Video/Sound

EXERCISES

To give you an idea of the exercises in Musician’s Guide to Rhythm, here are recordings of the exercises we’ve included on the sample content page. You should look at that page for explanations of what you’re hearing.

Chapter 4, Degrees of Grounding and Suspension. There are four metronome clicks (quarter notes) before each piece of the exercise.

Chapter 4, Segues. This is the first segue exercise (1st degree grounding and suspension) in full: four bars/beats/four bars; two bars/beats/two bars; one bar/beats/one bar; then four, two, and one bars without the beats in between. It’ll give you the idea for practicing the 2nd and 3rd degrees.

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Chapter 20, Melody Improv: Addition

Chapter 20, Melody Improv: Subtraction

In these recordings, there is one measure of the guide pattern before each piece of each exercise, plus a pause between the one-bar and two-bar exercises.

A TASTE OF OUR MUSIC

Over the years, in addition to the work we do on our own, we’ve found the time for some recording together. Everything you hear is live, with no overdubs or edits.

Well You Needn’t (excerpt): The head of Thelonious Monk’s tune. Chapter 15, Work With Songs, deals with creating rhythm heads in this manner—on melodic instruments as well as percussion. Ken is on drumset, Julian on congas.

Potpourri of Sambas: Some sounds of Brazil. Ken is on repinique (high-pitched tom), bell, and snare; Julian on surdo (bass drum), bell, and woodblocks.

Ghana-Martinique-Cuba: Moving from Africa to the Americas, with both of us on bells and drums (Ghana); Julian on tanbou drum and Ken on tibwa sticks (Martinique); Ken on drumset and Julian on congas (Cuba).

We can come to your school and teach your students to do this!