The New Breed by Gary Chester - advice

gazzdw

Member
gary chesters new breed

hi u lot, i just bought gary chester's:the new breed book over amazon and i dont actualy understand exactly what he wants me to do in the exercises, i just dont get it.
if anyone cud help that would be grand
thank you
 
Re: gary chesters new breed

Ooohh what a great book.

How to use it is pretty well explained at page 8.

Basically :

1) learn to play a given "system" - say system 1 which is just 16th notes with alternate sticking.

2) In the case of system 1, you can see that the melody should be played with the Bassdrum (RF/ BD / melody), so turn to page 14 and play the whole page (without stopping) with your bass drum, while maintening the alternated 16th notes.

The idea is to read well enough - and to have adequate control and independance - to insert all those melodies into the systems dynamically, as you progress through each reading page. Must maintain a good groove all along.

It is pretty easy with the first system, but things get more complicated very quickly. This book alone can drive you crazy for years. There was a great feature on the book in a recent modern drummer.
 
Re: gary chesters new breed

gazzdw - i think a lot of people buy this book and then get put off by the way it's all presented and the terms he uses. Don't be confused by the term melody - the melodies are just the lines of rhythm that you play against the repeated 'system' (groove), with whatever limb is indicated.

Gary Chester does give quite detailed instructions on how to go through the book, and surely if you follow these to the letter you'll see maximum improvement, but, as peoples have said, there's a lifetime of work in that one book. I use it when i have a specific coordination problem that I know i need to sort out - i go through and find the most relevant system (or make one up), and then go through all the melody pages

Don't get put off - find a system that you find most natural and start attempting the sight-reading. All to a metronome, of couse. Good luck!
 
Re: gary chesters new breed

thats what i like about that book, the reading text is really put toghther, it's very progressiv, it makes the process easier. Ive been going through it for about a 6 months, ive now got to "systems" i dont think im gona use. So im going through the reading text with ostinatoes i use and want more indepence in that he has left out.

It's a dam good book, very specific, and very usefull for getting indepence with any oastinato you want. In retrospect i could just Lois Bellson reading text, but i think garys text is far more modern, groovey and musical.
 
I've been practicing this book a lot for a while now, and I'm pretty deep into the book. However, my bass drum speed is lagging. I start slow and go through one page with the heel down, then go back and play the same page with the heel up. I then increase the speed on the met by 5 bpms and repeat the process. I can only max out on the met around 75/80 BPM. I feel that my bass drum speed is holding me back from playing the exrcies faster. Does anyone have any advice for me? Should I play the exercises longer on the same tempo? Thanks.
 
Should I play the exercises longer on the same tempo?

Yes. You should spend a good amount of time at each tempo -- preferably a week of daily practice -- and after you're entirely competent with it, raise the tempo by ONE bpm. Also, work on each individual measure on its own for a while to really "dig into" them.
 
Thanks. I'm definately going to practice each individual mesaure more. So say i start at 50 bpm. I should practice that tempo for a week? Then raise it one BPM each week?
 
Yep, and do remember to work on the singing and counting aspects as well. The book isn't about speed, but interdependence, accuracy and time. For example, I can play a long, clean stream 16th notes at around 110 bpm, but playing the New Breed systems cleanly at that tempo would be impossible. Accuracy and control need to be eased in tempo-wise, and I'm still working on it.

You could also work on a single melody page per day, and raise the tempo after ten days. Don't fall into the trap of just playing through the book, since that is not its purpose. Spend time with it and remember that the amount of books, pages and different exercises you go through doesn't correlate to your rate of improvement. Denote some time to daily practice of the New Breed and don't worry about "finishing" the book or getting to the next system. The very first system in itself is very challenging if you really focus on getting it clean, even, accurate and grooving.
 
Thanks. I'm definately going to practice each individual mesaure more. So say i start at 50 bpm. I should practice that tempo for a week? Then raise it one BPM each week?

I've worked through this book in it's entirety and the best way that I found for me was to pick three to four tempos and work them. In other words, if you can do it at 70 BPM. Do it first at 40 then 60 then 70 then 75. 75 might be a little sloppy and you might have to slow down to 72. It's OK. You will find that this multi-layered approach is a little more interesting and also a little more like real-life. Another thing that I used to do was vary the tempos by one or 2 points. Instead of always 70 BPM, sometimes it would be 68 or 71. This opens you up to different subtle changes.

Raising by one BPM is incredibly difficult to keep going in the long run. Why should it take you 10 weeks to go from 50 to 60? I agree with the concept of a gradient approach but one per week in like having a 50 mile runway before you take off.

You should finish the book at your technique level and at the tempos you can handle. Once you finish it, put it aside, work on something else for a few months and then come back and do it again, this time being more critical of yourself.

In this way, the student (you) gets some positive reinforcement along the way. Increasing by one BPM a week makes it very difficult to feel progress and you might end up dropping the whole thing.

Also, practice a system for at least 30 minures non-stop. None of this read a page and stop stuff. I used to have all of the melody pages laid out so that I could read SIX straight through without stopping. If you can't handle the thirty minutes then work up to it but don't push too hard and strain yourself.

Good luck, what you are working on is the real deal. Every bit of honest effort you put into this will pay off big time.

Oh yeah, one more thing.... SING!!!
 
Whaa? This is a bloody repeat thread, i've just replied to the other one, damn.
As with JEff, I disagree with Wavelength's approach. Wavelength, if this is how you use New Breed you must have the patience of a saint, 1 bpm increase?? I couldn't think of any way to lose interest in an area study quicker.

AS jeff advised, try to complete the melodies at a tempo you can handle. This worked for me, in allowing me to see what specific figures were causing me particular problems.
 
Jonescrusher- Sorry, I made another thread because the other one was not getting any replies.

Everyone- thanks for the advice. Out of all of your information, I will do the following:

I'm going to play each individual measure about 16-20 times rather than 4

I will play each tempo for a longer duration.

Since you guys are in debate about the whole 1 bpm thing, I will not increase by 5 bpms, but by a smaller number, somewhere between 2-3 bpms. I think 5 bpms is not a huge increase when playing some hand exercies, but on the bass drum I think 5 bpms is a big increase.

It's funny because I never realized my bass drum lag until I noticed it in one of my band's rehearsals. Our songs range from 86-105 bpms. I really can only play the new breed exercises around 70-75 bpm (max). So, right now my bass drum in my individual practice time compared to my band practice lags.


I have also learned Travis Barker went through this book. Any idea on how fast he can reef these exercises? BTW- I'm not a travis barker rulez fan, so please don't go into a debate here. I respect him for the right reasons, and that's that. Thanks again.
 
well i'm going to be taking drum lessons from marco minneman soon, so hopefully he could give me some tips on this book too
 
well i'm going to be taking drum lessons from marco minneman soon, so hopefully he could give me some tips on this book too

You are incredibly lucky! Marco is one of the best drummers on the planet. I never knew that he accepted less than advanced students. (No offense, but his book is WAY harder than New Breed). I began studying with Mike Mangini only after I was recommended by Dom Famularo, for example.

As far as "tips"...Just listen to him and you won't need advice from any of us here!!! Marco has advanced the subject of coordinated interdependence to the next level. He can get you through New Breed and then some!
 
Yeah, luckily, he lives close by. My first lesson is July 12th and I'm really nervous! haha. I asked his booking agent if I could continue studying the New Breed with him so hopefully that will work out.
 
The New Breed: pratise routines

Is there anyone who practises with this EXCELLENT BOOK?

If so, then could you please post here your opinion about practising with these books refered at this thread.

Could you tell us how you practise them?

Thanks people ;)
 
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Re: The New Breed and Stick Control: pratise routines

Heretic, I see you live on the Azorean islands, i'm guessing there are no drum teachers there
? A shame as you have so many questions that are best answered in person.

Aside from doing a search (!), apply the basics to your study - take it very slowly at first, and always use a metronome. And stop worrying about advanced hand techniques. They won't help you get this sort of material sounding good.
 
Re: The New Breed and Stick Control: pratise routines

Heretic, I see you live on the Azorean islands, i'm guessing there are no drum teachers there
? A shame as you have so many questions that are best answered in person.

Aside from doing a search (!), apply the basics to your study - take it very slowly at first, and always use a metronome. And stop worrying about advanced hand techniques. They won't help you get this sort of material sounding good.

Well, I'm hopening that this year, there will be a new school of music which is more cheaper from what I heard than the conservatory...

As soon as that new school is opening, I'll have drum classes ;)
Thanks for the suggestion. And yes, I always practise with a metronome and I do practise slow ;)
 
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