Real Books

Nope. No drum charts. Just lead sheets.

Well that's not what I wanted to hear. I googled real books but coulnn't find anthing specific about the drums so I assumed I was going to hear what you said. I did see some Hal Leonard real books for drums, but they were all for rock. Thanks for the information Caddy.
 
No drum notation in real books for jazz. These books have the charts of most jazz standards but what is written in them is all about the harmonic and melodic form of the tunes presented.
You may still use them as if they were just rythmic notation but you have to figure out which part of the drumset to use and what kind of groove you are going to play on the drumset ...
I use them for learning heads by heart ie reading while listening to a version of the song I want to learn. This enables to spot where the bars are, where the beats are, pick up notes, etc.
You can also try to play it (very slowly) on the piano (just the melody and for the purpose of memorizing the melody) Of course you have to be able to decipher the melodic notes on the chart and be able to spot where these notes are on the piano. Unless you want to learn the piano leave out the chords and just play the melody (AABA generally). It is not so difficult, takes time at first but very rewarding because after that the drum work can begin and your playing will become more accurate ...

PS after reading the other posts ... There are books for jazz drumming with drum motation for standards.

If you want to play
Day & Nite,
A Night In Tunisia,
Embreacable You,
Ralph's Waltz,
Equinox
or Low Flame
Then you have Billy Hart 's book entitled "Jazz Drumming" (Advance Music) It has a CD with recordings with and WO drums.

Another interesting book is 'Jazz Standards for Drumset by Brian Fullen. Besides many interesting advice on how to play jazz on the drumset, it contains the drum notation for
Don't Get Around Much Anymore,
Satin Doll,
Body and Soul,
Four,
Bluesette,
The Girl from Ipanema,
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,
Stomping at the Savoy,
All of Me,
Things aint what they used to be
... and St Thomas.

Also with a CD with and WO drums to paly along with
Hope this helps
 
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Learning to read a lead sheet is an invaluable skill to have as a jazz drummer. Ive been in a lot of strictly lead sheet, or just tenor saxophone or bass chart situations. Being able to read those charts and create drum parts from the charts youre given is something you have to be able to do. Youre rarely gonna get a drum chart. So I suggest getting a real book just to learn the tunes, and while youre at it sit at the piano and bang out some changes to really have a clue as to what's going on while youre playing the tunes. Good luck!
 
Learning to read a lead sheet ... Being able to read those charts and create drum parts from the charts youre given .... getting a real book just to learn the tunes, and while youre at it sit at the piano and bang out some changes to really have a clue as to what's going on while youre playing the tunes. Good luck!

Yes I think this is exactly what there is to do. These skills are invaluable. Being able to sing the melody accurately while following the form of the song is also what will enable to create one's own drum charts more easily .

In his book The Art of Melodic Drumming, Georges Paczinsky suggests the following method:

--> at the piano first:
1) Memorize the melody by singing it aloud
2) Play the melody and chord fundamentals on the piano
3) Study the chords (placement...)
4) Play the chords by heart with the left hand and improvise with the right hand rythmically on one note only, then 2 notes , etc.

--> Then using the drumset
1) Comp the melody (spang a lang, hi hat on 2 & 4, possibly feathering the bass drum) while singing it aloud
2) Under the jazz ride rythm (right hand on the ride, hi hat on 2 & 4, possibly feathering the bass drum) play the melody with the left hand on the snare drum.
3) Do the same thing bu play notes thet do not belong to the melody.
4) Add set up fills
5) Triplets on the snare drum but accentuating the notes that belong to the melody
6) Solo improvize using the whole drumset while singing the melody and following the form (eg AABC 32 bars)

I think you can skip the piano work (very rewarding though) but don't skip the learning of the melody. There we have the slogan again "if you can sing it you can play it" ...
There's no need to say that listening (and transcribing) to what the great drummers have played on a specific song is of course invaluable too, because everything above is just the beginning ...
 
Thanks for the help and advice everyone. I'll be making the trip to the city Saturday since there is no where local that has the books. I picked up a small electric piano which I haven't played in years. That should be interesting also.

Something that surprises me about the books and myself, is how many jazz standards I don't know. At least by name. This should be fun.

Thanks again.
 
i dont know if a fakebook is worth paying for as a drummer.

i downloaded a couple, they're good to have if you're jamming to the standards, and you want to know where you can place shots, so when you comp you know when to set up a nice, big shot, nawww mean broski?

i just wouldnt pay the 20-30 some-odd dollars it costs to get one

just photocopy a few major standards from friends (ie the ones played all the time like autumn leaves, blue bossa, night in tunisia, oleo, etc)
 
i dont know if a fakebook is worth paying for as a drummer.

i downloaded a couple, they're good to have if you're jamming to the standards, and you want to know where you can place shots, so when you comp you know when to set up a nice, big shot, nawww mean broski?

i just wouldnt pay the 20-30 some-odd dollars it costs to get one

just photocopy a few major standards from friends (ie the ones played all the time like autumn leaves, blue bossa, night in tunisia, oleo, etc)

Sure, it might not be worth it for a drummer, but it is for a jazz musician. Shell out the money, learn the standards. Youre going to be playing them so much that its not gonna be funny anymore. Know as many of these tunes as you can. You wanna be a musician not a drummer who sets up big shots (by the way, unless youre in a big band, theyre arent all that many BIG shots that need set-up, subtlety is the name of the game). Being a musician means really knowing the tunes, the same way everyone else playing on them does. Im finding the more changes I can learn to tunes the better I am able to play those tunes. Just asking someone if its a swing, or a waltz, or a bossa doesnt really cut it in my opinion. Plus, what are these major standards? Autumn leaves, Blue Bossa? personally I like everyone at a session to know a toooooonnnnnnnn of tunes so we dont just end up playing the same tired stuff over and over and over. I dont wanna come to play standards with somebody and have them callin tunes out of the aebersold books, I wanna play good tunes, which means you have to know the tunes. Beware though, the real book is riddled with errors, but youll pick up on that stuff as you go.
 
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