Rock and Jazz Drumming

Before I started drumming, I knew what style I wanted to play. Rock. Though dozens of styles of drumming exist (Jazz, Funk, Middle Eastern, Heavy Metal, Punk, etc), I've always favored pop/rock music. I can’t resist music by Bon Jovi, The Killers, and Guns ’N Roses, especially since the drummer for each of those bands adds a solid beat with great fills. Though I’m not a big fan of U2, I still have tons of respect for drummer, Larry Mullen. I probably only like a handful of U2 songs (actually, I love the song "Red Hill Mining Town"), but the drum beats are always amazing to me. Listen to the song “Bullet the Blue Sky.” The drum beat intro is what makes me want to listen to the rest of the song. It just sucks me right in.

Rock drummers add power and much more volume to a song -- the type of pulse that makes you want to dance. Rock music is the most popular and universal so the number of drumming books available are endless. Since January (when I started lessons), I’ve been practicing rock drumming. Now, my drum teacher Jason wants me to learn different styles -- the second style being jazz. I never listen to jazz, but I have no choice if I want a feel for jazz drumming. So I bought jazz drummer Art Blakey's Moanin' album, which I'm listening to right now. The more styles a drummer learns, the more creative they can be once they start forming their own beats. Learning different styles is also excellent for improving technique. Since I’m obsessed with becoming the best drummer I can possibly be, I’m for anything that will help me improve.

So what’s the difference between rock and jazz drumming? Well, first, a quick lesson for those who don’t know anything about music:

Music is divided into measures, which are divided by a straight line called the Bar Line. The standard time signature is 4/4 (also called common time). The top number indicates the number of beats in each measure and the bottom number indicates the type of note that receives one beat. The duration of musical sounds are indicated by different types of notes, such as a whole note (hollow oval), half note (hollow oval with a stem), quarter note (solid oval with a stem), eighth note, (solid oval with a stem and flag), and sixteenth note (solid oval with a stem and two flags). Check out the picture I drew to the right.

If the time signature is in 4/4 time, the whole note gets four beats. One whole note equals two half notes; one half note equals two quarter notes; one quarter note equals two eighth notes; one eighth note equals two sixteenth notes.

So if you count eighth notes in a measure, you count it 1 & 2 & 3 & 4. Sixteenth notes are counted as 1 e & ah 2 e & ah 3 e & ah 4 e & ah.

(Photo: The black notes are played on the hi-hat, the blue notes are played on the bass, and the orange notes are played on the snare. The orange numbering on top just show how you would count this measure. This is a ROCK beat!)

Rock drumming is usually in 4/4 time, but jazz drumming usually consists of triplets (a triplet is a note divided in three subdivisions, meaning a quarter note triplet equals one half note). Written eighth notes are usually played as triplets. It sort of has a swing to it. Rock drumming usually consists of beats 2 and 4 on the snare (see photo above again -- notice the snare is on beat 2 and 4), but jazz drumming usually uses the hi-hat on beats 2 and 4. The variations are complicated, but here’s a short video of what jazz drumming sounds like:

A standard jazz beat looks like this:


The red stem facing down is the notation for pressing the pedal for the hi-hat.

Earlier this year, my sister and I went to see trumpeter Chris Botti's show at Wolf Trap. We didn't go for the jazz show -- my sister wanted to see American Idol runner up, Katharine McPhee, who was the opening act. After Katharine was done singing, Chris Botti came out and played loud music with his huge band. The drummer played ridiculously fast -- the entire band sounded like they were trying to race and see who could play the fastest. The clitter clatter of it all gave us a headache so we left the show after the first song. "I can't believe that," my sister said. "I thought it was going to be a chill, relaxed, soothing thing, but what the f*** was that?" As I'm listening to Moanin' on iTunes, my sister barges in and says "Are you listening to elevator music? I feel like I'm in the lobby of a hotel."

It's an interesting album, but I'm pretty much only paying attention to the drumming, which is quiet...the drums aren't overpowering the song like rock does. It's almost hidden in the background, like a special sound that accents the trumpet dominating the tunes. I hear the swish of the hi-hat a lot, too. The tempo is faster than I'm normally used to hearing, which might freak some drummers out…but as I’ve discussed before, speed is definitely important to be a fantastic drummer.

Though I've only listened to a few songs on this album, I'm tempted to switch to Rihanna's new album, Loud. I need music with loud, pumping drums to get me energized...not quiet, trickling beats with a soft bass and ping-ping ride cymbal. (Besides, have you heard the Part II of "Love the Way You Lie"? That's some amazing beat.)

I still have much to learn about jazz drumming, but I hope I don't practice this genre for very long. I need my drums to be LOUD with a strong presence. I'm pretty sure I'll always stick to rock drumming, but I'll still dabble in other genres...only because I think it will make me a better overall drummer. But for now, I'm gonna go ahead and listen to Rihanna...Blakey's album is starting to become torture.