How to Play Jazz on the Drums - Introductory/Beginner Drum Lesson

learnjazzdrums.co/
Feathering the Bass Drum: • Feathering The Bass Dr...
Comping Course (Coming Soon): learnjazzdrums.co/comping
I’m going to break down the basic Jazz pattern into 4 easy steps. Click the link above download a free PDF of everything I’m demonstrating in this video.
Step 1: The Ride Cymbal
The ride cymbal is the calling card for all Jazz drummers and is vital to the feel of the music as a whole. For the last 60 years or so, the ride cymbal has been a standard in all Jazz.
So when you’re first learning this, make sure that you are playing solid triplets on the ride cymbal pattern. Don’t use a triplet subdivision on a metronome, but keep them going in your head.
There are two main schools of thought with playing the ride cymbal. The first is to take the quarter notes, and then add the skip notes in between as a pickup. This is more in line with what I learned from Peter Erskine, and it can be a very effective way to keep a strong quarter-note pulse.
The second school of thought for the ride cymbal is what I got from Jeff Hamilton, and it comes out of the lineage of Mel Lewis and John Von Ohlen. The idea here is to be as loose as possible, and treat the 3 note pattern as one big fluid motion that starts on beat 2.
Depending on the style of Jazz, and the style of drumming you prefer, you’ll find your own voice. I usually find that it takes longer for students to develop the loose, Jeff Hamilton/Mel Lewis/John Von Ohlen 3 note ride cymbal technique, but when they do, it’s incredibly worthwhile and opens up a wide variety of possibilities on the drums. However, if this is literally your first time playing Jazz, it might be best to just start with quarter notes.
Step 2: The Hi-Hat
The hi-hat is played with your foot on beats 2 and 4, perfectly in sync with the ride cymbal pattern, like so
Pretty self-explanatory, but incredibly vital to Jazz drumming. Make sure that you’re able to both play the hi-hat heal down, and heal up.
At fast tempos, heal up with come in handy, because your leg will get in a flow bouncing in time with the fast tempo.
But you don’t want to only be able to play heal up. So make sure that you practice all tempos heal down as well. Both have their sonic advantages that you’ll discover over time.
Since there is so much weight coming down on the pedal with your entire leg with heal up, you’ll notice a crisper, snappier, and sometimes louder hi-hat sound. Incredibly effective when you need it.
On the other side, since there is much less weight coming down on the pedal with heal down, you’ll notice a longer, more legato, wide, and sometimes relaxed hi-hat sound, which sometimes ends up softer. Also incredibly effective when you need it.
Again, if this is literally your first time playing Jazz drums. Go ahead and start with just quarter notes on the ride, and 2/4 on the hi-hat heal down to get the coordination going.
Step 3: Feathering the Bass Drum
The bass drum feathers on all four beats, to blend with the acoustic bass that is commonplace in most Jazz. Make sure that the beater comes off of the drum, your heal is down, and the dynamic is super quiet. This is something that shouldn’t be heard but should be felt.
For more on the subject, click here: • Feathering The Bass Dr...
Now, many great Jazz drummers choose not to feather the bass drum, but the vast majority prefer to do it. So ultimately it’s up to do whether or not you do it, but it’s important to learn, and be able to do regardless of whether you end up choosing to use it or not down the road.
But, once you have that down, we can add some snare.
Step 4: Snare Drum Comping
Referring to the PDF linked above, there are 4 comping examples to add on top of the ride, hi-hat, and bass drum.
So that’s just 3 basic comping patterns, and when you listen to or play Jazz, those are always changing, since Jazz is improvised.
There’s no book that will fully teach you how to comp, and if you only rely on a book, you’ll never truly play Jazz correctly. You have to listen to understand it, a lot.
To start out with, I’d recommend listening to the albums Relaxin with the Miles Davis Quintet, with Philly Joe Jones on drums, and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, with Jimmy Cobb on drums. These albums are full of great comping ideas, and they’re just great, fairly simple albums to play along with as well.
Then, head over to learnjazzdrums.co/comping to check out our full eBook with hundreds of comping examples and exercises to learn and practice.
This is hard stuff at first! So cut yourself some slack! 4 limbs doing different things, and making sure they’re in sync, at different dynamics and they feel good!
For many more lessons on how to play jazz drums, subscribe on KZbin!
Additionally, head over to learnjazzdrums.co/ for more lessons, blog posts, and podcast episodes all dedicated to the art of jazz drumming.

[@EleniEliades_]

For playing Jazz Ride, instead of counting, just think of the sentence "walk the dog". Say it out loud and hear how it matches the rhythm of your sticking on that Jazz Ride Cymbal ! Great video for beginners here.💡🎵💥👌

[@samsoft9390]

Nice hehehe

[@pulsar-_-4504]

zackgrooves

[@andyweis5194]

The ride pattern starts with a quarter note on 1 so 1 measure would be "dog, walk the dog, walk the" and then repeat. Counting it would be 1, 2& 3, 4&.

[@Neal_Schier]

As a beginner I really like these phrases. They are a tremendous help for me. Yes, I understand the necessity of being able to count it out, but for some reason the words are easier. Thank you to all for these!

[@johnhesler7810]

Best lesson I have seen. I took two lessons from a friend of my big brother, He told me I have a natural shuffle from growing up listening to blues. After the second lesson, he sent me home with a Ricky Nelson record and a Joe Morello record and told me everything I needed to know was on those records. They have served me well for 60 years of Boogie Rock and big band jazz from bars to small stadiums.

[@JK4ManC]

Probably the best first drum lesson I have ever come across. Different perspective from what I was told 55 years ago. Wish I could have had this back then.

[@Bassdriver71]

Thanks for the well-explained introduction to jazz drumming. I can start working on it for a few hours :-)

[@CraigShawCraigShaw]

My tip: it’s very difficult feathering some bass drum beaters. I found the ‘fleece’ type beaters very helpful in playing much softer and still maintaining control

[@MickeyInw]

This is the best basic jazz drum lesson on YT. Thanks so much!!!

[@peteywheatstraws4909]

My mom, who taught public schools for 30 years in Norfolk, Virginia, would approve of your method.

[@Dadedrums]

Okay! Your channel is going to be my main source to learn and get started on jazz drums! Thanks and subbed!

[@jerrygamez5723]

Thank you so much. Loved the video

[@foxdonze]

Simple yet effective. Quality video

[@katiajirasova132]

Thank you very much ! You are a wonderful teacher !!!!

[@giannibadeau3344]

Great job teaching, your explanations are the clearest I've seen yet! Thank you!!

[@toddshook1765]

Thank you for breaking it down. I started learning drums in Aug 2022 and getting along good. I started with basic rock pattern, I love the blues so been working on it along with blues shuffle, now want try jazz pattern. The way you explained is great.

[@gameplayti2909]

Thanks for this introductory lesson. Much appreciated.

[@user-ve4sv2do5h]

You are an excellent teacher my friend, thank you.

[@handyboen]

Thanks bro 👍👍 Nice teaching, nice swinging, nice sound 👍👍

[@themole2024]

Great lesson for the beginner jazz drummer. I had the exact same kit color and all. Loved the toms but the snare was tough to tune to my liking.

[@saritamaxwell6099]

FANTASTIC VIDEO... I'm passing this along to my middle school percussionists that want to learn jazz drumming! THANK YOU!

[@waywardronin8755]

Awesome lesson one of the best basic jazz drum lessons I’ve seen on KZbin. Thank you so much!

[@pilfaker715]

EXCELENTE TRABAJO..GREAT JOB !!

[@trevormcmanis]

Great video. 🥁👍🏻 Thank you for sharing

[@mikosoft]

That snare comping is very helpful, I never knew what they're doing

[@davidwhite2949]

Nice simple breakdown. I play piano but I’m listening to help figure out what to do with the left hand Thank you!

[@pbaker7160]

I've been a rock/fusion/R&B drummer for years but never really attempted to really learn swing jazz. Your lesson is outstanding and easy to understand. Now...time to practice.

[@carpediem4179]

good teacher, good explanation

[@johnjamatia9188]

I am so grateful that you created this content. Thank you

[@learnjazzdrums4624]

John Jamatia thank you so much! I’m really happy to hear it was helpful.

[@Spreadsheeter]

Great video! Thank you

[@bobweber4140]

Great lesson thankyou so much

[@flemingteens4519]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@brunocorreia8941]

Great vid! thanks

[@boomerguy9935]

As usual, this video is excellent. I think a little more emphasis on why the ride cymbal should have a light touch touch should be covered. Jazz drumming with an acoustic trio or quartet is MUCH different from playing with a larger swing band. The effect of a bad ride cymbal with a lot of wash or hum can make a good drummer sound bad. Also, choice of sticks and tips make a critical difference (weight, length, shape, wood or nylon tips, etc.) Then, there are brushes... so magical. Both, heel and toe techniques deserve a lot of focus as well, and could deserve a separate video, on both the hi hat pedal and the bass drum pedal. This is where the volume control comes in. For 4/4 time, I usually raise my heel on the "1" and the "3" beats while the bass drum pedal goes down on. It helps my inner metronome. Volume control is always very important. Not all music is played in 4/4 or 2/4. If you're playing for a dance, you will definitely need skills with 3/4 in a waltz tune and combing a straight 3/4 rhythm with the "2-and-3" on the hi hats with triplet pattern on the brushes with only "3" on the hi hat is a very nice soft touch. (Jerry Granelli did this in "Skating" with Vince Guaraldi on the Charlie Brown Christmas album). Choice of hi hat cymbals is critically important for these. Keep up the great work. How did you get so much experience while being so young? I'm 74 and still learning!

[@AndrewSmith-wh3lo]

Hi. Thanks for taking the time to share this. You've made me think I can now start my journey to learning jazz drums. You have lots of videos on youtube and they look pretty advanced. Which one would you recommend to go to, after this one, for someone new to jazz drumming? Thanks. Andrew PS I don't think you say your name so I'm not sure how to address you. Keep up the good work.

[@johnnyblue1101]

Great job. I’m a an advanced jazz piano student and like how you demystified the drum set options here. Would like to see how you might approach evolution in dynamics on a basic Blues in F form ( i.e., on Bar 9-12) - hi-hat to ride cymbal for example

[@tmaddrummer]

Thanks and Blessings!

[@UandMisterG]

Perfect! Thx a lot!

[@markielinhart]

Brilliant! This newbie thanks you 👏🌹🇦🇺✌️

[@RamaVetury]

Thank you!!

[@DeepsongProductions]

Brilliant tutorial... not all rock drummers are familiar with the feathering jazz kick drum... .cheers

[@adenisiosoares5225]

Thank you very much

[@syjwg]

Great tutorial! I've learned that the base drum in jazz should never hit the down beat or the "one".

[@MD-wk3gj]

What a great teacher! I’m disappointed his website appears to not be active and that he hasn’t released videos for years. Hope he’s ok.

[@joaquimfernandes5536]

Great 👍

[@patarpanggabean9494]

Thank you

[@cowboydestroy]

Great 👍 Content 📚

[@millie179]

Great video....thanks,lovely swing sound and the Hamilton tip ...who knew👍🏻

[@learnjazzdrums4624]

Thanks!

[@gravitydrums1391]

It should be noted that the way this lesson is approached is for BIG BAND jazz and NOT for small group... I've played Jazz all of my life and with some of the biggest names. This approach is accurate and important for BIG BAND. It can be used for small group playing but is not usually applied for small group straight ahead stuff. Still good lesson for beginners. I Hate plugging it here but if you are an advanced player I have posted a few fun and difficult exercises on my channel.

[@mr.vinramos88]

awsome! 🤗🤘

[@jazz4asahel]

Thank you for patient and helpful instruction for this beginner. When I add up the beats in the sheet music at 1:01, the result is five quarter notes per measure. That confuses me.

[@kajdesch2137]

Even after playing jazz for a while I find it helpful to go back to the basics

[@learnjazzdrums4624]

Kaj Desch great to hear! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@musjazz11]

Nice video. I can’t find the pdf of all of the drum patterns you were talking about

[@Mobby74]

Well, it's great that you are pointing out these two approaches. I remember clearly a picture in a Peter Erskine's book discouraging the three note grouping. So, no 'walk-the-dog; no 'spang-a-lane'. And I think what Peter meant by this is more about what is going in our heads rather than what is going with our right hand. Peter emphasises the triple feel of jazz, that starts from the quarter note, subdivided into the triplets, giving us a bar composed the swung eighth notes. Then the off-beat note is added as a leading in note to the next quarter note. And we absolutely don't want to have the hand and the ride pattern locked in the 1 2and3, 4and scheme, becasue it can be varied, the off beat note can be placed just anywhere in the bar, also on and of 1 and and of 3, all swung 8th played, making a shuffle, etc. Then of course the off beats can be accented, Elvin Jones style, and even I remember one tune by Coltrane where Elvin accented 1 and 3 rather than 2 and 4. And we can drop the on-the-beat note, so there is a tied off-beat note, which is something I love doing. Ian Froman is a master of that. So, to learn all this, the 'walk-the-dog' and 'spang-a-lane' is just useless. Rather, it takes the mastery of the quarter note pulse, and the ability to add the off-beat notes anywhere you want. The hand technique can be drop and pick, but it's got nothing to do with the three note grouping.

[@sufc43]

Your knowledge is informative thank you, but a beginner (target audience of this video) does not need all this info in their head. The video itself makes me feel like I could go to my kit and get started, it is clear, to the point and super helpful, job done. Anything else is just noise at this (starting) point.

[@Mobby74]

@@sufc43 You do whatever you want, if it works for you and anybody, fine. What I wrote just basically agreed with the presentation and I wrote that I appreciated him pointing out the two schools of building the jazz ride pattern. I am closer to Peter Erskine approach, which he mentions. Now, even if you are a beginner, you need to figure out what the 4/4 rhythm and how to play the four quarter notes in jazz music (all even? slight accent on 2 and 4?). Then you need to figure out the difference between straight eighth note and swung eighth note rhythms, you need to know what the on-beat notes and off-beat notes are, and how you can add them or skip them. In that sense, the three notes grouping - walk-the-dog - is more difficult, because it locks you into that hand motion, while not teaching you what the four quarter notes in a bar is. Just don't start your bar from the note '2'.

[@sufc43]

@@Mobby74 When you're a beginner, just replicating the pattern with the four way independence is potential overload, the rest can come later. Perhaps you've forgotten what its like to be a beginner, you're clearly a long way down the road. However, your knowledge is self-evident and worthy of respect.

[@Mobby74]

@@sufc43 It's all fine. I really appreciated the versatility of the video author, showing and discussing the two approaches. Can I recommend the actual video from Peter Erskine, you will see how simply he starts working on the cymbals and building that jazz ride pattern: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIq2d4CbiZl_rrc . And he speaks there of not playing the three note grouping.

[@sufc43]

@@Mobby74 Thanks, will certainly check it out.

[@russellesimonetta9071]

Practice the whip technique. It,s kind of Moeller technique. It,s the key to building loose speed.

[@alfred-mi2wt]

That was cool. Thanks man. 🤧🙄

[@justaddfire4418]

Great video. Would it be reasonable to just play 1 and 3 on the bass drum instead of 4 on the floor at really fast tempos?

[@Beaowolf]

I wonder how many other players like me started right here, in this channel?

[@papagcortellino5283]

Link does not produce comping video..

[@millie179]

What is your ride cymbal it is gorgeous 👌🏻

[@learnjazzdrums4624]

Thanks! It’s the Hammertone 22 inch ride by Sabian

[@brittdavid8591]

Applause Applause Applause clap clap clap

[@josephrohland5604]

"It's what you have to do."

[@jacobbergen317]

P

[@krupadrum]

Spang a lang spang a lang..

[@drummingtildeath]

1. Learn to play drums 2. Learn to play jazz 3. ??? 4. Profit

[@precoderichiethe3rd917]

You can play Jazz on heroin. You can’t play Jazz drums on Hardcore.

[@kevinturner5857]

Thankyou , v well taught 👏 👌 👍 😊