How to Play Jazz Drums

From the beginnings of jazz, great jazz drumming has come from the likes of Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and "Philly" Joe Jones. Jazz provides the drummer with the musical challenges of jazz time, tempos and beat. Follow these steps to play jazz drums.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Know your fundamentals. Jazz drumming can be complicated, so you have to get those basic beats down first.
2. Choose the right percussion equipment for jazz drumming. For instance, jazz rhythms depend on a good ride cymbal, but you don't want to drown out other instruments if you're playing with a group. You'll want different ride cymbals based on whether you're playing acoustic or electric and small band or large band.
3. Remember that much of drumming depends on the movement of your hand, wrist and arm. You want to let the stick do most of the work, so lighten up on the drumsticks to avoid a stiff or flat sound. Try to accumulate a variety of sticks, mallets and brushes for different sounds.
4. Learn the basic jazz time pattern with accents on beats 2 and 4. Lift your drumsticks higher on beats you want to accent. Try different accents. Jazz drummer Tony Williams often accents all four beats of a measure for a swing sound.
5. Listen to different jazz tempos. For example, while eighth notes have a triplet felt at medium tempos, they even out at faster tempos. You'll want to play quarter note pulse consistently.
6. Know your beat placement. Keep a steady pulse and rhythm going with a combination of notes on the beat and off the beat. But don't be afraid to experiment. By playing slightly ahead of other instruments, you can give the music a sense of vital energy. Try playing slightly on back of the beat for a different feel.
7. Experiment breaking up the time by "trading fours" instead of playing a traditional jazz pattern. Trading fours sometimes seems scattered, but a pattern does exist. Instead of sixteen beats in four bars of 4/4 time, play mixed meters like two bars of 5/4 and two of 3/4. You still get sixteen beats, but mixing it up changes the flow.