Baby Dodds, using a common 2 beat rhythm played on the snare drum. In the old days the drummers did not use ride cymbals as they are used today.

The rhythms were played on the snare drum, Sock Cymbal, wood blocks, or anything else they had to hit. As I am playing the Baby Dodd's style I begin to slip in the styles of Gene Krupa, who was credited with bringing drums to the forefront. After a brief stint on the floor tom, playing the famous solo from Sing, Sing, Sing, I begin to go into the styles of Buddy Rich who a drummer that took Big Band Drumming to new levels. After going through a number of the typical Buddy Rich Drum Licks, I close this section with a bunch of flash and crash drumming which seems to please the crowd greatly.

3. When I begin playing the ride cymbal I have made a move into a quasi be-bop style of drumming which followed the swing era. During this section I go through the styles of Max Roach and Elvin Jones. During this period drummers began to develop more sophisticated 4 way co-ordination patterns. I begin to develop this as I begin on the ride cymbal again. With the addition of each limb of my body I bring a different rhythmic pattern based upon the swing rhythm. Upon bringing in the bass drum I am playing 4 different rhythms at one time. I come out of this and go into an explosive Big band style of drumming.

4. I immediately leave the bebop style and go into a Rock Rhythm during which I play various styles of rhythms that are popular in that vain. During the Rock section I include a modified version of a famous drum solo from the Rock Group Iron Butterfly.

5. After playing some transitional rhythms I begin to move into the fusion era. During this era the style called "linear playing" was being developed. I demonstrate this era by playing a section of a piece recorded by Chick Corea who used Steve Gadd as his drummer. Steve Gadd was perhaps the most famous proponent of linear playing. In this style no two limbs are striking any part of the drum set at one time. It has also been revered to as "melodic playing". Upon completed the linear phase I begin to move into Latin phase. This phase has been used quite extensively over the last 30 years and is still being developed. A Samba rhythm is being played on the bass drum while other Latin rhythms are played on the snare drum with the left hand.

6. After completing the "fusion" era I break into the finale with a series of cymbals crashes and a decrescendo on the snare drum. Solo drummers such Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson would often, during long drum solos, go into a open to close (slow to fast), single stroke roll to show off their speed on the drums and exite the audience. I choose to use this technique while maintaining the same tempo that I started with. Using rhythmic notation I go from quarters notes all the way to 32nd notes using single strokes before I begin my final "flash and crash" scene. After completing the crashing cymbals I break into the a quick demo of the 3rd movement of Buddy Rich's West Side Story. This makes the transition back to my original 6/8 rhythm very easy. After completing this I return to the original 6/8 rhythm which brings me right back to where I started from.