Free Drum Lessons – Simon Phillips – Dave’s Gone Skiing – Toto – Part 02 – Layers

Dave's Gone Skiing (Toto - Simon Phillips) - Part 2

This is Part 2 in the series of "Dave's Gone Skiing".

(If you're looking for the article with the actual groove transcription and video drum lessons simply click here. If you need help counting this you should also visit that article.)

Now on with the lesson. Let's talk Layers.

We'll take a common pattern of R.rr and put a stepped hi hat underneath on the 8th note upbeats.

This is the same pattern you would be playing when playing uptempo jazz grooves. Except you will be playing an accented note on the ..N. (2 and 4 if you are counting 8th notes). This is also what gives it that jazzy vibe when played on the ride, especially with the stepped hi hat on 8th note upbeats (again, 2 and 4 if you are counting 8th notes).

I notated this with an accent on the quarter note, the last stroke of the three note pattern. This is easier to play at lower tempos once you have the movement down.

For more information on this I suggest you take a look at paragraph 19 Ostinato Variations in the 3D Drumming System, and if you're a Skillz Premium Member online at C/S21 Technique - Moeller Derivatives.

Ostinato in 9/8

Now we'll play the ostinato in 9/8 which means we need to play two bars in order for the pattern to resolve. Be sure to count out loud with this one.

Need more help? Just get access to all of the Odd Time Signatures material in the Premium Membership. You'll save an enormous amount of time, that's for sure.

Exercise 01 - Basic Groove in 8/8

First let's get the core of the groove happening. We will now play what I call 2 + 2 Layered Coordination. This means two limbs play the ostinato, and two limbs play a melody.

Ostinato: RH + LH = R.rr + 8th note upbeats

Melody: RF + LH:

LH: Snare on 2 and 5 instead of 2 and 4

RF: Bass Drum on the 1 and one the 4th 16th note of beats 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Exercise 04 - 4th Bar Accents Added

Now we'll make it into a 4 bar groove.

In the 4th bar the bass drum now plays the 2nd 16th note of beats 3 and 4.

Exercise 05 - 16th Note Displacement Forward Added

Beat 1 of bar three gets displaced forward. This is often confusing. It is displaced forward because we're talking about time: it's played earlier so it's displaced forward (in time).

If you experience difficulty in executing displacements of 1, go to paragraph 16 of parts GFTEAM in your copy of the 3D Drumming System.

Exercise 06 - Adding Ghost Notes

And finally we'll add some ghots notes to spice this groove up a little.

I chose t use these primarily but as said in the video, you're more than welcome to try some of your own. Use this as a nice starting point and take it from there.

Adding optional ghost notes is a nice tool which is a combination of technical capabilities and musical (conceptual) sensitivity.

If you want to learn more about this there are a couple of really interesting Premium Courses on the way:

- Groove Construction

- Fill Construction

- Drum Solo Construction

And these are just a few of the Premium Courses which are on the way...

That’s it

There you have it. After doing these exercises and getting them up to speed you should be able to get this groove at the tempo of quarter note = 113 bpm.

If you become a member you can practice this along to the MIDI files so you can practice at your tempo of choice for as long as you need. This way so know if you get all of the exercises at a minimum of 113 bpm you are prepared to take on this groove.

Become a Skillz Premium Member

The picture above is from the 3D Drumming System book, which is in the Premium Membership. You can get both at a ridiculously low price.. FOR LIFE!

Just watch the 3D Drumming System presentation and imagine lots more online drum courses about topics such as Odd Time Signatures, Double Bass Drumming, Brazilian Drumming, a Check-Up Course to know exactly where your drumming is at and what you need to do to improve as quickly and as efficiently as possible and much more.

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Have some Simon Phillips Fun!

Thanks for watching, I hope you get a lot out of this. Fun and progress! If you liked the video and the blog post, I’d like you to take the time to like it and share it among your drummer friends. 

Stay tuned for part 3 of this series about Dave's Gone Skiing because we're gonna do more cool things with it. Don't know exactly when the next one will air, lots of work on the Premium Membership and with helping students become better players and this is always priority number one. If you decide to become part of the Skillz Drum Family your progress will become a priority of mine as well.

See you in the next one, have fun practicing and playing drums!!

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