B e a t P o s t e rat the prescribed tempo markings. This experience will better prepare you for contemporary work in a recording studio. The best way I know to learn and understand a particular style of music is my listening to recordings and interfacing with live musicians. Check out the recorded performances for each beat excerpt featured on this poster and pay close attention to the way each drummer plays time, grooves, and interacts with the rhythm section and ensemble.

Drummers keep time by playing BEATS. For most situations, the music and musicianship within the ensemble will determine your approach to beat development.

For contemporary music, the quarter note pulse is the foundation and the SUBDIVISIONS between each quarter note give a particular style its identity.

This poster features fifty beats for practice organized by genre. They are intended to provide the player with a diverse collection that can be used in a variety of musical situations. Practice these examples with a metronome or drum machine

Rock RhythmsBelow are eight variations to get you grooving. To learn more, explore your own collection of favorite rock and pop recordings.

Swing RhythmsThe following transcriptions are simple beats that really swing! As you check out each recorded excerpt, listen to how these players are phrasing their ride cymbal beat. The ride cymbal is a jazz drummer’s focal point and the rhythmic information played on this instrument helps the music swing.

Shuffle RhythmsArt Blakey and Bernard “Pretty” Purdie are the KINGS of the shuffle! As you listen and practice these examples, focus on the dynamic balance of your upper and lower appendages.

Commercial RhythmsBelow are seven commercial rhythms to memorize before your next wedding, anniversary party, or bar mitzvah gig…

Brazilian RhythmsAuthentic Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms are intended to be performed on Latin percussion instruments. Within any given ensemble, there can be four or more percussionists each playing a different instrument. For example: conga, bongo, guiro, timbale, and triangle.

Afro-Cuban RhythmsThe Clave rhythm is the foundation for which Afro-Cuban music is based. This two measure pattern can be phrased 3:2 or 2:3 depending upon the composition. The 3:2 Clave has three notes in the first measure and two notes in the second. The 2:3 Clave is the reverse of the 3:2.

Odd RhythmsThe most common time signature in western music is 4/4. The beats below are constructed in odd time signatures 3, 5, and 7.

Signature RhythmsThese beats helped identify their parent composition…

Additional Rhythms

New Orleans RhythmsNew Orleans is known for its music – explore the origins and traditions of this great city by starting with these groove excerpts.

Funk RhythmsThese funk beats have challenging snare and bass drum combinations! Listening to the music of Sly and the Family Stone, Tower of Power, James Brown, Booker T. and the MG’s, the Funk Brothers, and George Clinton will provide THE example of what funky truly means.

Jazz drummer, author, and educator Steve Fidyk has toured and recorded with Maureen McGovern, New York Voices, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, The Capitol Bones, The Taylor/Fidyk Big Band, an ensemble he co-leads with Stan Kenton arranger Mark Taylor, and is currently the drummer with the Army Blues Jazz Ensemble from Washington DC.

As a leader, Fidyk’s discography includes: Big Kids (U.S. Roots), A Perfect Match (Write Groove), and Live at Blues Alley (OA2) and can be heard on over 50 recordings as a contributing artist.

As an educator, Fidyk has authored: The Drum Set SMART Book, Inside the Big Band Drum Chart, Jazz Drum Set Independence 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4 Time Signatures, and an instructional DVD entitled Set Up and Play! For information on these methods, please visit www.melbay.com.

He has also recorded over 75 jazz play-along volumes for the Hal Leonard Corporation and contributed drum transcriptions to Drum Standards and Peter Erskine’s The Drum Perspective.

Fidyk has served on the faculty at Wilkes University, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, George Mason University, The University of Maryland, and is presently a member of the jazz faculty at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He holds a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Maryland and Bachelors in Music Education from Wilkes University.

STEVE FIDYK

Notation Keyby Steve Fidyk

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