Sunday, May 15, 2022

Reed interpretation: Matt's double bass method - 03

More of an expansive double bass method using the book Syncopation, that I've been developing with a student. Here we'll get into 16th triplets on the bass drums. The method is a little obscure to read, but it's still the best way to get realistic playing vocabulary.

You can do this with all the usual major sections of the book: quarter notes (pp. 4-5), 8th notes (pp. 9-10), 8th rests (pp. 30-31), syncopation (pp. 34-45). 


Do that with as many of the variations from the last system as you see fit— the won't all work equally well with the triplets.

Note that triplets on an & will start with the left foot, so the downbeats always fall on the right foot— I imagine some people will be more comfortable starting every run of triplets with the right foot, which is fine, you'll just have to work some things out when you integrate the triplets with the rest of the system.

For example, if you A-B the 16th triplet and 16th note versions of the following rhythm, starting that last 16th triplet with the left foot foot, that puts the 16th note measure lead normally with the right foot:


If you started that last triplet with the right foot, the 16th note measure would lead with the left. Maybe that's fine with you, you'll just have to make a decision about how you want to handle it. 

Another way of doing this system that would be easier to read, would be to invert the above thing— play the book rhythm on the snare drum, fill each 8th note worth of spaces with a 16th triplet:


That generally creates a different kind of vocabulary than the first way— it more suggests ensemble figures with the bass drum filling. If you want to emphasize that, you could play the cymbal as accents only (on a crash or China), along with the snare drum, and play the bass drum filler by itself, with no cymbal. 

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