Nine months ago (6/15-6/20) has been nothing but jazz and drums, for I was at Western Michigan University in the Dalton Hall building from 8am to 8pm everyday for six days (except Friday and Saturday). Other than rehearsing our songs with our groups, we discussed about famous drums in the past and present time period, listened to local musicians about their perspective on music, and had an enjoyable time in playing along with drummers of all ages (11-66 years old).
Since day one, few of us were completely new to drums, others were completely new playing jazz or blues. In six short days, with cluster of information on drumming thrown at us, everyone has become a fantastic drummer with their own personal style of playing. I mean, if I could record everyone’s performances on Friday and Saturday, and compared it to day one, you would be amazed. People were companying left and right (little actions that the drummer plays to interact with the members of the band during playing) and syncopating away. I was one of those people who improved in those categories, as you will see it in the video soon.
Drumming is actually not that hard to work on, especially in jazz. If you put your heart and enjoyment into playing, I swear to you that you will enjoy it and the song will be grooving. If you are interested in an example, here is a link to video of Billy Hart of expressing them in a song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArI8cChbIrE
As for me, since I learned and played with enjoyment, I expressed that enjoyment in these songs that I worked on for the week: HoneySuckle Rose, Route 66, and Sonnymoons for Two. I am afraid that I won’t be able to upload them, since my old laptop crashed with the videos in them. Sorry about that.
Along with the performance, I got to play along with a Hammond B3 Organ (an original 1938 organ). Literally! The musician was so talented at playing it, that he had to learn how to play it all by himself, along with bits of information from other Hammond Organ players.
Below is a photo of the musicians that I made friends with.
This is the whole group, along with the teachers and musicians that each of us got to play with.
I have a long way in learning the secrets of music. The camp helped me on through the journey. I recommend this camp for those who want to play the drums in jazz. If you are interested, here is the link to the home page: http://www.keithhallmusic.com/.
Well thank you for your time reading this post and make sure that you enjoy and use every moment of your life. Peace out brothers and sisters. –MNM
Leave a Reply