Mastering the Tables of Time uniquely combines the foundations of rhythm and the foundations of trapset drumming using a common system to assimilate the disciplines of timekeeping, coordination, rudiments, polyrhythms, and musical phrasing.
The table of time provides an inclusive framework for combining these exclusive areas of study to benefit players of any skill level, be it beginner, intermediate, or advanced, with an interest in developing a musical foundation with crystal-clear focus for complete freedom of expression in any direction.
Mastering the Tables of Time is a virtual reference library on rhythm and trapset drumming as it was originally conceived in the USA, combining European rudiments, African polyrhythms, 4-way coordination, jazz and backbeat grooves, and soloing vocabulary, to create a new sound in music. The emphasis on musical phrasing and developiing solid, good feeling time offers new confidence and conviction in performance that a drummer can carry into any musical scenario they choose.
Percussive Notes, Dec. 2008
Are you ready for a very deep but applicable approach to drumset study? Some
thing that may take years (maybe a lifetime) to assimilate into your playing?
Mastering the Tables of Time is just such a study. This book, along
with its online audio/video component, is an in-depth approach to
gaining complete control of subdivisions and applying them to the
drumset in creative and musical ways.
After some introductory material, the book begins with a "standard timetable"
exercise that involves playing half notes, quarter notes, eighth
notes, sixteenth notes, thirty-second notes, and their triplet
subdivisions accurately with a quarter-note click. This must be
mastered first at a wide variety of tempi as it forms the basis of the
rest of the book.
Those familiar with 4-Way Coordination by Dahlgren and Fine will recognize
the basic layout of the exercises, as they use the same notation
system. The basic subdivisions are applied in every conceivable way,
beginning with two limbs and progressing to four. Some of the
applications include accent studies, dynamic control studies,
song-form applications, harmonic and melodic coordination studies, and
counterpoint ostinato options for feet and hands.
Chapter 3 presents rudimental variations that apply the long roll, paradiddles, the six-stroke roll, flams and drags to the basic
subdivisions. Other chapters include "Basic Polyrhythms & Hemiola,"
"Contemporary Backbeat Grooves," "Modern Jazz Grooves," "Soloing
Applications" and an introduction to Volume II.
This book should become one of the perennial methods for drumset along with
other books like Ted Reed's Syncopation, Jim Chapin's Advanced
Techniques for the Modern Drummer, and Gary Chester's The New Breed.
It is completely open-ended because there is no end to the
applications that are possible to the creative student. - Tom Morgan
"This method is overdue. It successfully links together the most important areas of study for all drummers. It fills a void that I'm surprised has been missed until now and I think a lot of people will be kicking themselves that they didn't see it first!"
~ Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Studio Drumming Legend
"Dive in; you'll find that these exercises will help build upon and improve your independence, creativity, timekeeping skills, and musical phrasing."
~ MODERN DRUMMER Magazine (February 2009) |
