PUL CONTEMPORARY Awrtten analysis ond aiscussion of the nine son: on the CD including a key to reading the music tion and a glossary of terns. J By jankewicz ORARY DRUMMER iat earn This project Is dedicated to My Mom and Dad, Joseph ond Dorothy Weck!, for allowing me the freedom to choose and practice something that | loved and believed in. Copyright © 1987 DCI Music Video Productions, Inc. and the Weck/Oliver Joint VenturePall I | were asked to define "Music" in just one word, that word would be emotion. The sounds of music cause different emotional reactions in every individual. The same song, for instance, may bring about completely different reactions in any two people listening to it. Emotion also concerns the creator or player of the music, asin: 1) What kind of emotion is the musician feeling, and 2) What kind of emotion does the musician want to create for the listener, and for the other musicians he is playing with? No two musicians that play the same instrument are going to feel the same exact emotion to reach a spontaneous, creative moment in the music, at the same time. One musician may be able to copy or ‘emulate another, but it will never be the same, emotionally, From a learning standpoint, | first want to say that | think is good and OK to copy your favorite musi- cians to see where they are coming from conceptually. Music is like a language: one must first learn the given vocabulary before trying to vocalize and communicate in one's own way. This package was created for alot of reasons. The idea first came to me when | was writing and record ing tracks for some clinics | was to do, and realized how much fun it was just fo play along with a well- recorded, in-time track that had no drums on itfo get in the way as | created my own ideas~as is the case when playing along with records. So the idea developed to have several different tunes in different styles to play along with, simulating a lve studio session; and, wth all the questions | get concerning practice material for drumset reading, the charts for each song became an obvious part of the package. Since another question | often hears, "How do you read so well?"-and since my answer is always, “It's not so much the reading (there are only so many ways to read and write music), is the interpretation!”—1 thought that tying it all together with a book that talks about interpretation of the written music, along with some of my own written-out transcriptions, was a good idea. The audiocassette that is included here contains a listening side and a play-along side. On the listening side, | am playing drums along with the tracks on each song; the play-along side contains the same songs, without drums (recorded in reverse order so that the songsmatch from side to side). This allows you fo hear what | did, see some of it writen out, and then try it our own way with your own emotional input. It also gives you the opportunity to play along with some of the best musicians in the world—the likes of Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Steve Lukather, and John Patitueci. The important thing heres for you to get out what | call the “musical microscope’ to really analyze your playing and make sure you're locked in with the track. This package lets you practice playing against sequencers and click tracks—the way most recording is done today-to help you develop skills basic to any serious musician. You should record yourself playing along with these tracks as often as possible, really listening to determine whether or not you are locked in with thetrack—and ifnot, finding the reason(s) why not. ‘Suggested Method So that you can relax with the material and obfain the given information as it was intended, here are Q few guidelines for getting started. First, listen to the fist side of ‘he tape, the listening side, from start to finish, and pick a song that you would like to work on. Find the chart for that song, Read the “Chart Analysis” section ofthis book and follow those instructions. Then, isten to the song Clistening side) and follow along with the chart. you have no problem staying with the chart, then find the song in the book. This will ell ou how | approached the song and give you some insight into the style of music being played. When you feel relatively comfortable, go to the drums, turn the tape over, find the beginning of the song ‘and give ita try. | suggest using headphones at first, rather than playing to loudspeakers, so you can really hear the track, As you progress, however, use loudspeakers with no headphones to simulate the live” aspect, as opposed to the “studio” aspect with headphones. Also, when using headphones, try to getthe “open-air” type so you can hear yourself as well asthe track. Refer back to the book as needed; ‘and you can always flip the tape over and see what I did, if necessary. This package was designed to be a challenging, fun practice device in a contemporary setting, providing {raining for both your eyes and ears. | hope that i will be instrumental in helping you progress, in order to achieve whatever it is you may want from music. = fhe tagial WA 2 This song combines a couple of different styles of music in a contemporary jazz-rock setting that has more often than not been labeled “Electric Jazz.” Looking through the chart reveats that is basically a backbect-oriented tune, wit the bass line going in and out of a Latinésalsa feel, There are some time changes, but they are consistent wit the different sections of the piece. So let's go through the chart, with an emphasis on how much of the written music | ook literally, and why | played what | did when my part does not exactly agree with the notes on the page Remember, is chart interpretation we're concentrating on here—so you must use your ears as well as your eyes! First, do the usual chart analysis and get comfortable with the “road map;” then, le's go through the sections: Starting with the Intro—first, the words "Latin Funk” appear ot the top of the page, so right away that tells, you that a backbeat of 2 and 4is in order on the snare, and this is suggested in the chart as well. Check ‘out allthe written-out words; they re there to give you clues as to what's going on in the music. The dynamic, marking is ff, or “fortissimo,’ so the fill in bar (A) can be pretty hefty. The sax and synth trade bars of ‘melody and solo fill, respectively. Looking at the melody and the bass line, a 16th-note feel is implied. So, upon hearing and seeing this, | felt | should play a part with 16th-note motion. | decided o orchestrate the part with the motion coming from the “top end” of the kit—that is, the high end sounds, like cymbals, ‘and hi-hat-while keeping the snare and bass drum parts relatively simple and consistent, Accenting the melody with the bell of the ride cymbal and filing in some of the 16th-notes with the left hand on the hi-hat worked very well. Pay attention to the first bar of the melody (bar 1): sound-wise, the tendency is to hear that bar as a measure of 3/4, with beat 4 sounding like beat I. Keep the time going with the con- sistent backbeot: i's al in 4/41 My approach was to play a more time-oriented part, rather than accent all of the melody notes in a heavy manner. This concept continues until bar 5), where that particular figure occurs for the last time in the Intra. The chart says "Fill around,” so! made sure that my fill accented the melody rhythm. It may sound better to you to play more of the melody accents all the way through the Intro. Experiment. Remember, ‘the way I did i is not the only way—try different things! The basic time feel | played in the Intro looks like this, starting with the fil in bar (A): aie 4 wy a e@ In bar (6), everybody plays the figure, and the last 16th-note of beat3 is tied to beat 4, and over into bor (©). The bongos keep the time going, so it's not necessary to keep strict ime through here. I's very im- portant, however, fo continue singing the 16th-note subdivisions so that you dont lose the time feel. played ‘cymbal swell in the beginning of bar (6) to giveit that release feeling, and then a ight rim shot on beat 40 set up the next section at Letter A. Notice the decrescendo in bar (6) and the dynamic marking of mf ata The bass part is writen out, so | know what the bass is doing, along with a suggested, sketchy drum part. Itimplies a 16th-note-oriented cymbal part and a cross stick on beat 4. The cymbal idea is good; it gives a nice, ay feeling behind the sox melody. Upon hearing the melody, | added to the cross stick port by playing the “and” of beat 1, and the “e” (second 16th-note) of beat 2, creating a consistent, repetitive patfern that goes with the melody. | only played the first couple of notes of the bass part with my bass drum. To play the whole line would, in my opinion, be too heavy. This is the basic pattern at A:“Garden Wall” Latin funk Intro 4clicks to Intro fill Sax. mel. A) “ ft ay e@ @) (4) 6) ° a0) ay as) (16) ta any (8) as) 20)