"Wake 'n Break" Series

Thank goodness it's Friday! Today's wake 'n break is a 6/4 groove for the pandeiro and utilizes the finger roll technique. My pandeiro chops are rusty as hell, so apologies for any sloppiness. Taking the thumb first, we have open tones on 1, 5, and 6, as well as a closed tone on 2. Moving along to the finger tips, we have notes falling on the "&" of 1, the "&" of 2, and a finger roll on 3, followed by notes on the "&" of 4, the "&" of 5, and the "&" of 6. Last but not least, we have a single palm strike on 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1853 - A 6/4 Pandeiro Groove With A Finger Roll On Three

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Today's wake 'n break is a 6/4 swing groove (counting in eighth note triplets) for the snare drum. Our right hand is stirring in a circular motion and each circle takes one beat to complete. Meanwhile, our left hand is playing accents on 2, 4, the "trip" of 5, and on the "let" of 6. As always, I hope you dig it and much love! Sorry, but no notation today.

Wake n Break No. 1854 - A "Stirring The Soup" Brush Groove For Snare Drum In 6/4
 
Today's wake 'n break is a boom bap slap groove for the pandeiro. Looking at our thumb first (which is playing the bass tone), we have a pick up on the "a" of 4, followed by notes on the "e&" of 1 and on the "a" of 4. Taking the slap next, we have notes falling on 2, the "a" of 2, and on 4. Moving along, we have shaking motions with upward shakes on the "e" of 2 and on 3, and downward shakes on the "&" of 2 and on the "e" of 3. Last but not least, our finger tip is playing a roll on the "&" of 3 and ending on 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love! I think I should have my drums set back up tomorrow.

Wake n Break No. 1855 - A Boom Bap Slap Groove For Pandeiro With A Finger Roll

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A new week is upon us once again and I finally have some of my drums set back up after a busy week. Today's wake 'n break is a two bar phrase and is what I often call a "hi-hat humper", which refers to playing busy hand to hand single strokes on the hi-hats. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on "1&" in the first bar and on "1&2" in the second bar. Moving along to the hi-hats next, we have notes falling on "1e&a", "2e&a", the "e&" of 3, and on "4e&" in the first bar, followed by notes on "1e&a", "2e&a", and an open note on 4 in the second bar. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented and anticipated notes on 3, the "a" of 3, and on the "a" of 4 in the first bar, followed by accented notes on "3e&" in the second bar. As always, I hope you dig it and here's to everyone's week starting off on the good foot!

Wake n Break No. 1856 - An Uptempo Two Bar Hand To Hand "Hi-Hat Humper" Groove

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Today's wake 'n break is a two bar groove in 3/4 (at least that's how I'm feeling it) where we are riding the snare drum instead of a cymbal. Looking at the snare first, our right hand is playing eighth notes on "1&2&3&" in both bars. Meanwhile, our left hand is falling and creating a flam on 2 and leading a ruff on 3 in the first bar. In the second bar, our left hand is leading a ruff on 1, a flam on 2, and then another ruff lead on 4, followed by notes on the "e" and "a" of 3 with an accent on the "a" of 3. Moving along to the bass drum, we have notes falling on 1 and 3 in both bars and last but not least, our hi-hats are being chicked on all of the upbeats or "&'s". As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1857 - A Two Bar Groove With A Ridden Snare In 3/4

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Happy Humpday! ?Today's wake 'n break is a samba inspired groove in 6/4 (to be honest, I'm going crazy trying to figure out whether the groove in 6/4, 6/8, or 3/4 but I'm settling on 6/4. If I'm wrong, let me know!) with an anticipated tom note. Looking at the foot ostinato first, we have our bass drum falling on 1, the "&" of 2, on 3, the "&" of 4, on 5, and on the "&" of 6 while our hi-hats are being chicked on 2, 4, and 6. Moving along to the high tom, we have notes falling on the "&" of 1 and on 3. Last but not least, our snare drum (with dropped wires) has notes on "4&" and then accented notes on 5 and on "6&". As always, I hope you dig it and hang in there because we're already halfway through the workweek!

Wake n Break No. 1858 - A Samba Inspired Groove In 6/4

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Today's wake 'n break is a lumbering backbeat that utilizes the side of the ride cymbal as opposed to the bell or body of the cymbal. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on "1&" and on "3&". Looking at the ride cymbal next, we have a steady eighth note pulse on "1&2&3&4&". Moving along to the snare drum, we have accented notes on 2 and 4. Last but not least, our hi-hats have some sixteenth note triplet action (counting: 1 trip let & trip let) with notes on the second "let" of 2, the first "trip" and "let" of 3 and the second "trip" and "let" of 3, and on the second "let" of 4, with chicks on the "&" of 2 and on the "&" of 4. As usual, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1859 - A Lumbering Backbeat Utilizing The Side of The Ride Cymbal

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Thank goodness it's Friday! Today's wake 'n break is a four bar groove that utilizes an Aura from Morfbeats over a boom chick foot ostinato. Looking at the foot ostinato first, our bass drum is falling on 1 and 3 while our hi-hats are being chicked on 2 and 4. Now we come to the aura, where I'm using four different tones. The first tone has notes falling on "1e&a" in all four bars. Next, the second tone has a note falling on 2 in all four bars. Moving along to the third tone, we have notes falling on the "&" of 2 in all four bars. Last but not least, we come to the fourth tone where we have notes falling on the "e" and "a" of 3 in the first three bars, and then on the "e" of 3 and on the "e" of 4 in the fourth and final bar. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1860 - Four Bar Boom Chick Groove Utilizing A Morfbeats Aura

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Today's wake 'n break is a two bar groove in 4/4 where our snare and bass drum are falling in unison with one another the entire time. Looking at both the snare and bass drum first, we have notes falling on "1e" and the "a" of 1, "2e" and the "a" of 2, and on "3&" in both bars, with an additional note on 4 in the second bar. 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. 1861 - Two Bar Groove In 4/4 With Snare & Bass Falling In Unison

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Today's wake 'n break is a two bar groove with four on the floor and all anticipated snare accents. Looking at the bass drum first, we have notes on 1, 2, 3, and 4 in both bars, with an additional note on the "&" of 4 in the second bar. Moving along to the snare, we have anticipated accents on the "a" of 1 and on the "a" of 3 in both bars. Last but not least, our hi-hats have notes falling on 2 and 4 in both bars. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No.1862 - Two Bar Four On The Floor Groove With An Anticipated Feel Up Top

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A new week is upon us once again! :) Today's wake 'n break is a drum 'n bass inspired groove that starts on the snare drum. Looking at the snare drum first, we have accented notes on "1e" and on 4, as well as ghost notes on the "a" of 1 and on the "a" of 4. Taking the hi-hats next, we have notes falling on the "&" of 1, on "2&", the "&" of 3, and on "4&", with the "&" of 2 and the "&" of 3 being played as open notes. Last but not least, our bass drum is falling on "2&" and on the "&" of 3. As always, I hope you dig it and here's to everyone's week starting off on the good foot!

Wake n Break No. 1863 - Drum 'N Bass Inspired Groove Starting On The Snare Drum

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Today's wake 'n break is a two bar boom bap beat that teases line number five on page five of Stick Control, being broken up between the ride cymbal and snare drum. Looking at the bass drum first, the first bar has notes falling on 1 and the "a" of 1, the "a" of 2, on "3&", and on the "a" of 4. Meanwhile, we have notes falling on "1&", the "a" of 2, on "3&", and on the "a" of 4 in the second bar. Moving along to the ride cymbal next, we have notes falling on 1 and the "a" of 1 and on the "e&" of 2 in the first bar. Looking at the snare drum next, our first has accented notes on 2 and 4 with ghost notes on the "e&" of 1, the "a" of 2, and on the "e" and "a" of 4. Meanwhile, our second bar has accented notes on 2 and 4 with ghost notes on the "e" and "a" of 2 and on the "e" and "a" of 4. Last but not least, we come to the hi-hats. In the first bar, we have notes falling on "3&4&" with an open note on the "&" of 3, and in the second bar, we have notes falling on "1&2&3&4&" with openings on the "&" of 1 and on the "&" of 3. Finally, our hi-hats are being chicked on the "&" of 1, the "&" of 2, and the "&" of 4 in the first bar, and then on the "&" of 2 and on the "&" of 4 in the second bar. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1864 - Boom Bap Beat Teasing Line 6 on Page 5 From Stick Control

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Happy Humpday! ? Today's wake 'n break is built around a simple tom-to-snare drum lick and it has an upbeat pick up. Looking at the pick up first, we have a bass drum and open hi-hat note on the "&" of 4. Now let's look at the groove itself. Starting with the bass drum, we have notes falling on the "&" of 1 and on the "&" of 4. Looking at the snare drum next, we have accented notes falling on 2, the "a" of 3, and on 4. Meanwhile, we have ghosted notes on the "a" of 2 and on the "e&" of 3. Moving along to the tom, we have a single note on 3 and last but not least, our hi-hats have an open note on the "&" of 4 and are being chicked on the "&" of 1 and on "2&3&4". As always, I hope you dig it and hang in there because we're already halfway through the work week!

Wake n Break No. 1865 - Tom-To-Snare Groove With An Upbeat Pickup

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Today's wake 'n break is an extremely uptempo train groove that is built on top of the traditional baiao foot ostinato, however this groove is neither country nor Brazilian. Taking the foot ostinato first, our bass drum is falling on 1 and the "a" of 1, the "&" of 2, on 3 and the "a" of 3, and on 4 and the "a" of 4. Meanwhile, our hi-hats are being chicked on the upbeats or "&'s". Moving along to the ride cymbal next, we have notes falling on 1, 2, 3, and 4. Last but not least, our snare drum has notes falling on the "e&a" of each beat, with accents on the "&a's". At some point in the groove, the accent moved to only the "a's". Have fun trying both! As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1866 - Extremely Uptempo And Busy Baiao Train Groove

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Today's wake 'n break is an eerie and spacious two bar groove that kind of resembles a funeral march. What gives the groove it's spooky feel is the cymbal scrape on the ride cymbal. This one actually changed a bit in the vid but the very first example is the one that I liked the most and decided to break down. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on 1 in the first and on "1&2" in the second bar. Looking at the snare drum next, we have notes falling on the "&" of 2 and on "4e" in both bars. Moving along to the hi-hats, we have open accents that ring out on 1 and on the "&" of 2 in the first bar, and then another open accent on the "&" of 2 in the second bar. We also have hi-hat chicks on 2 in the first bar and on 1 and 2 in the second bar. Last but not least, our ride cymbal scrape begins on 1 and ends on the "&" of 2 in the first bar. As always, I hope you dig it and much love! Also, I apologize for the strange notation but I couldn't think of a way to notate a scrape!

Wake n Break No. 1867 - Slow & Eerie Funeral March With Cymbal Scrape

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Saturday night used to be alright for fighting but since this corona virus is shutting shit down, stay inside and learn a new drum groove instead! ? Today's wake 'n break is a busy uptempo groove with sixteenth notes broken up among the drums and ride cymbal. Looking at the bass drum first, we have notes falling on "1&" and on 2. Next, our ride cymbal is falling in unison with the bass drum. Moving along to the snare, we have accented notes on 3 and on the "a" of 4, as well as ghost notes on the "e" and "a" of 1, the "e&a" of 2, the "e" of 3, and on the "3&" of 4. Next, our tom has notes falling on the "&a" of 3 and last but not least, our hi-hat foot is keeping a quarter note pulse throughout the groove. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1868 - Busy Uptempo Groove With Sixteenths Broken Up Between The Drums & Ride

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Today's wake 'n break is a hand to hand hi-hat groove in 6/4, with "hand to hand" referring to using both the right and left hands on the hi-hats (in this case, a series of singles with an occasional double with the right hand). Taking the bass drum first, we have notes on 1 and on 6. Looking at the hi-hats next, we have notes falling on "1&", 2, on "3&", 4, and on "5&6&". Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes on the "&" of 2 and on the "&" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1869 - Two Handed Hi-Hat Groove In 6/4

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A new (and crazy) week is upon us once again! :) Today's wake 'n break is a two bar groove in 6/8 that utilizes what I call the "cupping" technique, which is hovering your hand over the bell of the ride cymbal (or any other cymbal you would like) and moving closer and further away to alter the pitch, similar to a theremin. It may be hard to hear the effect in the video so you may want to listen to this one with headphones. The effect is much more prevalent when you are in the same room. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes on 1 in the first bar and on 6 in the second bar. Looking at the ride next, we have a crash on the 1 of the first bar, followed by cups on 3, 5, and 6 in the first bar, and then on 2 and 4 in the second bar. This is actually voicing the majority of the traditional bembe rhythm. Moving along to the snare drum, we have a single note on 1 of the second bar. Last but not least, our hi-hats are being chicked on 3 in the first bar and on 1 and 5 in the second bar. As always, I hope you dig it and here's to everyone's week starting off on the good foot!

Wake n Break No. 1870 - Two Bar Groove In 6/8 With A Cupped Ride Bell

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Happy St. Patrick's Day and please give me a pass on the worst intro accent I have ever done. ?☘? lol Today's groove is in six (I have to admit that I'm not certain whether this groove is in 6/8 or 6/4) but I've broken it down in 6/4. If you can tell me which, it would be greatly appreciated! For this one, I decided to take two empty bottles of Guinness and play a clave variation on top of a simple but unique foot ostinato. Looking at the feet first, our hi-hats are being chicked on 2, 4, and 6, while our bass drum is falling on the "&" of 2, the "&" of 4, and on the "&" of 6. Now looking at the bottles, we have notes falling on "1&", 2, "3&", the "&" of 4, on the "5", and on 6. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1871 - A Glass Guinness Clave Groove In Six

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Happy Humpday! ? Today's wake 'n break is a very uptempo and busy groove in 5/4 that was inspired by former instructor and linear/quasi-linear master, Frank Katz. Looking at the bass drum first, we have notes falling on "1&", 2 and the "a" of 2, the "e" of 3, on "4&", and on the "e" of 5. Next, our ride bell is falling in unison with each bass drum note. Moving along to the snare drum, we have accented notes on 3 and on the "&" of 5, as well as ghost notes on the "e" and "a" of 1, the "e&a" of 2, the "&a" of 3, the "e" and "a" of 4, and on the "a" of 5. Last but not least, our hi-hats are keeping a quarter note pulse on 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. As always, I hope you dig it and make the most out of being quarantined!

Wake n Break No. 1872 - Uptempo And Busy Groove In 5/4 With Heavily Ghosted Snare

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