Do I really need to read music?

I get asked this question all the time. "Why do I need to read music?"

Well, imagine if you couldn't read English. First, you wouldn't be reading this post. Imagine if someone had to read everything to you everyday, from street signs to magazines, to text messages and Facebook status updates. How would that be for you? In a word, debilitating.

Certainly there are lots of good people in the world - brilliant, even - that can't read or write. But those people, almost without exception, would encourage you not to follow their path. Reading and writing are the gateway to learning and communication on a much higher and more efficient level.

The same is true for music. Of course, there is much to be learned from listening and imitating. And there are many great musicians who never learned to read or write music. But the written version of what you're hearing can allow you to be more expressive and accurate than you could ever be without seeing it. Written music also fills in more of the "why" of the music, sort of like how books can tell you a character's thoughts, but the movie rarely can.

For my money, reading music is as critical to the musician as reading and writing your spoken language is to the average human being. Not doing it won't end your career, but gaining the skill can only make you better.

Happy reading!

Music is a language: learn it like one

I've always found it interesting that when we are trying to learn the language of music, we often limit ourselves to one particular dialect. When I moved to the midwest (USA) for a few years, it took me forever to figure out what a 'bubbler' was, and people looked at me funny when I asked for a drinking fountain. But I'm from the mountain west. It's not a bubbler (or is it?), it's a drinking fountain.

So it is with learning a style of music. Many of my students are learning jazz, and most of them play jazz at school, but they don't actually know how to speak the language. And the biggest reason we don't speak jazz is that we rarely hear it being spoken.

What do you hear on the radio at the mall, doctor's office, or grocery store? Usually it is a pop station or what we lovingly refer to as "elevator music." Not a good example of jazz. Again, in mainstream culture, you won't hear jazz.

You have to seek it out.

In the Salt Lake City area (and most of Utah, southern Idaho and western Wyoming) you can catch jazz here, on KUER 90.1 FM from 8 PM to 12 AM. There are also great online resources, such as Pandora, Jango and Grooveshark.

When I was in college, a roommate of mine attempted to teach me Spanish. He had some great books and CDs, but also told me that I had to watch daytime television.....in Spanish. Every day. I know it sounds odd, but it didn't take too long before I started to hear the words and phrases I was studying in the TV shows, and my accent improved tremendously.

The same is true with jazz - or any other style or genre you want to master. And just like a small child learning to talk, you start by imitating, then you speak with your own voice.

Good luck, and happy drumming!

Groove of the Day

Try out this 12/8 groove. It's deceptively simple.

Some tips:

1.The diamond-shaped note heads above the staff are the ride cymbal bell (alternating with hi-hat). 


2. Remember that a hi-hat note with an "o" above it is to be played slightly open, but make sure you get it closed for the next note. 


3. The note on count 10 (or 4, depending on how you're counting) is the floor tom.


4. Yep, right hand is moving all over the place while the left stays home on the hi-hat.

Happy drumming!

Reading Drum Set Music

Often times I expect people to read my mind, and it has been pointed out to me that I'm expecting my non-student readers (people who aren't taking lessons from me) to guess at what I mean by some of the notation in the exercises I've presented.

Well, here you go:



This is the simple version. In general, the exercises I post will include no more than what you see here, and I'll try to give some indications as to whether you are using the hat or the ride. And I'll add notes if I include more drums/cymbals than this.

As a general rule, stems pointing up are played with hands while stems pointing down are played with the feet.

Another rule (although I break it a lot) is that the instruments are listed in pitch order - higher pitches at the top of the staff and going down the staff as they go down in pitch.*

Leave me a comment below if you'd like more clarification.

Happy music-making!

*The obvious exception to this rule is the snare drum, notated between the two toms (so, below the first/rack tom), when it is usually the highest pitched drum of the set. Another exception is the hi-hat played with foot, at the very bottom of the staff, while its pitch is perhaps the highest sound of the kit.