The Sound of Jazz Drumming
Creativity and development in melodic phrasing
A book by award-winning drummer Daniel Harding Israelsen
“Daniel has concisely synthesized technical aspects of drumming with musicality and improvisation. If this were the only drum book on the market, there’s enough guidance here to help any serious student advance significantly. And the inspired inclusion of a transcription of master soloist Frankie Dunlop is a great bonus. Highly recommended.”
– Jeff Williams (Professor at Royal Academy of Music in London, student of Alan Dawson and worked with Paul Bley, Dave Liebman, Milt Hinton, Joe Farrell, Richie Beirach, Michel Petrucciani, Randy Brecker, John Scofield, Stan Getz, Joe Lovano et al.)
The aim of The Sound of Jazz Drumming is to encourage and inspire other drummers to dig deeper into what they are playing or exploring at any moment during their practise sessions.
The book provides a hundred examples, based on 10 Jazz standards, about how to be creative with melodic phrases – e.g. based on the two-bar opening phrase of “I’ll Be Seeing You” by Sammy Fain .
Subjects covered in the book:
Technical exercises for intermediate to advanced level, including single stroke and double strokes and combinations of these.
Sophisticated technical exercises along with illustrations of the basic grip and ‘push-pull’ technique that enables players to facilitate clean and strong double strokes.
Unique triplet sticking patterns (exclusive paradiddle variations, with emphasis on phrasing) to develop fluidity and control.
Coordination patterns and specific practise method to develop fluidity within straight 8’s with emphasis on the drumming of established ECM artist Jon Christensen.
Templates to incentivise the reader to create their own patterns and exercises.
Exercises to develop setups when playing in larger ensembles e.g. Big Band.
Two phenomenal solo transcriptions by Jeff “Tain” Watts, and Frankie Dunlop – with info on how to take things to the next level including examples of how to develop your own vocabulary for your drum solos.
Exploration and application of quintuplets and septuplets in the context of the Swing/triplet feel.
Comes with downloadable Mp3 files recorded by the author of selected examples in the book.
… and a full page of recommended listening.
“The Sound of Jazz Drumming is not an ordinary drum book, but rather a project that focuses on explaining how to evolve into an independent Jazz musician. It will help you in building a solid foundation on which you can nurture your own style and personality with an array of elements such as sound, phrasing and creative improvisation. If only this material were available during my early stages of playing in Jazz bands as a young teenager.“
- Gert Mortensen (Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and recognised as one the leading concert and solo percussionists in the world)