Welcome to Diddy 4.."Bass Drum Coordination - Swing Feel". Assuming that you have spent a sufficient amount of time mastering "Diddy 3 - Hand Coordination", I now suggest a few exercises in getting your Bass Drum coordination together. Traditionally, the Bass Drum has been the drum upon which the jazz drummer produces different syncopated accents...what we call "Dropping Bombs". These accents are what propels the music forward and gives the feeling of excitement throughout the music. By playing accents at variously desired places throughout the tune, the drummer is attempting to inspire the soloist to play that much harder and exciting. This is what we jazz players call "Kicking the soloist in the BUTT"...so to speak. (Please excuse my French.) The individual experience and taste of the drummer themselves will determine where he or she chooses to place those accents. Some prefer to constantly outline the pulse or downbeats. In this case they more often then not place their accents directly on the beat, thus outlining the first beat of the bar.....very often setting up the first beat of every phrase. Other's, including myself, would rather hide the downbeat, only hinting at it sparingly throughout the performance. To me, this allows one to use very effectively, the element of surprise. We can then declare the downbeats at places where they are least expected. This, I believe, adds tension and release to one's performance and produces excitement throughout the improvisation. Again, this is my personal taste and is left up to the discretion of the individual drummer. Whichever way one prefers, it is imperative that the drummer develop and master bass drum technique. These examples are some that I find helped me in getting my Bass Drum foot together. Remember...practice SLOW.

Once the Ride Cymbal and Bass Drum are together, add the Hi Hat on 2 & 4....for now, forget about the left hand. We will concentrate on coordinating both the BD and LH together at a later date....one thing at a time. Again, remember...SLOW, SMOOTH, CONCENTRATE and LISTEN and most of all DON'T GET DISCOURAGED. These exercises may seem difficult in the beginning but....."ALL GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME".

Well, that's it for now. I'll add another tip soon so come on back. HAPPY PRACTICING!

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