Asked to play "Trumpet" solo on drums.

[jayp]

So my teacher has asked me to try and solo the trumpet part from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messangers song "Moanin'" I'm a little confused where the trumpet "solo" starts or what exactly hes looking for in my "solo"(keep ride pattern with trumpet melody around the toms? or play quaters on the hi-hat and solo the trumpet idea around the kit?) but I kinda understand the idea(he wants to show the trumpet melody around the kit in some form) but im just looking for a little help.

So I'm looking for any advice you guys could give to me, maybe help me understand my assignment a little better, maybe some ideas on soloing this part?

P.S. I just found out my teachers teacher was Ed Soph from The University of North Texas, pretty schweet eh?

Thanks a ton.

[Drummer Karl]

Can you maybe give us a link where we can listen to that particular version and trumpet solo? Or do you mean the theme of Moanin?

Important: Try to get a pure melodic approach on the kit. It`s great to see a drum set as a melodic instrument. Your idea of playing the ride cymbal and doing the solo on the drums is good, try that. But you don`t have to of course, there are a few ways of doing it, e.g. you`ll have more pitch possibilities when using one hand to do the solo and the other elbow to bend the head. This way you get more versatile regarding pitches.
One drummer who worked out this melodic drum set playing concept: Ari Hoenig, I highly recommend to listen to him!! Awesome...

Here is some of his stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDITFrf0PLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QeW8gKf07U&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbDwrgqtp0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-0wfYNmjh4&feature=related

For general practice, first I`d recommend to try a (slow) blues. Play a short rhythm and then start the solo on the drums with that melodic approach. You`ll notice that less can be more, at least in a blues context...take your time.

Have fun mate,

Karl

[jayp]

Thanks Karl, The song is from Art Blake and the Jazz Messangers album Moanin' and the song is Moanin'.

My teacher told me to listen to the song 100 times before I sit down and even try to attempt the solo. Im not a super chops kinda player and I've only been studying jazz for about a year, so I know he is expecting a basic "solo" and im just confused how Im going to aproach this...

Really my confusion starts with where the actual solo begins, maybe once I find out where I should start the solo I should just try to transcribe it instead of working it out on the drums only., im just really trying to impress him next week its my goal to always show him im excelling.

EDIT: Would it be a good idea to find the Trumpets transcription for the song and use that as a refference for my drum part?

[Garvin]

Cool assignment.

Hey Karl, I saw Ari play Moanin' at a show recently and was totally impressed. He really hits the notes. He played the whole thing by himself and even soloed. I think the guitar player may have comped a bit during his solo, but other than that it was all him.

Very cool drummer...

In order to find where the solo begins, make sure you understand the form. I'm not sure how many times they play the head and whatnot on the version you are listening to, but basically follow the head through the form into the solo section. I'm assuming the trumpet takes the first solo.... I don't know about listening to it a hundred times. That's like 8-9 hours of non-stop listening to the same song.

[jayp]

He didn't mean litterally 100 time he just wants me to listen and listen until I have the whole concept of the solo already imbedded into my mind, so that when I sit down I dont need to think about what im trying to accomplish.

[Garvin]

Good, I thought so, but you never can tell.

[Alex H]

I really cannot offer advice on this, as I have only been studying jazz for about 8 months myself. However, this is really cool assignment and I want to try this myself, especially because it's such a great solo. By the way JayP, I like the Miles quote in your signature. I had a friend who used to use that method when soloing on guitar.

[fourstringdrums]

Jay - Here is a video of Ari playing Moanin'

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HJn2ubRUV9Y

[PinkZepplin]

Thanks Karl, The song is from Art Blake and the Jazz Messangers album Moanin' and the song is Moanin'.

My teacher told me to listen to the song 100 times before I sit down and even try to attempt the solo. Im not a super chops kinda player and I've only been studying jazz for about a year, so I know he is expecting a basic "solo" and im just confused how Im going to aproach this...

Really my confusion starts with where the actual solo begins, maybe once I find out where I should start the solo I should just try to transcribe it instead of working it out on the drums only., im just really trying to impress him next week its my goal to always show him im excelling.

EDIT: Would it be a good idea to find the Trumpets transcription for the song and use that as a refference for my drum part?



definately definately definately try and find a transcription of the solo if you can. Just so you can kind of outline the rhythm of the solo as much as possible.

I'd say the first step would be to outline how you want the rhythym to move 'melodically' across the toms. The next step would be to fill in the empty spaces as you see fit.

rudiments are your friend, don't forget your friends.

[brittc89]

definately definately definately try and find a transcription of the solo if you can. Just so you can kind of outline the rhythm of the solo as much as possible.

I'd say the first step would be to outline how you want the rhythym to move 'melodically' across the toms. The next step would be to fill in the empty spaces as you see fit.

rudiments are your friend, don't forget your friends.

Well, why not just transcribe it rhythmically yourself and then later add markings telling you what tom to use and whatnot. Or, depending on your theory, just flat out transcribe it, pitches and all. Thats how I would go about it if I wanted accuracy.

[PinkZepplin]

Well, why not just transcribe it rhythmically yourself and then later add markings telling you what tom to use and whatnot. Or, depending on your theory, just flat out transcribe it, pitches and all. Thats how I would go about it if I wanted accuracy.

most drummers don't have an ear for actual pitch. i was making an assumption. I would transcribe the solo myself as well, but that simply isn't an option for some people. and with some of the odd phrasing in jazz, it might be difficult to precisely place the rhythym on a piece of paper even if you can hum it or sing perfectly.

[jayp]

Hey! Look what I found. A copy of the solo and a mp3 to go along with it, now i know exactly what he wants me to do, this should be fun. I encourage all of you to try this and see what we can all come up with and maybe someone should do a short youtube lesson, I dont have a camera or ide try.

Thanks for all your help guys, your always there for me!

http://www.jazztrumpetsolos.com/solo.asp?soloist=LeeMorgan&Solo=Moanin

[Drummer Karl]

Jay - Here is a video of Ari playing Moanin'

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HJn2ubRUV9Y

Rob, thanks so much for the link!!! Absoloutly burning...very very cool!
I love when Ari transposes at 0:55, the rest is going with him and the audience reacts with: Ahhhh, haha! That was hilarious!

Ari really sounds so great...

Karl

[jayp]

Rob, thanks so much for the link!!! Absoloutly burning...very very cool!
I love when Ari transposes at 0:55, the rest is going with him and the audience reacts with: Ahhhh, haha! That was hilarious!

Ari really sounds so great...

Karl

Nice I just cought that, man his drums are tuned perfect for this song are they not?

[KCDrummer]

For an assignment like this, especially if it's your first crack at this sort of thing, I think it's more important to emulate the solo's line, dynamics, inflections, articulations and phrasing, rather than the actual pitches. I think the point of the assignment is to hip yourself to the jazz language. To focus that much on the actual pitches of the thing would defeat that purpose.

[jay norem]

most drummers don't have an ear for actual pitch.

Whoa...speak for yourself.
It seems to me, jayp, that your teacher has given you an assignment that requires research, meaning transcribing the solo. What I would do is use rhythm notation for the transcription, it can all be on one line. Then I'd play the resulting rhythmic piece on the snare drum until I had the phrasing down. Then I'd fine tune it to where I ended up with a nice little drum solo piece, incorporating the entire kit. Sounds like fun.

[fourstringdrums]

For an assignment like this, especially if it's your first crack at this sort of thing, I think it's more important to emulate the solo's line, dynamics, inflections, articulations and phrasing, rather than the actual pitches. I think the point of the assignment is to hip yourself to the jazz language. To focus that much on the actual pitches of the thing would defeat that purpose.

You're not going to get the EXACT pitches either. Think melody but focus on the key parts, the hooks if you will.

[jayp]

Thanks for all the insight guys, I think I'll take the suggestion from Jay Norem, Start with the basic transcription of the rhythm and its phrases, then move to placing it on the snare, then moving it around the toms in a melodic way.

Anyone have a suggestion as to what I should keep time with? should I continue to play the ride and attempt to solo the rhythm with the ride?(this would probably be a little more difficult then 2 & 4 hats.)

Or should I continue to keep time with 2 and 4 on the hats and open up both hands to solo with?

KCDrummer: I never had any intentions of trying to pitch bend or get all crazy I just want to start basic. But I appreciate you pointing that out to others who may be interested in trying to attempt this assignment.

[PinkZepplin]

Whoa...speak for yourself.
It seems to me, jayp, that your teacher has given you an assignment that requires research, meaning transcribing the solo. What I would do is use rhythm notation for the transcription, it can all be on one line. Then I'd play the resulting rhythmic piece on the snare drum until I had the phrasing down. Then I'd fine tune it to where I ended up with a nice little drum solo piece, incorporating the entire kit. Sounds like fun.

i'm not speaking for myself, i'm speaking for the majority of drummers. I personally would have no problem transcribing the melody because of my music theory background and because of the many other instruments i play besides drums. But the majority of drummers just don't have an ear for pitch cause they don't have to, they don't play a melodic instrument