How Do You Play Jazz Beats On Drums?
The unique sounds of jazz present special challenges for the drummer because of the differences from the standard rock beat the most drummers learn early on. Additionally, individual songs and musicians offer further style choices. But all drummers should learn some basic jazz beats to enrich their drum repertoire. Realize that with any drumming, your hands and feet will be doing different things. The right foot at the bass or kick drum often provides a regular 4/4 beat. Your left foot covers the high hat. Think of your hands performing the accents in the jazz song you’re playing. The right hand might play a swing rhythm on the ride cymbal. The left hand fills with the snare. Both play toms when needed. Learn about “trading fours.” This jazz technique breaks up the beats into different blocks or signatures. So four bars of 4/4 time will still be sixteen beats, but broken up in different ways for trading fours. You can also try trading 8ths and 16ths. Look at your cymbals. You’ll find t
