Playing 5/4 like Joe Morello....

[Pearlrules]

I wanna learn how to do what Joe Morello does, when he plays... bass,bass, hi-hat, hi-hat (I'm not sure exactly what his bass does but yea) throughout the entire song and even when he solos!

How do I learn to keep this going while I'm playing and especially while I'm soloing??!!

Thanks, Jeff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLy1WvB9BSc

[jeffwj]

How do you feel with other ostinatos (repetive patterns)? If you are not comfortabe with bossa nova, samba, or tumbau, then I think that might be something to work on first. Then add some 3/4 time ostinatos like

1----2-----3--------------1-----a----(2)---3
B---HH--HH----or-----B----HH-------HH

then add a quarter with the bass drum and a quarter with the hi-hat to equal five.

1------2-------3-----4-------5-------------------1------a---(2)---3------4-----5
B----HH----HH----B------HH--------or------B----HH-------HH----B----HH

These may not be the exact patterns that Joe played, but they will givie you the feel and coordination to work on.

Hope this helps,
Jeff

[vadrum]

if you can find, or have, this book "the jazz drummer's workshop":

http://www.johnriley.org/publications.xml

there are about 3 chapters in there on playing in 5 and he references joe many times. it includes basic 5/4 patterns, working on obscuring beat 1, solos, and then he works on making your comping phrases longer. ive found the material really helpful and it gives you a good place to start your efforts to play 5/4 like joe...

[jeffwj]

Thanks VA drummer. I've seen the book before. I guess it's time to pick that one up too. I didn't know about the 5/4 section.

[Class A Drummer]

Im pretty sure he is going like this.

Bass 1 and 5 Hi hats on 2 and 4. BUT i think he is leaving it out on the 3. If i have time in the next couple days ill post a video of a few morello 5/4 jazz ride tunes so you can watch it more carefully. Its not that hard to play once you get the feel for it. It took me only a few mins to get the hang of it.

[Pearl Player]

You know this is the reason I joined these here forums... Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou

Mike

[syoshii]

Check out the DVD Legends of Jazz Drumming (previously released as part 1 and 2 on videotape). You can see Joe playing "Take Five" incl. astounding solo. This solo just floored me.

[dea]

Joe Morello is very special in my opinion. He can drive the music so hard with so little. Everything placed just right. Never too much of anything. I Love that!!! I just recorded Raggy Waltz and am waiting for my bass player brother to drop his gig on another track.

Understanding groupings is an absolute requirement if you really want to understand what they are doing. Fancy grouping is commonly used by jazz drummers during fills/solos. This is why when you listen to a solo, it sounds like its straying away from the standard time of the song. However, its not. The groupings are changing the feel, causing you to think its straying. But all of the sudden, everybody drops right back into line almost magically.

My point is that he is employing more than one skill/technique and to really understand what he is doing, you must explore all of them.

Good luck and don't let up. When you do begin to understand, your playing will change for the better in dramatic ways.

[rjvsmb]

Hey Pearlrules,

Take 5 is a great tune. It's a song that feels real good when you get it.

Specificall on the bass and hi-hat if you count out 5, he's basically hitting the bass on 1 and the hats on 2 and 4. He sometime hits the bass on 5 and 1.

1.....2.....3....4....5
B...HH........HH....

1.....2.....3....4.....5
B...HH........HH...B

Try this on the hi-hat: heel on 1, toe on 2, heel on 3, toe on 4, heel on 5. That will give you the hi-hat pattern. From there work on coordinating the bass on 1 and sometimes 1 and 5.

I hope this helps.