Recently, I was describing and notating a 3/4 jazz drum pattern for a student. He completely understood it, but at one point he asked if there was a “trick” involved in playing in odd times such as 3/4. (We can talk about “odd” times at length in later postings.) Without thinking too much about it I answered, “no – simply practice it and get used to it.” I guess this could be said for just about anything when trying to learn something new. We both had a good laugh. We went on to discuss listening examples for this drum beat, which I find incredibly helpful.
Very rarely has it been simple for me to learn new things on the drum set. If I’m not familiar with jazz time in 3/4, e.g., then I have had to work long and hard to achieve any sort of comfort level. It’s always helped me to listen to the style I’m trying to master, see it written down, listen some more and play along, and most of all it’s helped me to go see this music performed in a live setting. Those are the only “tricks” I know. Oh, and I’d like to add one more “trick” – try to play with other musicians who are better than you and play the styles on which you are working. That’s been a great way for me to apply the things I’m learning.
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