drumming secrets

Today I officially started the new school year at the Rotterdam Pop Academy in Rotterdam; it was great to see the eagerness of our students having the urge to absorb new information. In fact today was one of those days where I got a a hectic day starting class at 11:00 and finishing at 20:00, with not even one little break for lunch. However the energy and positive vibes that these youngsters bring, I receive with open arms. It gives me inspiration.....and inspiring it was indeed!

At some point I got a question about shuffle feel grooves and that was the moment where I remembered a great example that overwelmed me when I was 20, years ago.......Reason enough to write another interesting blog!

As a young drummer I was raised with the idea that you can only become a good drummer when you study a lot and learn all about technique. At some point, when I was visiting my dear aunt and uncle in Glendora, I made a trip to Venice Beach in LA. I remember it was a great day, good wheather, beautiful girls on skates (just like the movies I was watching on TV) and lots of artistic action happening... Then suddenly I heard a groove.....a great groove played by a live drummer. I had to go there, I had to see it!! The sound of the acoustics between the buildings on that boulevard made it sound so fat and groovy...

Then, when I walked around the corner, I saw this group of skate dancers doing their acrobatic / dance tricks on the street, supported by a live drummer who was sitting on the beach, playing his small drumkit!! That guy made my day....here I was,Venice Beach,warm wheather, beautiful girls, a great audience and a live gig....only groove and nothing else.

I was totally in awe; this guy had a drumset that was almost falling appart.....cymbals damped with toomuch duck tape, bass drum without a resonance head, low pitched snare drum in overall a not so good drum set.... I could tell that drummer had no education at all; stiff motions in the arms and shoulders, no use of any wrists at all.... I think I could come up with hundred things to improve the technique of this drummer!!

But what a groove!!! And what a sound!!! This guy stole my heart; the few things he could play, he played with soo much joy and passion... it sounded like the best grooves I've ever heard in my live! He was so on the spot, so in the pocket!

I learned from this guy that 1st: you need to worry about time and the balance of you kit, 2nd: simply keep the groove going!!

I analyzed the grooves and the little technique he used to make it sound fat....and you know what? When I studied his grooves, it reminded me so much of old records of Booker T & The MG's, but then in the way this drummer played it! In fact it was so inspiring, he stayed in my head for quite a long time...On some occasions I still use his way of playing as an example in my head, to make my playing sound as groovy as him!

So to make a long story short, I introduced these grooves to my students as Booker T Street Grooves, in short written as "BTSG".......

And if you want to find out about what's this all about, I'd say, come back soon and check my workshop on line, ok? I will soon put up some new material about this subject, ok?

Keep up that groove.......YEAH!!