Video transcript
@The Arts Unit Art Bites – Unlocking the potential of the rhythm section – 02. Part 2

[Music playing]

JASON ISAAC: Of course, with the piano part, if you want to go a step further instead of just playing the right hand voicing at bar 17 ...

[Playing notes]

... you can also include any other notes that aren't the root of the chord. So, for the first chord, B flat was the root. We don't want to play the B flat. So, the B flat down here ...

[Playing notes]

... we're not going to use that. But, you'll notice there's an A flat.

[Playing notes]

We can play that one. So, we're now in bar 17 going to play this ...

[Playing notes]

... followed by this.

[Playing notes]

And, then we'll stick with that in the second bar.

[Playing notes]

So, we play ...

[Playing notes]

So now, let's put a proper drum part with it. Let's use what's written in the drum music as the starting point, in the same way that we have for the piano and the bass parts. And, we'll bring the drum part to life by making it sound like jazz drummers have always played. And, then we'll hear what it sounds like when we put it all together. I think you'll be quite amazed at the difference, how obvious the difference is between playing exactly what's written, and playing what's intended, by knowing these few things and using them as you read.

[Music playing]

So, let's dive straight into this. The information that the part gives us is that at 17, it says in 4. So, that's telling the drummer that the bass player is playing 4 crotchets in each bar, a walking baseline, 4 notes in each bar. So, that should affect what we play.

And, one of the first things that should happen is that your ride cymbal beat, or your ride cymbal pattern, should have the crotchets all the same volume as a starting point. So, I'll show you what I mean. If I just play the crotchets.

[Playing cymbals]

And, I'll make them all the same volume as each other. And, then when I put that quaver in after 2 and after 4 - we call those the skip notes - they can either be the same volume, or a little softer, or a little louder. But, we want the crotchets themselves all to be the same, so that it lines up with the way that the bass player plays, which is doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, all the same. 1, [snaps], 2, [snaps], 1, 2, 3.

[Playing cymbals]

So, hopefully you can hear that the 4 crotchets in the bar are all the same volume, and those skip notes move in around them, but don't affect them. The other information it gives us is that the hi-hat - and we tend to see notes with stems going downwards, meaning with the feet in drum notation - the hi-hats are on beat 2 and 4. But again, if that's all we played, that ride cymbal pattern and hi-hats on 2 and 4, we'd get that plain vanilla version that I played you earlier.

Here's what we can do to improve it. Jazz drummers do a thing called 'feathering the bass drum.' And, to feather the bass drum, you want to play the bass drum as softly as you can, on the beat with the bass. The rule is if you can hear it in the band, it's too loud.

And, we just use it as a way of centering our time feel ourselves, and a way of connecting everything through all of the frequencies of the drum kit. And, the best way that it was ever explained to me was, when I had a lesson with a fantastic world class drummer, Greg Hutchinson - Gregory Hutchinson - a few years ago. I was in New York. And, he said, if you think of it happening on your knee, rather than at your foot, you'll be able to get it soft enough.

So now, I'm going to put the ride cymbal, the hi-hat, and my feathering, my 4 crotchets on the bass drum, but so soft that you can't really hear them. I'm going to put them together. 1, [snaps], 2, [snaps], 1, 2, 3.

[Drumming]

[Music playing]

And, the final step, as a starting point, is that we do on the snare drum what the piano player does, with where rhythmically they play the chords on the piano. And, there's a few ideas of where this next term came from. Some say it was because of complementing. Other people tend to think that it's because it's a shortened form of the word 'accompanying'.

But, musicians in the rhythm section, particularly jazz musicians, refer to this as 'comping'. And comping is what we choose to do rhythmically with the chords in the piano, the chords that a guitarist might play, and basically, as a starting point, the snare drum, and then later on, the snare drum and some louder notes on the bass drum. I'll show you what I mean. Again, just like the piano, between beats is better than on beats and gaps are good. 1, [snaps], 2, [snaps], 1, 2, 3.

[Drumming]

So now, let me give you the version of 17 that you could choose to play based on what's written, but because you know all of these other things about rhythm section playing. So, once again, the ride cymbal, the hi-hat, and the feathering in the bass drum are locking in the time with the bass player. And, the snare drum is playing comping ideas. And, because I'm playing this separately - because obviously, I, the drummer, can't play with me, the piano player - I'm not going to be able to listen to the piano playing and have that dialogue. So, we'll see what comes out.

But generally, what you should be doing is listening to the piano player, and having a conversation with your comping that complements what they're doing in their comping. I think that's probably a topic for another one of these videos. 1, [snaps], 2, [snaps], a 1, 2, 3.

[Drumming]

[Music playing]

So, now back to our piano part. Sometimes what you'll find in music that's written with students in mind, particularly at the younger age range, is that the left hand of the piano part will actually be the bass line. And, the written bass line that your bass player is playing is then doubled by the piano player. That's a very strange sound, and that's not something that ever really happens in a musical setting.

So, here's my rule with that. If you're a piano player, and you see something that looks and sounds like a bass line in the left hand, put your left hand behind your back. Don't use it and concentrate just on the right hand.

The bass player's job is to take care of the bass function of the chords. The piano player's job is to add, contribute the other important notes of the chord. So, I'll give you an example.

What's written for you is a B flat 9 chord, and the notes in that chord are B flat - that's the root, the bottom of the chord. And, then we go up with little leaps. So, it's 1, 3, 5. That's 7th. That's a dominant 7th because it's a dominant chord, not that 7th. That 7th, 3, 5, dominant 7th.

And, then that's the nine. So, you go 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. That's what we call a 'closed voicing.' All the notes are as close together as possible. And, a lot of you will know about inversions from theory. So, an inversion is where you start on that note, and then that note ends up up there.

[Playing notes]

So that's an inversion. That's the first inversion. The second inversion, you put that note there, so you get ...

[Playing notes]

So, they all have different sounds, but they're all the same chord.

[Playing notes]

And, the great thing about these jazz voicings, that piano players use, is that you can basically move any note anywhere you'd like. We're going to leave this one out, because that note belongs to the bass player. We need the bass player to have the root of the chord available to them. And, that's one of their primary functions, so we don't need to worry about it in the piano part.

So, what we can do is we can play bar 17 like that, or we can move that note down there, so that note's now gone to there. We can move that note to there, if we wanted to. Same chord. Remember, this note, the B flat, is the bass player's job. We could put this note here and that note, the C, up there. We could move the F back up here.

[Playing notes]

So, there's hundreds, probably, of ways that we can play that first chord. And, that's part of the fun. You can change it every time. Talk to your piano teacher. Jazz piano teachers will give you fairly common standard ways. And, depending on what chord you're going to next, that'll inform your choice as well. But, the crux of it is you can play that note in any voicing that you can come up with.

So, what we could do is we could play the written part, and just get rid of that root note. So, the way that it's written, we've got that, that, that, that, and that at 17. Take this one away, and you've got that. The next chord, we don't need that, the B natural, because that's the bass player's job. So, we're now going to ...

[Playing notes]

And, then we leave the C and the F to the bass player. So, they're your 3 chords. But, you can change those voicings altogether. You could maybe play the 7th, the 9th, the 5th, and the ...

[Playing notes]

... the 3rd up there. And, then you've got - there's your 1st chord. And, then maybe your 2nd chord would be that. So, you go from 2, 3, 4.

[Playing notes]

And, then use a closed voicing for the F6, or do something even more exciting. Maybe get rid of that, because it's not needed, and put the D down the bottom.

[Playing notes]

So, that becomes the next one. So, let me give you an example of what it might look like if I used some of the written voicings, and made some of them up myself. 1, [snaps], 2, [snaps], 1, 2, 3, 4.

[Playing notes]

[Music playing]

1, [snaps], 2, [snaps], 1, 2, 3, 4.

[Jazz music]

[Music playing]

[Jazz music]

[Music playing]

[Jazz music]

[Music playing]