I'm not saying do it this way then memorize it. I'm saying learn how to move the rudiments around. The whole lick library is a muscle memory thing, not a brain exercise. I'm in no way encouraging @Auspicious to try and stuff memorized parts into places they dont fit. I'm saying that taking the rudiments and learning how to move them around will give him the freedom to be able to do so when needed. The more he does it, the more freedom he will have to do so when the opportunity presents itself.where I do believe this is good practice advice and 5 7 and 9 stroke rolls in different combination orders do create some very nice patterns I do not believe that this is a way to become good at improvising ... again just my opinion
when you are playing premeditated "licks" and pulling from some sort of library you are not improvising
do the great players play a lot of the same things over and over ? ... of course ... but i don't believe someone just learning to improvise should be stock piling "licks" to incorporate into improvising
that is sort of the antithesis of improvising
I'd much rather hear someone play a one handed simple 8th note phrase based on the melody of the tune then hear them play 5 and 7 stroke rolls strung together in some sort of premeditated lick sequence
I type all of this will due respect Mr. Polak of course
I just believe that this approach is a slippery slope for someone who is still trying to find their way through their ability to improvise and often when approached this way it turns into memorized strung together licks that create a comfort zone of well practiced patterns ... and that is not improvising
that is regurgitated practice sessions
it becomes less about ideas and more about what sticking pattern I'm going to play to execute this "lick"
I'd much rather see someone scat a 4 bar phrase ... "zat do, ziggity bah gat, da dat , gat da dat, gah do do" then recreate that orchestrated around the drums than tie a bunch or rudiments together.
I don't see playing rudiments around the drums and improvising as the same thing at all .
being able to string things together is a great thing to be able to do ... but you don't need that to improvise
being able to eventually fit those into your improvisations is a bonus for sure ... but you definitely don't want to sit there thinking ..."ok I'll put a 5 here then a 7 ".... that's too much planning in my opinion
if we practice those rudiments separately hopefully they will creep into our improvising eventually
but to premeditate "licks" I think is counterproductive to being free improvisationally
To me it's much more simple ... think in phrases and then make sounds on the drums... however you achieve those sounds is TBD
We all work differently and that's a beautiful thing
But I can always tell when someone pretends to improvise by playing "licks" and it's never pleasing to my ear
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