In our quest for swing independence, one of the goals is to keep the ride pattern consistent. Try the exercise below and see what it does for your thinking and swinging. Keep the snare, hat and kick all at the same dynamic level at first, then try playing around with some phrasing.
Remember, start slow and gradually speed up. Don't play this exercise any faster than you can do it accurately.
Once you're feeling comfortable with it, try laying it down with the track below. Go for at least a full minute, and get it really dialed in.
Okay, if you've been working on the exercises from the Stick Control book with the Slow-Fast Workout, you may be ready for the next step: Slow-Fast with "Jazz Feet."
Just remember to start slow enough to play it right. If you make a mistake two tries in a row, go slower. Your brain doesn't care how fast you are playing the exercise, but if you do it wrong two or three times, it will start to think that's how you want it played.
Set a tempo and time goal, like 90 beats per minute (BPM) for a full sixty seconds. Again, if you can do that, you can be pretty certain you've mastered the exercise at that tempo.
