Credited with teaching some of the contemporary drumming scene’s most successful and influential players, Gary Chaffee has earned the respect of musicians worldwide. Having served as Berklee College of Music’s Percussion
Department Chairman from 1972-1976, and more recently in his own private teaching studio, Chaffee has worked with some of the industry’s top players. His list of students reads like a “who’s who” of the top players, including Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Smith, Jonathan Mover, JR Robinson, amongst many others. Chaffee has released several books and videos documenting his unique techniques, and his newest performance venue, the Whirlybirds duo with Steve Houghton, continues to receive rave reviews worldwide. Gary is also the inventor of The Gary Chaffee Drum Muffler.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
By counting out the measures as 4 beats and 3 beats, you should be able to hear these cycles as I’m playing the first example, which is based on the following two measure phrase. CD Track 05 – Chaffee Ex. 1
Throughout this series of articles I will by using materials from my linear and sticking systems, shown below. The use of such material will greatly increase your ability to negotiate any metric situation in a variety of ways.
odd groupings
33
5
55
7
77
even groupings
46
6
6
8
8
8
group A - one single
A 3
5
7
group B - two singles
B 4
6
8
group C - three singles
C 5
7
group D - four singles
D 6
8
group E - five singles
E 7
You can also make this kind of structuring arrangement using different kinds of materials. I’m going to play a couple of feels now that involve linear types of phrases and sticking types of phrases, but again, I’m going to put them into this 4 beat 3 beat cycle.
In this next example, I’ll be using various groups of stickings to play the 4 beat 3 beat cycle. Playing in 7 there are many different stickings and combinations to choose from, the obvious being a 7 note group, or multiples there of. For example, a group of 14, can be subdivided into: 7, 7 or 5, 5, 4 or 8, 6 etc. Remember, try to count the 4 beat 3 beat cycle of each measure, while listening for the particular stickings that I’m playing.
CD Track 06 – Chaffee Ex. 2
In this last example, I’ll demonstrate playing in 7 by using various linear phrases and groups. In the same way that I used the stickings in the previous example, I’ll be playing different combinations of these groups in order to play the various accents and figures throughout the 4 beat 3 beat cycle. Keep in mind, with linear, as well as stickings, explore the many voices and sound sources of the drum kit in order to expand the possibilities of all the groups.
CD Track 07 – Chaffee Ex. 3
This kind of structuring, in other words, playing a 7/4 measure in 4 beats and 3 beats, is very common and you’re probably going to run into it in some of your early 7/4 playing. There are many other ways of phrasing this time and we’re going to be looking at those as we go through these articles, but this is probably one of the main ones that you want to start with.
The important thing to understand about both of these sets of figures is that they are not rhythms. The three note sticking is not a triplet. You can use it in any rhythm you want. The same is true for all the other figures. When you use figures like this in non-matching rhythmic situations, you create a phrase because it takes a certain amount of time for the pattern and the rhythm your playing to cycle. This is one of the most important concepts related to these materials and will offer you endless possibilities once you know how it works. In order to really understand some of the potential that this material has, it is suggested that you refer to the materials contained in the patterns books, specifically patterns sticking and patterns time functioning.
In the next section we’ll be talking about different kinds of phrases that you can use to organize the time in different ways.
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