chrisdrums wrote:Cheers for all the replies, guys.
Dave, I fear I've been a bit sneaky? unclear? about this as not only am I a pro drummer (well, I make my living from it anyway) but I've done Time Functioning Patterns to death. Probably the most important book I own! I have also come up with a whole load of ways to use the Fat Back exercises: ghost note studies, double bass drum studies, syncopation studies... you name it. I also combine them with reading pages to act like a more interesting New Breed. I'll probably get crucified for saying this but New Breed really bored the sh!t out of me. Maybe I never figured out how to use it properly?
I own the four Patterns books (Time Functioning, Sticking, Technique, Rhythm & Meter) as well as the Linear Time Playing book. I also have two videos that Gary did.
I think that Time Functioning Patterns and Linear Time Playing are quite intuitive and come with adequate instruction. However, if there are any things that you did with Gary/came up with that might help me/us get more out of them (if that's possible?!) then please let me know.
It's mainly the Sticking and Rhythm & Meter books I'm having issue with (and, to a lesser extent, Technique patterns), I think mainly because I'm probably trying to approach them as novels in that I'm trying to work from page one and get to the end. I'm just intrigued as to how he taught from the books and if there were any hints, tips or practice techniques he gave you that don't appear in the text.
What is the elusive sixth book?
I'd love to come hang in Florida but I fear that might have to wait until I go on "holiday". Obviously I'm saying "holiday" for the benefit of my other half whereas we all know that the real purpose would be to go get a bit more involved in all things drummy. I take it you were living nearer Gary when you were taking lessons? Or was it just one hell of a commute?
Cheers again,
Chris.
Yes, youre quite a distance, but the offer stands so if your're ever here, let me know!
So you have 5 books, but youre missing "The Independent Drummer", which was published in (I believe) 1972 and is a great insight into his mindset while developing his ideas for the Patterns series. It occasionally shows up on eBay, if you keep an eye out for it. Also, he wrote "7th Heaven", which is a solo piece for 2 drummers (Vinnie and Steve) and that pops up fairly often on eBay.
When I was taking lessons with him I lived in The Bronx, New York and he was a 3 hour drive away in Boston. I saw him once a month and took a 4 hour lesson each time. It was a sacrifice in time, money, and certainly wear on my car (6 hours round trip...), but totally worth it. As I said before, I have average talent on the drums, but just learning his system taught me ways to do interesting things with what I already know.
The Fat Back page is pure genius. Sounds like you've already done a lot with it. If you're a Benny Greb fan, as I am, then you certainly realized that his instructional DVD is heavily based on this system. Also, John Favecchia's recent book is based off of it.
As far as other tips or practice routines, one thing that stands out was he always made sure you played all the exercises ALL the way through. Nothing groundbreaking there, but it does say a lot about not leaving out the 1 or 2 parts that really give trouble, and that I would just rather skip. While working on the stickings, I came up with a sticking pattern that was 5A/7C, which, since its 12 notes long, I chose to play as a sextuplet-based fill. He approved, but then suggested I add a 4B sticking to it, to make it a 16th note phrase, then double it and play it as a 32nd note groove. Very very cool. Of course by that point we would then change the order of the groupings from 5/7/4, to 4/5/7, to 7/4/5, etc. Open up all sorts of possibilities. We did a lot like that, and also combined linear with sticking, and then change the note value of them (a quintuplet based groove, perhaps?). Im not sure if Im telling making suggestions youre unaware of, if I am, I apologize. But I guess to sum it up Id say the biggest thing to do is combine systems from different books.
Hope this helps!
Dave