I wrote a blog about basic drumming, but I ran out of space, and I really wanted to write about Jazz, so here it goes
So, Jazz is pretty much always in swing. To play jazz, you need to know Triplets. Triplets are notes that divide the measure not by two, but by three, which makes them sometimes hard to play. There can be some triplets that 'behave' like quarter notes, eight notes... In this tutorial, we will be using triplets that behave like eight notes.
To count triplets, you say "1 trip let 2 trip let 3 trip let 4 trip let".
So, to write triplets, you write three notes, and write a three above it. But, a triplet must be the three quarter notes or three eight notes etc depending what type of triplet it is. So, since this blog will be using eight note triplets, each triplet is three eight notes. Simple, right? But, a eight note triplet is worth a beat. So an eight note triple is made of three eight notes and is worth a beat.
So, swing is actually a bunch of triplets! Swing is actually just normall music, but each beat is split into triplets, without the second note (image from drumbook.webfactional.com):
Logically, every note that is bigger than or equal to a beat (like, a quarter note) is a normal note. Everything small than a beat is in swing.
The beat in the picture is the basic jazz beat. Another way of writing jazz is by writing eight notes, and indicating on the piece of music that eight notes are in swing.
You can either play eight notes on the Ride or high-hat.
In pretty much all jazz beats, on drums, when you play eight notes on the Ride, you press on the pedal of the high-hat (close the high-hat) to make a sound on the 2nd and 4th beat of a measure. You should always do this when playing on the ride. The Base drum is not necessary in jazz.
If you play eight notes on the high-hat, you would normally open the high-hat like that you play the eight notes on the 1rst and 3rd beat with the high-hat open.
There! Now, you know the basics. The thing that is awesome with jazz is that it's so easy to improvise! Use the snare at 'random' beats and off beats. And the key to having great beats is to play with different volumes with each hit on the snare. Then, do some fills! In fills, if hou were using the ride for the eight notes, you should continue the closing high-hat on the 2nd and 4th beat. In fills, just do some eight notes on the snare and tom for one measure, and the 1rst beat of the next measure can be done on the crash and base drum. Since jazz is made up triplets, you can use them in fills! The sound great!
Also, you should really practice with a metronome; it helps allot.
By @fordcars
