Fluid Fills and Musical Phrasing: Lesson 29 Exercise 2

In this video I demonstrate Exercise 2 from Lesson 29 in my book Fluid Fills and Musical Phrasing. The video consists of three clips.

In Clip 1 I demonstrate how to play the sticking from the last note of the rhythm to the first note, repeating each excerpt several times before moving to the preceding note of the rhythm. I do this until I’ve played the sticking starting from each of the 4 notes in the rhythm. While doing this, I am not changing the construction of the sticking, but I am “elaborating” on it in that I am 1. Orchestrating it 2. Adding Accents to it 3. Flamming it or 4. Some combination of the three. This work should be done in preparation for the Application part of the lesson.

In Clip 2 I demonstrate the Application part of the lesson. Note that when playing the fills, I am “elaborating” on the sticking using the same “devices” I use in clip 1. In the 4th fill, note that I actually add an accented snare drum on the 3rd partial of 1 just before the bass drum on the + of 1. This is not written in the exercise.

The other elaboration you will hear is the way I am phrasing in the groove/time-playing part of the exercise. I am using the written groove as the basis for my time playing but elaborating on it to make longer phrases. Don't do this until you've earned it, it will slow the process down.

DO NOT do the Application part of this exercise if you are not comfortable playing the sticking as a separate entity. When you are ready to do the Application, start by playing the fills between kick and snare only, as written. Stay on each fill for as long as you need before moving to the next.

The most challenging part is keeping your voice subdividing the Rhythm! In this clip I am subdividing swung sixteenth notes. You should also practice this exercise subdividing sixteenth note triplets. I chose swung sixteenths because at 70 BPM – the tempo I’m at in this vid – it felt more comfortable to me.

In Clip 3 I’m cultivating more ways to interpret the rhythm as well as challenge my phrasing capabilities within the context of the rhythm. Here I’m incorporating metric modulation, 32nd note triplet phrasing, and now I am actually changing the construction of the sticking. Try subdividing the rhythm while I am improvising. This will help you to hear how I am outlining the figure in my phrasing.
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