"Wake 'n Break" Series

Today's wake 'n break is a two bar groove with a Bonham-esque feel to it. What really makes the groove for me though, is the lingering hi-hat note. Taking the bass drum first, we have a pickup on the "a" of 4, followed by notes on the "&a" of 1, the "e" of 2, and on the "a" of 4 in the first bar. Meanwhile, we have notes falling in the same spots, except we have two additional notes on "3&". Moving along to the hi-hats, we have notes falling on "1&2&", an open note on 3 which lingers until 4, and then two more hits on "4&" in the first bar. In the second bar, our hats are falling on "1&2&" with accented notes on "3&4&" with a short opening on the 4. Last but not least, we come to the snare drum. In the first bar, we have accented notes falling on the "e" of 1, on 2, and on 4, with ghost notes on the "a" of 2 and on the "a" of 4. Finally, the second bar has accented notes on the "e" of 1, on 2 and the "a" of 2, and on 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1595 - Two Bar Bonham-eque Groove With A Lingering Hi-Hat Note
https://youtu.be/s25aq8yV0Z8
 
It's Sunday Drumday! Today's wake 'n break is a two bar halftime backbeat with a pattern of two sixteenths and an eighth note played on the bell of the ride cymbal. Starting with the feet, our bass drum is falling on "1&" in both measures. Meanwhile, our hi-hats are being chicked on all of the upbeats or "&'s". Next, our ride cymbal has notes falling on "1e&", "2e&", "3e&", and "4e&" in both bars. Last but not least, we have our snare drum. In the first bar, we have an accented note on 3 and ghost notes the on the "&a" of 1, the "&a" of 2, the "&a" of 3, and on the "&a" of 4. Finally, in the second bar, we have accented notes on "3e&a" and on "4e&a" and then ghost notes on the "&a" of 1 and on the "&a" of 2. As always, I hope you dig it and enjoy the last of the weekend!

Wake n Break No. 1596 - Two Bar Halftime Backbeat With Ride Bell Pattern
https://youtu.be/uAKx008iK0U

Notation available at: https://i.imgur.com/yzBPgYr.jpg
 
A new week is upon us once again! Today's wake 'n break is a two bar backbeat with a hand to hand figure on the hats, which is made up of two sixteenth notes and an eighth note. In this video, there a couple of bass drum variations but I've broken down and notated my favorite of the bunch. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on 1, the "&" of 2, and on 3 in the first bar. Meanwhile, we have notes falling on the "&" of 1, the "e" of 2, and on 3 in the second bar. Next, we come to our hi-hats. In the first bar, we have notes falling on "1e&", the "&" of 2, on "3e&", and an open note on the "&" of 4. In the second bar, however, we have open notes on all of the upbeats or "&'s". Last but not least, our snare drum is voicing the backbeat on 2 and 4 in both bars. As always, I hope you dig it and here's to everyone's week starting off on the good foot!

Wake n Break No. 1597 - Two Bar Backbeat With Open Hi-Hat Notes On The Upbeats
https://youtu.be/4yI7OxhC0Fk

Notation available at: https://i.imgur.com/PavGFTX.jpg
 
Today's wake 'n break is a composite of three bars of 3/4 and one bar of 2/4. When J say that the groove has a "pulled out" feel, I'm referring to the rolled drags that sounds as if you're pulling the rug out from underneath the groove. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on "1&" in all four bars. Next, the ride cymbal is falling on 1 and 2 in the first three bars and then on 1 in the fourth bar. Moving along to the snare drum, we have a rolled ruff with accented notes on the "&" of 2 in each bar. Last but not least, our hi-hats have open note accents on the "&" of 2 in all four bars. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1598 - An Odd Meter Groove w/ A Pulled Out Feel
https://youtu.be/UINpTG8P5Sc
 
Happy Humpday! 🐪 Today's wake 'n break is a four on the floor groove that has a lick played between the tom and snare drum (which has dropped snare wires). Taking the feet first, both our bass drum and hi-hats are falling on 1, 2, 3, and 4. Moving along to the tom, we have notes falling on the "e&a" of 1, on 2 and the "a" of 2, the "a" of 3, and on 4. Last but not least, we have our snare has a thirty second note connected to the "e" of 1, followed by notes on the "e" of 2, the "e" of 3, and on the "&" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and hang in there because we're already halfway through the workweek!

Wake n Break No. 1599 - Four On The Floor Groove With Tom & Snare Lick
https://youtu.be/VCWSNZekftA

Notation available at: https://i.imgur.com/4f8Owxy.jpg
 
Today's wake 'n break is a somewhat busy backbeat with anticipated hi-hat openings. Starting with the bass drum, we have notes falling on "1&" and on the "e" and "a" of 4. Next, our hi-hats have notes falling on 1 and the "&a" of 1, the "&a" of 2, the "&a" of 3, and on the "e" and "a" of 4, with short openings on the "a" of 1, the "a" of 2, and on the "a" of 3. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes on 2 and 4, as well as ghost notes on the "e" of 1, the "e" of 2, on "3e", and finally on the "&" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1600 - Busy Backbeat w/ Anticipated Hi-Hat Openings
https://youtu.be/AlEdt2TNXRg
 
Thank goodness it's Friday! Today's wake 'n break is a four bar waltz groove with a staggered bass drum and ride triplet in the fourth bar. Looking at our feet first, our bass drum is falling on the 1 of each bar, but in the fourth bar, we have a quarter note triplet stagger with notes falling on 1 and the "let" of 1, the "trip" of 2, and on 3. Meanwhile, our hi-hats are being chicked on 2 and 3 in all four bars. Moving on to the ride cymbal, we have notes falling on 1, 2 and the "let" of 2, and on 3 in the first three bars. In the final bar, however, the ride is falling in unison with the bass drum triplet figure. Last but not least, we have our snare drum. First there is a ruff at the top of the groove. Second, we have accented notes on the "let' of 2 in the first three bars and then on 3 in the final bar. Finally, we have ghost notes on the "trip" and "let" of the first three bars. As always, I hope you dig it and much love! Note: I'll be adding the notation link to the YouTube description later tonight.

Wake n Break No. 1601 - Four Bar Waltz Groove With A Staggered Bass Drum Triplet
https://youtu.be/fgdQk0MVsDY
 
Today's wake 'n break is a boom bap backbeat with sixteenth notes on the hi-hats and a lot of ghost notes on the snare. Taking the bass drum first, we have a pickup on the "a" of 4, followed by notes on the "e&" of 1, on the "a" of 3, and finally we're back to the "a" of 4. Next, our hi-hats are keeping a steady slew of sixteenth notes on "1e&a, 2e&a, 3e&a, 4e&a" with a short open note on the "a" of 4. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes on 2 and 4, with ghost notes on the "e&a" of 2, on "3e&", and on "4e&". As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1602 - Boom Bap Backbeat With Ghosted Snare And An Anticipated Bass Drum/Hi-Hat Pickup
https://youtu.be/rUhd5DNSw7Q

Notation available at: https://i.imgur.com/MdsGpTP.jpg
 
It's Sunday Drumday! Today's wake 'n break is a quasi-linear backbeat that has tons of breathing room. Starting with the bass drum, we have notes falling on 1 and the "a" of 1, and on 4 and the "a" of 4. Next, our hi-hat has notes falling on the "e" of 1, an open note on the "&" of 2, and then on 4 with a slight opening. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes on 2 and 4, as well as a single ghost note on the "&" of 1. As always, I hope you dig it and enjoy the last of the weekend!

Wake n Break No. 1603 - Wide Open Quasi-Linear Backbeat
https://youtu.be/LiW8dWGzx0A

Notation available at: https://i.imgur.com/S3OAtKa.jpg
 
Since the forums were down yesterday, I'm posting both yesterday's and today's wake 'n break grooves here.

A new week is upon us once again! Today's wake 'n break is a snare groove with a broken swing feel. Looking at our feet first, our bass drum is falling on "1&" and "3&" while our hi-hats are being chicked on all of the upbeats or "&'s". Finally, our snare has accented notes on the "a" of 1, on "2&", the "a" of 3, and on "4&", with ghost notes in between. As always, I hope you dig it and here's to everyone's week starting off on the good foot!

Wake n Break No. 1604 - Snare Groove With A Broke Swing Feel
https://youtu.be/_ROps-6nRiw
Notation available at: https://i.imgur.com/AboNjBA.jpg




Today's wake 'n break is a two bar boom chick groove that has somewhat rapid single handed triplets on the snare. Taking the feet first, our bass drum is falling on 1 and 3 in both bars while our hi-hats are being chicked on 2 and 4. Next, the snare drum has single handed triplets with our right hand on "1 trip let, 2 trip let, 3 triplet, 4 trip let" in the first bar, and then on "1 trip let, 2 trip let, 3 trip let, 4" in the second bar. Last but not least, our left hand has notes on "2 trip let" and "4 trip let" in the first bar, and then on "2 trip let" and 4 in the second bar. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1605 - Two Bar Boom Chick Groove w/ Rapid Fire Triplets On The Snare
Notation available at:
 
Happy Humpday! Almost twenty years ago, I came up with a linear groove that I called "The Katz Pajamas" because it was inspired by one of my old instructors, linear master Frank Katz. This is a slight variation on that groove. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on 1 and the "a" of 1, the "&" of 2, and on the "e" of 3. Next, our hi-hats are falling on the "e" of 1, on 2 and the "a" of 2, and then open notes on the "&" of 3 and on the "&" of 4. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes on the "&" of 1, on 3, and on "4e", as well as a ghost note on the "e" of 2. As always, I hope you dig it and hang in there because we're already halfway through the workweek!

Wake n Break No. 1606 - Variation of My Linear "Katz Pajamas" Groove

Notation available at:
 
Today's wake 'n break is a funky groove where our bass drum is always falling in unison with a note on the hi-hat. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on 1 and the "&a" of 1, the "a" of 3, and on the "e" of 4. Looking at the hi-hats next, we have notes falling on 1 and the "&a" of 1, on "2&", on 3 and the "&a" of 3, and on the "e&" of 4, with opening on the "a" of 3 and on the "&" of 4. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes on "2&" and on the "e" of 3, and ghost notes on the "a" of 2 and on 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1607 - Funky Groove With Bass Drum Notes Only Falling In Unison With Hi-Hat Notes

Notation available at:
 
Thank goodness it's Friday! Today's wake 'n break is a two bar backbeat with eighth note triplets being played on the ride cymbal. Starting with the ride, we have a steady slew of triplets on "1 trip let, 2 trip let, 3 trip let, 4 trip let" throughout both bars. Moving along to the bass drum, we have notes on 1, 2, the "trip" and "let" of 3, and on the "trip" of 4 in the first bar. In the second bar, the bass drum is falling in the same places except we are omitting the note on the "trip" of 4. Moving along to the snare drum, we have accented notes falling on 2 and 4 and then ghost notes on the the "trip" and "let" of 2. Last but not least, our hi-hats are keeping a quarter note pulse on "1, 2, 3, 4". As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1608 - A Two Bar Eighth Note Triplet Backbeat

Notation available at:
 
Today's wake 'n break is a fat backbeat with the teleco teco rhythm on the bell of the ride cymbal and hi-hat chicks on the upbeats. Starting with the feet, our bass drum is falling on "1&" and on 2 while our hi-hats are being chicked on all of the upbeats or "&'s". Next, the bell of the ride has notes falling on "1&", on 2 and the "a" of 2, the "e" and "a" of 3, and on the "&" of 4. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes on 2 and 4 and then ghost notes on the "a" of 2, the "e" of 3, and on the "a" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1609 - Fat Backbeat With Teleco Teco Rhythm On The Ride & Hi-Hats On The Upbeats

No notation today because I'm running out of the house for a gig but I'll add the link here tomorrow.
 
It's Sunday Drumday! Today's wake 'n break is a house groove but instead of a backbeat on 2 and 4, we have a halftime backbeat with the accent on the upbeat of 3. Taking the bass drum first, we have a steady quarter note pulse on 1, 2, 3, and 4. Next, our hi-hats have a cascara variation happening, with notes falling on 1 and the "&a" of 1, the "e&" of 2, the "e" of 3, and on "4&" with the "&" of 4 being an open note. Last but not least, our snare drum has an accented note on the "&" of 3 and ghost notes on the "&a" of 2. As always, I hope you dig it and that you had a wonderful weekend!

Wake n Break No. 1610 - House Groove With Halftime Backbeat And Upbeat Snare Accent

Notation available at:
 
A new week is upon us once again! Today's wake 'n break is a linear groove in 6/8 that is broken up between the bass drum, hi-hat, snare, and ride bell. Looking at our feet first, our bass drum is falling on 1, 3, and 4, with hi-hat chicks on the "&" of 1 and on the "&" of 4. Moving along to the bell of the ride cymbal, we have notes falling on 2 and 5. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes falling on the "&" of 2 and on the "&" of 5. As always, I hope you dig it and here's to everyone's week starting off on the good foot!

Wake n Break No. 1611 - Linear Ride Bell Groove In 6/8

Notation available at:
 
Today's wake 'n break is a somewhat straight forward groove that is broken up among the bass drum, snare drum, ride bell, and hi-hats. It is also built around anticipated accents on the snare. Although this groove starts out with accented notes on all of the "a's", I am breaking down the second half of the video, which omits the accent on the "a" of 4. Looking at our feet first, our bass drum is falling on 1, 2, 3, and on "4&" while our hi-hats are being chicked on all of the upbeats or "&'s". Next, our ride bell has notes falling on "1&2&3&4&". Last but not least, our snare drum has anticipated accents on the "a" of 1, the "a" of 2, and on the "a" of 3, as well as ghost notes on the "e" of 1, the "e" of 2, the "e" of 3, and on the "e" and "a" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1612 - Sixteenth Notes Broken Up Between The Ride & Snare w/ Anticipated Accents

Notation available at:
 
Happy Humpday! Today's wake 'n break is a boom chick groove that utilizes a Morfbeats five spring Aura on the head of the snare drum. Personally, I think the boom chick ostinato would sound better on my Gretsch kit because that bass drum is more open and boomier than this one. Taking the feet first, our bass drum is falling on 1 and 3 while out hi-hats are falling on 2 and 4. Now let's look at the Aura. Starting with the first spring, we have an anticipated pickup on the "e" of 1, as well as a note on the "a" of 2. Next, the second spring is falling on "2e" and last but not least, the third and largest spring is falling on the "e&a" of 3, and on "4e&a". As always, I hope you dig it and hang in there because we're already halfway through the workweek!

Wake n Break No. 1613 - Boom Chick Groove With A Five Spring Morfbeats Aura On The Snare

Notation available at:
 
I hope you're all having a great 4th of July. Today's wake 'n break is a cross stick backbeat that utilizes a small kalimba draped over the hi-hats. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on 1 and the "a" of 1, the "&" of 2, the "&" of 3, and on the "e" of 4. Next, the kalimba is being struck on "1e&a", "2e&", "3e&", and on "4e" and the "a" of 4. Last but not least, our cross stick is falling on 2, 4, and on the "a" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1614 - Cross Stick Backbeat With A Kalimba Draped Over The Hi-Hats

Notation available at:
 
Thank goodness it's Friday! Today's wake 'n break is a fat backbeat that utilizes a Brazilian tamborim on top of the high tom. The sound of the tamborim on the tom resembles bongos. Taking the feet first, our bass drum has a note on 1 and then a quick Bonham-esque sixteenth note triplet (counting "1 trip let & trip let") on the second "trip" and "let" of 3. Meanwhile, our hi-hats are falling on 1, 2, 3, and 4. Next, the tamborim is falling on 1 and the "&a" of 1, the "e&" of 2, and on "3e". Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes on 2 and 4, and then ghost notes on the "e" of 1 and the "a" of 2. As always, I hope you dig it and much love! I have to run out of the house for a gig, so no time to transcribe today's groove.

Wake n Break No. 1615 - A Fat Backbeat With Tamborim On Top of The High Tom
 
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