Brushes

February 22nd, 2010 by admin

This lesson is devoted to one of the most rewarding areas of jazz drumming. A long time ago, the brushes were invented initially as a fly killing devise. I can’t even imagine the circumstances that led up to sweeping a flyswatter across a snare drum, but I’m not complaining. I’m glad someone found a better use for these things.

Brushes are probably regarded as a drummer’s tool for slow quiet ballads. I most definitely do not. Nothing excites me more than to call a song around 300bpm and whip out my brushes. They provide a quiet intensity where sticks wouldn’t work.

Below are some basic brush patterns to be played on the snare drum. Each of these examples are for the basic 4/4 jazz swing beat.

The simplest brush pattern below uses the left hand to sweep and the right to accent the beats. Notice “a” is used to notate the upbeats.

The left hand in this pattern is making a full rotation for every quarter note. This provides a driving pulse.

Another pattern that provides a strong driving pulse. With this pattern however, both hands are sweeping in small, opposing circles.

This pattern is compatible with faster tempos. In this pattern the “chang-a-lang” is split between both hands. The left hand is really only accenting the 2, and 4, and implying 1, and 3. The right hand is playing 1, and 3 with the upbeats.