*Ari Hoenig* "Jazz Drum Tuning" for Melodic Drumming JazzHeaven.com Instructional Video Excerpt

Go to JazzHeaven.com/ari for more FREE Ari Hoenig Videos! This was an excerpt from Ari Hoenig’s “ Melodic Drumming” Instructional Video. Jam-packed 2h 20min Lesson, 80-min Interview, Solo Performances, Q&A & more.
Get a rare look behind the scenes of this master jazz improviser & drummer.
Click on JazzHeaven.com also for other killer jazz drum instructional videos with Eric Harland, Ralph Peterson, Mike Clark & Portinho.
(Plus jazz instructional videos with MANY other great jazz artists like Kenny Werner, Lee Konitz, Jean-Michel Pilc, Walt Weiskopf, Vince Herring, Jerry Bergonzi Oz Noy, Lage Lund, Gilad Hekselman, Ingrid Jensen, Geoffrey Keezer, Enrico Pieranunzi & more.)
Go to JazzHeaven.com to check out the madness!
Born on November 13, 1973 in Philadelphia, Ari Hoenig, was exposed at an early age to a variety of musical experiences. His father is a conductor and classical singer, his mother a violinist and pianist. Accordingly, at 4 years of
age, Ari began studying the violin and piano. He began playing drums at age twelve, and by age fourteen he was
honing his skills with other young jazz musicians at Philly clubs such as Ortlieb's Jazz Haus.
Ari attended the prestigious University of North Texas for three years, where he studied with Ed Soph while playing with the "One O'Clock" Lab Band. Wanting to be closer to New York City, in 1995 Ari transferred to William
Patterson College in northern New Jersey. He soon found himself playing for legendary Philadelphia organist
Shirley Scott and working regularly in New York City.
Shortly thereafter, Ari moved into Brooklyn and found himself playing extensively with a variety of groups, including Jean-Michel Pilc Trio, Kenny Werner Trio, Chris Potter Underground, Kurt Rosenwinkel Group, Joshua Redman
Elastic band, Jazz Mandolin Project and bands led by Wayne Krantz, Mike Stern, Richard Bona, Pat Martino, Dave
Liebman, and Bojan Z. He has also shared the stage with such artists as Herbie Hancock, Ivan Lins, Wynton Marsalis, Toots Thielemans, Dave Holland, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, and Gerry Mulligan.
The Ari Hoenig Quartet was formed at the end of 2002 while playing every Monday night at the New York Village
jazz club Fat Cat. The band featured Jacques Schwarz-Bart on tenor sax, Jean Michel Pilc on piano, and Matt
Penman on bass. They released two records on the Smalls Records label: "The Painter" (2004) and the DVD "Kinetic
Hues" (2005)
In 2006 Ari signed a multi record deal with Dreyfus Records and released his "Inversations which features the trio of Jean Michel Pilc and Johannes Weidenmueller. "Bert's Playground"
(2008), Ari's second record for Dreyfus, features Ari's Punk Bop Band joined by Chris Potter. Highlights of this
record include Chris's solo on Moments Notice. Jonathan Kreisberg, Matt Penman, Will Vinson, Gilad Hekselman and Orlando le Fleming also represent on this one.
The next record project was for "Smalls Live" a record label set up in 2009 to document some of the music being
performed at the "Smalls Jazz Club" in New York where Ari has had a residency since 2003. Ari chose his Punk Bop
Band to make this live record "Punk Bop Live at Smalls". It features Will Vinson on alto, Jonathan
Kreisberg on guitar and fellow Jazz Mandolin Project alumni, Danton Boller on bass. Tigran Hamasyan is a special
guest on 4 tracks as well.
Ari's Quartet with Tigran Hamasyan, Gilad Hekselman, Orlando le Fleming and Chris Tordini released "Lines of
Oppression" (2011) on the Naïve label. This record represents a culmination of Ari's bandleading, composing and
accounting skills.
Currently Ari leads three groups which both play his original music. Besides the Ari Hoenig Quartet and "Punk
Bop" Ari also leads the Ari Hoenig Trio with Jonathan or Gilad covering guitar duties and with Matt Penman or
Orlando plucking on the bass. He also co-leads a variety of projects including Pilc, Moutin, Hoenig ("the three
headed monster"), Oscillations Quartet and various duo's with Chris Potter, Edmar Casteneda or Dan Weiss.
As an educator, Ari teaches privately and is on faculty at New York University at the New School for Social Research
in New York. He gives clinics and lectures at music schools and universities worldwide, and writes a regular educational column for Modern Drummer magazine. In collaboration with bassist Johannes Weidenmueller, Ari has
released "Intro to Polyrhythms, Expanding and Contracting Time within Form Vol 1". (Mel Bay 2009)
He has also recently released "Systems Book 1, Drumming Technique and Melodic Jazz Independence" (Alfred
Publishing 2011) and educational DVD"Melodic Drumming" (2011) on jazzheaven.com.
Hope you enjoyed this video with Ari Hoenig on Jazz Drum Tuning
• *Ari Hoenig* "Jazz Dru...

[@fabiofazmusica]

The bass drum note/tunning is outstanding! Plays the main note of the chord, and more bassy. He don't speak about!

[@shraunbone]

That was awesome. I love his bass drum.

[@DrumsJulz]

Dude, this is just beautiful! This guy's a true master at this craft! Jaw dropping video! Cheers from Brazil!

[@Skutieos7]

Oh my gosh, this is fascinating, and this guy is so great at playing actual melodies using such a small kit. highly innovative.

[@josepmontella9255]

Good job! Your explanations are crystal clear!

[@emanvans]

that was so good i have never thought about how deep drums are but wow i need to get so much better and this is helped find a starting point and really just focus on the big picture of music

[@flotuc]

thats really nice and beautiful! thank you!

[@pascalrosier4672]

Lovely!

[@DrumsbiblebikeGodspeed]

This is so cool ,,Thanks for posting this !!!!!

[@vintagedrummer]

dang. next time i tune i'm gonna say booo dooo dooo

[@aferra9238]

you are the man

[@huhkuntz5106]

That number was entitled 'sackin' the bass player' .That was incredible! could hear the whole band in there. cheers

[@MARSHOMEWORLD]

Remarkable aproach.

[@Stickmasterrr]

This is madness! :O

[@hatsi59]

yes yes! yes!! way to go

[@pektus5]

nice drumming

[@herbert19711]

wow!

[@LikesDrThompson]

damn that was so beautiful

[@jonneville5295]

No mention of bass drum pitch - I assume it's the F, an octave below the rack tom. So the rack is 3F, the snare is 3A, the FT is 3C, and the BD is 2F? I think it's a great way to create 'music' on the drums when soloing, but I think, as mentioned, it could cause a conflict if the other musicians are playing in a key that doesn't include those notes -- not sure if that would work. As Max Roach once said, it's not important to tune the drums to specific notes, it's the phrasing of your solo that's important. I think tuning in Perfect 4ths is probably a better all round method for group performance, especially if you are playing with a guitarist. All you really need from the drums is high, medium, and low-- you fill in the rest with your imagination, at least in theory. Very creative, though.

[@domagojoinky8262]

All this comes from a 4 piece kit ? This is amazing.

[@juanjoserodriguezsosa9009]

lo veo todo el tiempo

[@JB5D]

Oh yah!

[@joshkukl]

and I would agree with that.

[@TonySparks1127]

both my friend ....both

[@sticktrik]

Go listen to a live version of him playing the melody of the tune “Billie’s bounce” here on youtube. Great player with nice ideas & he swings his ass off!!

[@bolotacomunik]

what about the skin in the bottom of the toms and snare and bass drum? more low than the top skin or high?

[@casperamigo]

A little bit higher

[@yeaheverday]

Joff- that's why the title is MELODIC DRUMMING. it surely isn't "non sense" as u put it. some cats take the drums to another level. no big deal. I can respect it.

[@Cowboybrian01]

Anyone know what brand of mallets he's using

[@SAHBfan]

+Brian Chilcoat well, he endorses Vater sticks so I guess Vater mallets, unless it was recorded before he signed with them, in which case it would probably be Ayotte.

[@thesuccessfulbarber]

This is interesting for recording , Doesn't seem too usable for live playing. Every song being in a different key and such. Thanks for the video

[@34672rr]

+Cody Walker Jr. Well there is a range of tuning, and he can obviously change the tuning very quickly. Plus why does every song have to be in a different key? You can play many many songs in the same key or at least the same tonic. Also, you should consider writing your own music around your kit and playing, rather than just playing other people's music. When you write your own music, you can maximize the potential of your kit and fit everything else around it.

[@jorymil]

+wiremessiah In a gigging jazz situation, you often don't know what songs you're going to do ahead of time. You'll often alternate between major and minor keys. Moreover, jazz songs modulate quite often: you might go through three or four keys (both major and minor) in a single song. You can't take the approach of "let's tune my drums to the tonic of the song" and expect to solo over the form of a song like a horn player would. You can't retune the bass drum on a per-chord basis, which is what a literal interpretation would seem to imply here. That's not the point here, though: Ari's just trying to play his drums in a more melodic manner. Mallets facilitate this, too: you get a more even attack from mallets, which gets you closer to a horn-like tone. You obviously can't play every single song with mallets, nor will you be turning off your snare wires or ignoring your ride cymbal ;-) The title of this is excerpt is misleading: "Jazz Drum Tuning" led me to think that a good deal of time would be spent talking about the relative pitches of batter vs. resonant head, as well as the relationships between the toms, snare, and bass. Not seeing any of that here. Some cool ways to bend notes on the fly, though, with fingers and elbows.

[@34672rr]

John Miller It doesn't really matter. Drums are out of tune with the song anyway. They all have a fundamental pitch, it's just a matter of whether it's the right one or not. If drums had to be in tune with every chord or key, then drums would not work. My point is that you can tune drums to a key, and they can complement other instruments tonality with their own. Here is what I have achieved with drum tuning: www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/1014460-perfectly-tuned-kit.html "You can't take the approach of "let's tune my drums to the tonic of the song" and expect to solo over the form of a song like a horn player would." And you cant expect a horn player to play chords like a piano, they are different instruments with different limitations. You are supposed to understand those limitations and possibilities and stretch and transcend them, as he does in this vid. "Not seeing any of that here." Yes you are, he is tuning the snare and toms to a chord. Relationship between head, though, is pretty rudimentary stuff, not sure why he would go into that. That's easy for jazz. Toms same tuning, snare side higher, kick depends on muting, if it's not muted, same tuning, if it is, batter head tighter for response. These are just guidelines, obviously, anything else is just taste.

[@bobo4691]

The only way to have drums fully in tune would be to build them like saxophones.

[@colourfulwithaU]

I don't think most drummers, when they think of playing melodically, are thinking of tonality, but rather of creating interesting combinations of highs and lows. Which is great, because if you were playing drums tonally (as opposed to melodically) you would need to retune for every song.

[@emanvans]

they can create melodies though and some people find that pleasant as well

[@gretschdrummer22]

also "i need to make that note a little lower" *random quarter turns on not every lug*

[@MortonLuvz2drum]

Yeah. And, after that he played a melody, like Ed Thigpen. Some professionals only turn certain lugs after establishing pitch, makes it quick and easy to re-tune in the middle of a gig.

[@jaimehernandez5883]

It’s called melodic drumming for a reason. We want the drums to sing/resonate a desired key.

[@Fentonyl]

Or borrow Terry Bozzio's kit...

[@yigitpolat]

its like saying "piano is about the melody not the ryhthm"

[@yeaheverday]

joff- i dont tune this way either but if that's his approach and style then let it be man. you got your preference right? then do u and others will do them. chill

[@MARSHOMEWORLD]

Then all these come up a half step.

[@RepJock88]

I just pissed myself.

[@josteinv.jordet257]

NERD. I'm gonna go watch some Star trek now

[@Laura-mg7ok]

buuuuu lol

[@alanduncan1980]

I'm not too fussy about tuning my drums. I don't even like to use the word "tuning". I tension the head to where it feels good. I'm looking for a nice playing surface. That's all. I suppose someone will tell me I'm wrong or something. Yeah right, like anyone even knows if your floor tom is not in the correct key. Come on. I love how this guy plays, but I ain't buying this whole Bb, F#, Gm7 or whatever. Not when it comes to drums. Just no!

[@gretschdrummer22]

tuning your drums to specific triads only works for ONE KEY lol he's like oh if im playing in minor i better tune to F minor,....?lol

[@gregoryscott3858]

Yep, and in the studio that's generally what you do: tune the kit for each song... at least, that's the way we do it in the rock/pop/r'nb world. Live, techs usually go for the key of E or A (Eb is popular for country) and call it a day.

[@ZeginMakesMusic]

Timpani mallets....Really?

[@sethl.1593]

Yes really.

[@sticktrik]

Steven Weeks..Your last name is so fitting for you!!!!....We can tell you have only been playing for a few weeks with that comment!!!

[@allrequiredfields]

If it sounds good, why would you care... unless you're on the spectrum.

[@tierangreen]

Sorry, I don't agree...

[@joshkukl]

Drums are about rhythm not melody.

[@Ronaldo07ISDABOMB]

I think you'll find Rhythm is the yin and Harmony is the yang, so to speak. All melodies are combinations of rhythm and harmony, to say drums is one and not the other, would be a bunch of unmusical robots playing combinations that would not be pleasant to the ear nor make people want to dance. I'd go back and look at the first orchestrations of the drum kit and first people to play the drum kit. In Jazz especially, the drums is most certainly about both Rhythm, and Melody.

[@Southboundpachyderm]

Definitely dig your solo, but less of the drunk feel shit. you're not really good at it.