Level 3

Welcome to Essential Drum Beats level 3.  In this course we expand our knowledge around the history and context that pop and rock beats emerged from.  You will expand your Jazz chops, and learn how beats from South America have helped shape the pop sound.
We will also begin to explore some of the styles that has extended left and right from mainstream pop and rock. 

Chapter 1
Prior to 1900 if you were a percussionist chances are you either played in an orchestra or were a drummer in the military.  If you were in the orchestra you may have played tuned instruments such as the xylophone as well as untuned instruments such as the bass drum and the snare drum. In both these styles of drumming the rudiments formed and backbone of the technique used.  Rudiments are simply sticking rhythms or patterns are are used to create music.  In this first chapter we examine the 40 standard Rudiments as designated by the American Percussive Arts society.

Chapter 2
Around 1900, we start to see the beginning of the Jazz era that lasted till around 1950's when we begin to see the transition to what became to be know as Rock'n'Roll.  In the Jazz era the main time keeping instrument moved from the snare drum to the ride cymbal.  This rhythm was then complemented by hits on the the snare drum or the bass drum which became more and more complicated as time progressed.  During this period we see the drummer moving to the front of the band for the first time and becoming a superstars in their own right.

Chapter 3
Latin American and African music and rhythms has had a very strong influence on the development of Jazz from the early days in New Orleans.  During the 40's Afro-Cuban rhythms became popular dances styles and Latin beats such as Rumba, Mambo, Bossanova and later Samba and Salsa were recognised as part of popular culture.

Chapter 4
The 50's saw the transition from Jazz been most popular music form to the rise of Rock'n'Roll.  The roots of rock were in Rhythm and Blues and Boogie Woogie and country.  This led to Rockabilly , Do-Wop,  and later Motown, Soul, and Funk.
In this chapter we look at some specific beats that will help us to play Motown and funk styles,

Chapter 5
Form the 60's onwards, Rock was the music that dominated western popular culture. The Musical genre Family tree continued to grow to included styles such as Disco, Hard Rock, Punk, Metal,  and Electronic Dance music in the 90's .  For the most part, drumming styles changed slowly during this period and a good knowledge of our Rock history will help us to cover most styles.  
An investigation of odd time signatures and double bass drumming will help to us to also be able to cover more complex progressive rock and metal styles which is what we investigate in this chapter.

Chapter 6
Now that we have a good grasp of drumming that covers most musical styles, it's time for us to get creative and start playing with our own voice.