Cool song with brushes?

N

nhzoso

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I am starting my 2nd adult ensemble at the local music store here and the instructor told each of us to pick 3 songs and we would then all vote and pick 5 to learn and play live.
There are 2 guitar players a bass player and me on drums.

I would love to learn a cool song that I could learn brushes on so if anyone has any suggestions please list a few that I can consider. Just keep in mind that I have never played brushes before so something fairly easy that I can learn relatively quickly would be nice, plus it should be something the guitars and bass players are going to enjoy playing as well.

Plus I have my 1st live performance (in front of a bunch of real people YIKES) coming up in 2 weeks. We are playing 4 songs that are more bluesy and a real cool rendition of Moby dick without the solo : ). Oddly enough the toughest song for me is the slowest, 'summertime. I keep wanting too add something because I feel people will be looking at me going is he gonna just play that through the whole song..LOL, I have found that when playing this real sloooowwwww beat my mind starts to drift and I eventually lose my place or my dynamics somehow get louder and it sounds like crap. Not as much as when I 1st started but I have to make a concentrated effort to stay locked in, I did not see that coming when I took up drums. You always figure the slow ones must be easy as hell.

Anyways any help would be appreciated.Thanks.
 
LOL, I have found that when playing this real sloooowwwww beat my mind starts to drift and I eventually lose my place or my dynamics somehow get louder and it sounds like crap. Not as much as when I 1st started but I have to make a concentrated effort to stay locked in, I did not see that coming when I took up drums. You always figure the slow ones must be easy as hell.

Counting beats and even the subdivisions of beats should prevent your mind to drift. Learn the melody of Summertime and transcribe the drummer's part according to the style and form you want to play it.
Playing brushes does not require the same technique as when playing with sticks. Check this out. Are you going to play that song in a jazz style?
 
I would love to learn a cool song that I could learn brushes on so if anyone has any suggestions please list a few that I can consider.

Plus I have my 1st live performance (in front of a bunch of real people YIKES) coming up in 2 weeks. We are playing 4 songs that are more bluesy and a real cool rendition of Moby dick without the solo : ).

Oddly enough the toughest song for me is the slowest, 'summertime. I keep wanting too add something I have found that when playing this real sloooowwwww beat my mind starts to drift and I eventually lose my place or my dynamics somehow get louder and it sounds like crap. Not as much as when I 1st started but I have to make a concentrated effort to stay locked in, I did not see that coming when I took up drums. You always figure the slow ones must be easy as hell.

Anyways any help would be appreciated.Thanks.

Cool man, I wish you luck. As for a suggestion to the brush-song, I m not any type of brush player, but the song "Stars Die" by Porcupine Tree has always stuck out to me for the way it has so much emotion without the attack of sticks. I cant say if its difficult or not to play because like I said, I m not really experienced in the the world of brushes, but at least check it out, its a great song either way.

The Moby Dick rendition without the solo is a great idea, It is just a killer groove and sounds cool with, or without, a solo. I d love to hear it man!

And lastly, as you said- sometimes the hardest thing to do is to focus on what you re NOT playing, as opposed to filling in the blanks, so to say. It does take a bit of restraint to keep it subtle, yet stay locked in to the overall feel of what you might consider a "slow" paced song. It s just as important to play the role of "timekeeper" for the rest of the band while they do their thing and keep the song from sounding "crowded" or "rushed". We ve all struggled with this at some point and I m glad to hear that you re grasping this concept early on. Just try to concentrate on the whole flow of the song, from beginning to end, and dont get ahead of yourself when it starts to feel slow. Keep eye contact with your bandmates,listen to them play, and try to stay relaxed most of all. It is harder than you d think, but at least you have noticed this happening and have a point to work from. I think you ll be all good. Stay focused and Good Luck!
 
k maybe not what your talking about but...

say goodbye - dave matthews band.

carter is the man.

GREAT song, but I d consider that more along the lines of "woodwhacks" type sticks? Ya know, a bunch of wood dowels bundled together? Although they are very fun to play with.
Whats the first part of that song? #41 I think? Excellent example of Carter's technique IMO.
 
Thanks for the tips guys, as far as summertime goes it is pretty straightforward,not really jazzy just achingly slow. pretty much just 1/4 notes and I add an 1/8note BD here and there throughout it but it just seems like I should do more but when I do it really does'nt come off to well within the context of the song so I guess I just need to KISS(keep it simple stupid)

I will check out say goodbye and #41, I have thught about using woodsticks, I have a pair at home. There is no special way to play them though is there? I always just play them as if they are regular sticks with a lighter sound.
 
Moby Dick without the solo? That's like coffee without the caffeine! You get the flavor, but you miss the point...

Nah not really, It is a great groove and probably could have been made into a huge hit if they used it in the context of a song.

Although I am sure there will be some there watching that will feel as you do but I am not really ready to do the solo any kind of justice so I will just live with the criticism.
 
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