– Hey there, I'm
Jason Sutter at Drumeo and I'm here with five tips
to improve your brush playing. The first tip I have
is when I'm practicing, I try to and I recommend
this to all players, is to be able to play,
to reverse your strokes. So if you're playing
everything clockwise, be able to play everything
counter-clockwise. And this is great
to practice because a lot of younger brush
players always say, how do I get back into a pattern if I go to say play an accent
or some sort of a passage.
So what I mean by
that is say if you were playing a stroke. (plays rhythm) One, two, a three, four, one. Be able to reverse it (plays rhythm) One, two, a three, four, a one. Notice that with my right
hand, I'm able to play, or (plays rhythm) Either way, depending. So
if I'm playing something… (plays rhythm) You can see how I just
reversed it there. In sweep strokes, if I was
playing everything clockwise, so say everything
was going this way. (plays rhythm) One. Be able to play… (plays rhythm) Out, so instead of
all playing in… (plays rhythm) I'm now playing everything out. (plays rhythm) Make sense? That's a great technique. A great idea to
improve your playing, is always practice being
able to play the reverse of whatever pattern
you're comfortable with. The second tip I have,
deals with fluidity, and getting a real
fluid sound, because brushes should
sound very relaxed, and very full and flowing. I try to relate it to water.
I try to imagine running water, and actually, a great practice
is, in a swimming pool, you can actually practice this. And I found the best
way to get the most, biggest, fullest sound
out of a brush pattern when you're
sweeping, is playing, is leading with the
bat with your wrists. So, your wrist is
always coming first, and is always leaving first. So, it's coming up, and leaving. And so, I imagine, say
if I was looking down, and if I was in a swimming pool, my wrists are moving like
this, if that makes sense.
So, you can practice this
actually, in the bathtub, or a swimming pool. If you're in a swimming
pool, check it out. Just let the water pull your
hands, if you're relaxed, and you'll automatically
get this motion. And I try to apply
that when I'm playing. And I feel like that
leaves the brush on the head the longest,
by leading with the wrists. So check it out. I'm
leading with my wrists, and I'm leading with my wrists. So, the sweep pattern. (plays rhythm) I'm always leading left hand. (playing rhythm) So it's that motion
with the brush where I'm always
leading with the wrists. That makes sense? So that's another great
technique for fluidity. That's my tip number two. Tip number three
is pretty simple. When I'm practicing,
when I was younger, especially when I was
first getting into brushes, I would wake up every day,
at University of North Texas, and I would go to
my practice room, and I'd go there first
thing in the morning, because brushes are kind
of meditative to me. They're kind of a
way to clear my head.
And hopefully they
could be for you, too. It's almost like
Tai Chi with sound. Which is kind of an
interesting way to look at it. And I would go to my practice
room, and I would practice brushes for an hour
with the lights off. And I found that if I did that, I could really start to focus
and kind of almost meditate on the sound and make
it as fluid as possible. So I'm gonna show you an example
of what I'm talking about. And this is super simple,
but it's a great way to really hone in on getting
that really sweet, fluid sound in a ballad. (plays rhythm) Cool? That's tip number three,
practice in the dark. For tip number four,
super simple one man. Just get a, I always get asked, what's a great way to
start playing along? And I think as any
good young player, you should start playing along
with a great jazz record.
I found a great record, I
think that worked for me around this time when
I was in college, was a great record called
"Kind of Blue," by Miles Davis, with the great
Jimmy Cobb on drums. And that record to me, the
tempos are all medium tempos. So it's a great kind of starter
record to kind of work on. Tap strokes, sweep strokes,
and its a great way to kinda just get into it. So, I highly recommend
getting a copy of Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue." Turn out the lights,
and light a candle, some incense, vibe out, and get into it, have
some fun with it.
For tip number five, I
basically, what I do, and what I'm doing here
in front of you today, although I have two
drums, is, I recommend, something I kind of
took as a challenge as a young player
in college as well, and still do it to this day, is show up at the gig,
with just the snare drum. Practice just getting your,
honing your breath skills on just one drum. On just the snare drum. No high hat for two and four, no bass drum for
accents, no cymbals. Nothing except the snare drum, so that you can really become
one with this instrument, and a pair of brushes. And so, to me, that
was really important, because it kind of
forced me to be creative. It forced me to be
able to learn how to play a bossa
nova at all tempos. It forced me to be able
to play Latin music, or odd meters, or back
beats with just one drum. It was also partly
out of necessity, because it was easier to
show up at a dude's dorm room with just a snare
drum and a stand.
But definitely
something I'd recommend to any young brush players, or if you've been playing
brushes for a long time. Maybe just strip the kit away, and just get to know your
drum and your brushes. And kinda have fun with it. Experiment maybe turning
your snares on, and off. (plays drum) Have a tenor. (plays rhythm) And as well as on or… (plays rhythm) or experiment
using both of them. I hope you enjoyed
those five tips. And if you did, you
can go to Drumeo.com, and check out a full lesson on finding your voice with brushes. I'm gonna play you guys
out, hope you enjoyed that.