PERCUSSIVE NOTES • JUN E 199620

Alternate Brush IdeasBy Terry O’Mahoney

A GREAT BRUSH SOLO IS AN AURAL WORK OF ART. The nuances one can achieve with brushes, as well as the wide variety of articulations and overall legato

timbre, simply cannot be matched by drumsticks. Lis-ten to great brush masters like Philly Joe Jones, Shelly Manneand Ed Thigpen as they elegantly create a pulse underneath atune and then paint a rhythmic picture when they solo—trulymagnificent.

Several publications deal with the mechanics of how to play“time” with brushes, but very few deal with some of the more“colorful” (and lesser known) brush techniques used by some ofthe world’s best brush players to embellish their fills while play-ing time and their soloing.

Brushes are, by their very design, dramatically different from

THE RIM ROLLThe rim roll is played by resting the handle of the right brushon the rim and the drumhead, laying the palm of the righthand atop the handle and moving the brush handle back andforth (like rolling out a piece of dough into a bread stick). Thesound of the brush as it “flops” back and forth produces aninteresting sound. If done in tempo, the turning of the brushcreates a rhythm.

A common rhythmic figure using the rim roll is notatedbelow:

drumsticks in the way they produce sound and therefore requirea different approach. Sticks utilize a vertical motion as theirprimary means of execution. Brushes generate sound with lat-eral (or horizontal) strokes across the texture of the drumhead.For this reason, one must approach soloing or playing time withbrushes in a fundamentally different fashion.

After the basics of brush “time” playing have been acquired,the search for additional brush vocabulary begins. Drummersoften ask about techniques that will create the characteristic“brush sound” while soloing. There are several strokes that ac-complished brush players use to add variety to their fills andsolos. They include the rim roll, rim buzz, trill and several other“specialty strokes” and/or patterns.

THE RIM BUZZThe rim buzz is played by slapping the right brush on the rimof the drum (like a stick rimshot) while keeping the ends ofthe brush high enough (approximately one inch) to prevent itfrom fully resting on the drumhead. The resulting “flutter”creates an interesting effect that can add another texture to asolo. The effect is similar to a multiple bounce, or “buzz”stroke, made with sticks, and it creates the illusion of tremen-dous speed.

An example of the rim buzz in a solo passage:

? c 3œ œ œ 3œ œ œ œ ‰ Jœ> 3œ œ œ œR L R L R

3œ œ œ 3œ œ œ œ Œ œ> œ> ‰ Jœ>

R L R

? c œæ> œ œæ

> œæ œ œæ>

R L R L R

œ œæ> œæ œ

3œ œ œ œ>L R L R L R L

PERCUSSIVE NOTES • JUN E 1996 21

THE TRILLThe trill is a “one-handed roll” with brushes. With the righthand using a thumbs-up grip, the brush is “shaken” back andforth across the head. It is unmetered and its speed is deter-mined primarily by dynamic requirements (faster motion cre-

ating a louder dynamic) (see photo on left).The trill can also be produced in the left hand by holding the

thumb upright and quickly rotating the forearm (see photo onright).

? c .Ͼ JϾ Ͼ ϾR L R

jœæ .œæ 3œ œ œ œ>L R L R L

An excellent way to change textures in a solo is to play theone-handed trills on different drums:

An interesting texture may also be achieved by using the trill as a sonic “pedal point” while the opposing hand solos atop it:

??cc

Right Hand : .œ jœ .œ jœLeft Hand : œæ œæ œæ œæ

‰ jœ ‰ jœ œ œœæ œæ œæ œæ

? c 5 5œ> œ œ> œ œ œ> œ œ>R L R L R L R

5œ œ œ> œ œ> œ œ œ>L R L R L R

? 5 5œ œ> œ œ œ> œ œ> œL R L R L R L

5 2œ œ> œ œ> œ œ œ œR L R L R L

STACCATO / LEGATOOdd groupings (like 5’s and 7’s) can be given a new twist by using small circles to “fill in” between the accent patterns, thuscreating an alternating staccato/legato pattern:

PERCUSSIVE NOTES • JUN E 199622

PERCUSSIVE NOTES • JUN E 1996 23

DOUBLE STROKESBrushes differ from sticks in another important way. Whenattempting to execute double strokes with sticks, additionalpressure may be brought to bear on the sticks for a cleanerexecution. Extreme pressure on brushes often produces theopposite of the desired effect—the brush becomes “pinned” tothe head, thus stopping any bounce. Because of this importantdifference, care should be take when attempting double strokeswith brushes.

When playing double strokes with drumsticks, the mostcommon approach is to play the two strokes precisely on thesame spot on the drumhead. While this is very appropriate fordrumsticks, an easier way is possible when using brushes.

This technique involves executing the strokes at different pointson the drumhead while “pulling” the stroke toward the body.The pulling action of this stroke enables the brush to bouncemore easily.

In order to execute this stroke, the right hand must utilize aFrench timpani grip (thumbs up) and rotate the wrist clock-wise (initially landing at point A and bouncing to point B). Theleft hand (using traditional grip) would make a counterclock-wise motion and use the index and middle finger to “pull” thebrush toward the body (again, initially landing at point A andbouncing at point B). This is similar to the “whipped creamroll” technique made famous by Buddy Rich.

? c 3œ œ œ 3œ œ œR L R L R L

jœ œ> œ jœ œ> ‰ Jœ jœ œ>L R L L R L L R

? c œ œ œ œ œ> œ œ œ œ œ> œ œ œ œR R L L R L L R R L R R L L

œ> œ œ œ œ œ> œ œ œ œ œ> œR L L R R L R R L L R L

Here is a particularly useful rhythmic figure utilizing brushdoubles:

LEGATOLong, legato strokes may be created by “pushing” the brushesacross the head, perpendicular to the player.

This technique is excellent when used for quarter-note trip-lets.

A

B

PERCUSSIVE NOTES • JUN E 199624

These techniques are unique to the brush lexicon and wouldenhance any drummer ’s vocabulary. Many of these techniques

may be used in combination and should serve as a departurepoint for further personal experimentation.

V I D E O G R A P H Y

Clayton Cameron—The Living Art of Brushes (DCI Video)Dave Weckl—Back to Basics (DCI Video)

D I S C O G R A P H Y

Drummer Artist CD Record CompanyJeff Hamilton Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra Groove Shop CapriJeff Hamilton Jeff Hamilton Trio It’s Hamilton Time LakestreetAdam Nussbaum Richie Beirach Some Other Time TrilokaBill Stewart Scofield/Metheny I Can Almost See Your House From Here Blue NoteVinnie Colaiuta Bunny Brunel Dedication Musidisc

Terry O’Mahoney received his B.M.Ed.from the University of Louisville and M.M.from the University of Miami. Professionalactivities include work with the LouisvilleOrchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia(Halifax), commercial recordings and con-certs with Mose Allison, David Liebman,

Oliver Jones, Renee Lee, Ed Bickert and others. His articles haveappeared in Percussive Notes and Modern Drummer. He is anAssistant Professor at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish,Nova Scotia, where he teaches orchestra percussion, jazz drum-ming, jazz history and other jazz-related courses. He is presidentof the Nova Scotia chapter of PAS and is active as a clinician andadjudicator.

PN

PERCUSSIVE NOTES • JUN E 1996 25

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 32 OCTOBER 2004

It is difficult to develop an individualsound or voice on any instrument, anddrums are no exception. Brushes offer

some under-explored possibilities, andour awkwardness when playing brushesmay, in fact, contribute to a more unique,individual approach to playing drums.

Brushes are not sticks, and should notbe played as such. Grip, rebound (or lackof), lateral motion, and longer sustainednotes (rolls and trills) played with onehand are all unique characteristics thatneed to be fully exploited to help developbasic brush dexterity.

In my book, Mastering the Art ofBrushes, the ten concepts listed beloware the backbone of my approach. I con-tinually refer to them when teachingbrushes, and they are the starting pointfor all my beginning students. These con-cepts are not intended to be rules, andthere are exceptions and different ap-proaches to each of the ideas. There is nosingle right or wrong way to playbrushes; there are only consequencesthat will influence the desired outcome.

TEN CONCEPTS1. Practice all strokes using only your

hands and finger tips on the drum(without brushes).

2. Traditional grip is recommended whenyou hold the brushes.

3. Grip the brush two inches from thewires.

4. Play the tips of the brushes.5. Use your feet to feather the bass drum

and play the hi-hat for bottom and sup-port.

6. Experiment with counterclockwise orless-familiar motions.

7. Each hand should play a discerniblerhythm unless you want color or tex-ture.

8. Use shape to define strokes andrhythm.

9. Create variations of shape to imply thesame rhythm.

10. Use the shape to imply fills, accents,and metric modulation.

To get started, begin on the snaredrum with your right hand at three

o’clock and left hand at nine o’clock. Forthe most part your hands should remainat these positions throughout the exer-cise. The wrist, without any arm, ex-ecutes the motion used. You can cover theentire drum, and beyond, with eitherhand and without any arm motion.

Start at the top of the drum, at 12o’clock with your right hand sweepingslowly toward your stomach, then beforereaching six o’clock start your left handat 12 o’ clock, also sweeping toward yourstomach. There should be no break insound (overlap gently). Make sure youcontinue your right hand toward yourstomach off the drum, so it is out of theway of your left hand. As your left handapproaches six o’clock, start your righthand (over or under your left hand, itdoesn’t matter) sweeping it slowly backto 12 o’clock, followed by your left handback to 12 o’clock.

I have found quarter note = 50 a greattempo at which to practice. Also, don’tforget to feather the bass drum on allfour beats and use a soft 2 and 4 with thehi-hat pedal (concept 5).

Using this idea with varying stickingpatterns is invaluable in helping developbrush dexterity and fluid motion. GeorgeStone’s Stick Control is a great book for

this purpose. The only rule is that onehand remains at the top or bottom of thedrum (off the drum) until it is playedagain. For example, with the stickingRRRL RRRL (eighth notes), the left handstarts at 12 o’clock and sweeps to sixo’clock on the “and” of 2. The left handstays there out of the way, off the drumuntil the “and” of 4, at which time itsweeps back to 12 o’clock. The right handalternates direction back and forth on therepeated notes.

Beyond the ten concepts, a second ap-proach I use with students is gettingthem to not think like a drummer. If youthink differently, you will play differ-ently. I use exercises called long tones orlegatos and think about how a trumpetplayer or violinist might practice empha-sizing breath, evenness of sound, control,and lightness of touch. These ideas canbe applied to all the above exercises aswell as used in performance situations.

I hope this helps with your brush dex-terity, and I look forward to meetingmany of you in Nashville this November!

The ten concepts come from Masteringthe Art of Brushes by Jon Hazilla. Copy-right 2000. Used by permission of BerkleePress. Visit Berklee Press online atwww.berkleepress.com

Jon Hazilla has been on the faculty of theNew England Conservatory of Music andBerklee College in Boston, Mass. for 17years. Jon has performed with JoAnneBrakeen, James Williams, Benny Golson,Larry Coryell, Kenny Wheeler, MaxRoach, Ron Carter, Ray Drummond, andmany others. His sixth CD as abandleader, It Never Entered My Mind,will be released in January 2005. He wasthe recipient of a National EndowmentAward and the Robert Porter MemorialAdvancement In Education Award. Jon isco-founder of Jazz On Wheels, a volun-teer group that plays free concerts for in-ner-city children, and he maintains anactive career performing and teaching inthe Boston area. PN

BrushisticsBY JON HAZILLA

Jon HazillaDrumset ClinicFriday, 12:00 p.m.CC Room 103

Practicing Brushes by Ed Soph

Brushes are fundamentally similar to sticks. Both are instruments of motion. Motion in time produces rhythm in time. Smooth, relaxed and flowing motion produces smooth, flowing pat- terns. Basically, brushes are held the same as sticks. The fingers, wrists, and forearms are relaxed and in a normal position, whether one is using tradi- tional or matched grip. Smooth actions do not come from rigid, contorted muscles.

And brushes, like sticks, can be re- lated to sticking patterns. However, brushes can play stickings two ways: ver- tically and horizontally. And it is this horizontal method of sticking which we shall examine in regard to practicing and developing our own brush patterns.

Many of us were taught the brush pat- tern in which one brush produces a con- stant sustained sound while the other brush taps a syncopated pattern or basic ride rhythm. This technique is certainly a good one. But we are limiting our- selves if it is the only technique we know. It also establishes the unfortunate precedent of relegating rhythms and ac- cents to one over-worked hand.

The following practice ideas are based on a technique in which both hands sus- tain and accent. Accents are produced by pressing more of the brush fan onto the head. This produces a darker, heavier sound. When not shading, or accenting, the brushes should be played on their tips.

First, here are some duple stickings such as found in Stone's Stick Control.

R L R L

.; J .;'J II

&

Figure 1

301 Percussive N o t e s

R R L L

J J II

Figure 2

Notice that the right hand continues to circle, without accentuation, while the left hand plays 3 & 4. Likewise, the left hand continues to circle without accentuation while the right hand plays l & 2 .

For developing each hand separately: R R R R L L L L

II

R R R R L L L L r - ' -~ "/a )V)V')Vg I( naVV7 q)

Figure 4

Similarly, the hands can be isolated within the sticking patterns; i.e., play only the rights or the lefts of a particular sticking within a continuous motion.

These quarter note patterns should be practiced as eighths and sixteenths, too.

For triplet patterns try this:

, . R L L R L

Figure 5

Follow the same procedures as with the duple stickings. Some other triplet stickings which lend themselves to brushes: . . . . . , .a ~ www "

L R R Accent exercises may also be used for

developing brush patterns. For example: , . ' ~ ""'~.> -'-,~ .,.-"'~

R L R L R L R L R L R L

Use the motion presented for alter- nate sticking of eighth-note triplets and shade the accented notes. This ap- proach may, of course, be used with duple-note accent patterns.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Any- thing is possible. For further study I rec- ommend Ed Thigpen's The Sound of Brushes.

Figure 3

Ed Soph editor Drum Set Forum

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 18 FEBRUARY 2004

The title of this article is a quotefrom Philly Joe Jones, one of thepremier brush artists of all time. I

thought it would be more of an eye-catcher than, “My ideas on brush play-ing.”

There was a brush stroke used byPhilly Joe that was in his book BrushArtistry known as “Palm Up.” Philly Joewould use his right-hand brush like hewas turning on the ignition in his car. Hewould flick the brush wire off the headwith a quick turn of his wrist to the“palm up” position, resulting in a snap.

Think of the drumhead as the face of aclock. With the right-hand palm facingup, at 3 o’clock on beat one, he wouldcome up like he was going to comb theleft side of his head with the brush. Thenhe would turn the right brush over as hebrought it down over the left arm, usinghis left brush like a ramp to slide theright brush down onto the head at the 10o’clock position on beat two. He wouldsweep around to 3 o’clock, snapping thebrush on beat three. Then he’d repeat theprocess, bringing the right-hand brushover his left arm and sliding it down ontothe head on beat four, then sweeping itaround and snapping it on beat one.

The reason for all the motion is that itdidn’t sound like someone “dropping abomb” on the snare head by just droppingthe brush down on beats 2 and 4. Readthrough the above a few times and then

You Got to be Pretty When YouPlay Brushes

BY JEFF HAMILTON

give it a try at a slow tempo. You mightwonder if Philly really went up that high,but he was beautiful with the brushes. Ididn’t go up that high, so I asked himwhy he did, and he said, “’Cause you gotto be pretty when you play the brushes.”

Philly’s concept was to do what youhave to do to play what you need to play,but don’t be boring to watch. This comesfrom the school of entertainment wheredrummers such as “Big Sid” Catlett andBaby Dodds had to entertain the audi-ence and dancers, not just play thedrums.

Philly Joe’s left hand did differentthings for different patterns, but for the“Palm Up” pattern, he played what I calla half-note sweep. Starting on beat one at7 o’clock on the head, sweep to 2 o’clockfor beat two, come around to 7 o’clock forbeat three, and back to 2 o’clock for beatfour. The hands were always oppositeand they never got in each other’s way.

“Papa” Jo Jones was another beautifulbrush player. His hands seemed to al-ways be up in the air, but when you hearthe recordings, it sounds as if nothingwas off the head. He was using a similarapproach. If you aren’t familiar with theearly drummers I’ve mentioned, do yourhomework! There are some good books onthe market; one is by Ed Thigpen, andClayton Cameron has a brush video that

includes a couple of things from PhillyJoe, keeping his ideas alive.

Brush playing was always a mainstayfor the early jazz greats; it lost some fa-vor during the rock ’n’ roll era, but in re-cent years the use of swinging brushplaying has been rejuvenated. If you areinterested in jazz, don’t avoid brushes. Alot of young players avoid brushes be-cause they don’t know what to do withthem. There are many approaches toplaying the brushes, and I will give yousome insight into my thoughts on thesubject.

BRUSHES VS. STICKSI generally use an up-and-down stroke

with sticks, while my movement with thebrushes is from side to side. That side-to-side brush technique has influenced mystick technique, giving my phrasing moreflow.

My beginning brush playing was likethat of most drummers when they gettheir first pair of brushes. I moved myleft hand around in a sweep and playedall of the rhythm patterns with my righthand. I had listened to records of LouisArmstrong, the Basie Band with JoJones, and other 1950s and ’60s popularrecords that had a lot of brush playing,and I wanted to get that fat sound. Justmoving my hands around didn’t make it,but then I realized that I used bothhands with the sticks when practicingthe rudiments, so why not use bothhands equally with the brushes? That’show I incorporated some of the rudimentsinto a smoother approach to the brushes.Of course, I didn’t have the chops to playrudiments with brushes like I did withsticks. I would use the left hand to fill insome things, but the phrases were mostlyright-hand based.

A few years later, after struggling, Igot my lateral motion from watching MelLewis as he would kind of slash back andforth with the sticks on the cymbal, thengo to the mounted tom, then go fromright to left toward the smaller cymbaland to his hi-hat. He would use kind of a

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 19 FEBRUARY 2004

back-and-forth motion to get around thekit. That lateral stroke, as well as whathe was doing with the brushes, madesense to me in terms of getting theroundness out of the phrasing that he gotwith the sticks. So, I found in my playingthat there is more influence from thebrushes to the sticks than from the sticksto the brushes.

I approach brushes and sticks as twoseparate instruments. It’s almost like up-right bass and electric bass; you have thesame four strings and the same pitches,but it’s a different “animal” in terms ofthe way you pluck them. The same goesfor brushes. You need to view them as adifferent instrument than sticks, learnall there is to do with them, then bridgethe gap between sticks and brushes. I’mnot a big fan of trying to play everythingwith brushes that you can play withsticks, using stick technique. I am a fanof trying musical ideas that you play withsticks with the lateral concept, usingbrushes.

Continuing my quest for that fat brushsound, watching John Von Ohlen playingthat floppy sort of “fish by the tail” righthand, like he was throwing the head of afish at the snare drum, is when thelightbulb came on. You get the fat soundby letting the brush do the work instead

of controlling the brush. I think a lot ofplayers over-control the brush with fin-ger technique. You have to let it bounce;you cannot over-control it. I do the samewith the sticks. Let it happen; don’t makeit happen.

In regard to lateral motion, that “side-to-side” thing is about getting motion go-ing with your phrasing. It keeps youmoving toward the next instrument youare going to play. It doesn’t keep you juston the snare drum, which is what a lot ofdrummers fear when they start playingbrushes: They think brush playing is lim-ited to the snare. If they decide to expandtheir phrase and go to other parts of thedrumset, their stick technique comes in,and it sounds like they are playing withsticks rather than brushes.

The lateral approach keeps you flowingaround the entire kit, keeping you in mo-tion all the time. It’s visually smooth, aswell. The motion between your drumsand cymbals never stops. I’ve alwaystaught my students never to stop in themiddle of a phrase. Keep your arms andhands moving.

MY TEACHING APPROACHThe first time I meet with students I

have them play a long double-stroke rollwith sticks, then I have them do it with

PASIC 2002 per formance: The Drummers of Woody Herman

BR

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PERCUSSIVE NOTES 20 FEBRUARY 2004

brushes. Usually it’s clean enough withan up-and-down stroke that comes outkind of like sticks, although a little slop-pier. Then I turn the drum on its side andhave them play a double stroke with theright-hand brush, like playing the drumperpendicular to a lateral stroke comingin from the side. Getting the bounce sothey can feel what the motion is like,even though they are going into the headin a “T” motion. Then I turn the drumupright and have them use the same mo-tion to get a double bounce out of thatstroke. That opens up the concept andthey see how it feels and sounds. I gothrough the same procedure with theleft-hand brush.

With the snare in the proper position Itell them to play a long roll with thebrushes that their snare drum teachernever let them play! This rolling backand forth with lateral motion opens upthe brush concept of getting that wide-open sound coming from the side—throw-ing the brush at the head from a sideangle and letting it skip like a stoneacross water. Let it bounce across the

head twice, then pick it up, bring yourwrist back up from the drum, and getready for your next stroke. Recoil for thenext. You’ll play a bad long roll, but you’llget the concept!

EXPANDING ON THE LATERAL BRUSHSTROKE

Playing brushes along with manyrecords helped me expand the brush fun-damentals. Some requirements for meare to always keep a constant sound onthe head. I keep one brush on the head atall times, unless I am ending the phraseby lifting both brushes. Here are four ba-sics to remember:

1. Don’t have both brushes off thehead.

2. Don’t relegate the left hand to beingthe automatic “windshield wiper” whileyour right hand does all the work. It’sboring, it doesn’t feel good, and other mu-sicians don’t like to play with it.

3. Don’t mash the brush into the head.Either get a new head or get a biggerpair of brushes that have a bigger sound.

4. Don’t stop the groove of the sweep.

It shouldn’t go “swish, swish, swish,swish,” it should be a smooth“shaashaashaashaa” sound. No space inyour quarter-note pulse from the sweep;it should be continuous. There can be apulse, but it shouldn’t stop; there shouldbe no air between the back-and-forthwindshield wiper.

If you are moving laterally with yourleft hand, then your right hand shouldalso move laterally. Don’t play “tick tick-atick tick-a tick” with a right-hand over-hand stroke because you are defyingwhat you are trying to get in terms ofsmoothness. That pin-pointed “tick tick-atick” isn’t fat enough for the other musi-cians to tap into. You’ve got to have somewidth to your beat so they have some-thing to hang onto and play with.

Despite what I said about Philly Joe’s“Palm Up” technique, keeping the handsclose to the head is usually better; don’tmake unnecessary motions. All the mo-tion I make comes from what happens onthe head. Band directors and conductorsmake a prep stroke, and there’s a reasonwhy the prep stroke is right in time. Thesame thing applies to the brush stroke, inthat the preparation stroke has to be per-fect in order to make the stroke come outon the drum the right way.

I start with only the snare drum, be-cause I find if you go to the other drumstoo soon, you are immediately “coppingout” and playing the same ideas on thetoms. I prefer developing ideas on thesnare; then, when you move to the otherdrums, you have more ideas to workwith.

Following is an example of expandingyour brush ideas and getting more vari-ety and strokes into your playing. Here isthe pattern:

Using the “palm up” concept, play thefigure with these stickings:

1. R LLRL L RL2. L RRLL R RLUse those as a springboard to develop

even more patterns. Keep changing thestickings and keep sweeping on the head.By doing that, you have a number ofways to play this one musical idea.

Practice in front of a mirror and youwill soon see how important your prep

44 œ

>

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-

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.

œ

-

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>

Œ

DU DU DA DU BOP

œ

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-

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Œ Œ

DU DU BOP

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 21 FEBRUARY 2004

strokes are in achieving the concept.Also, remember to keep your hands oppo-site each other while you are doing this;don’t “chase your tail.” If your left handis at 5 o’clock, cross the right hand overto 11 o’clock and keep moving in a circle.

I’m a “clockwise circle” guy, although Ido sometimes go counter-clockwise whensoloing. But I generally play time with aclockwise circle. I like to come to themiddle with the left hand; you’re “cominghome” toward your body. I feel thatcounter-clockwise circles push away thebeat, while clockwise circles physicallybring the beat to me.

DYNAMICSThe first night that Mel Lewis played

with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, theband was burying Mel because they hadbeen used to Stan Levy, who had a bigsound. Kenton came over in front of thedrums, cupped his hands around hismouth, and yelled, “Hey, Mel, can youplay louder?” Mel looked back at Stanand said, “No!” Stan said, “Okay, justthought I’d ask.” He went back to the pi-ano and the band came down in volume.

I’m not saying that you should alwaysplay brushes softly and make the bandadjust to your volume. You have to bringthe dynamic level to your brush intensity.But if you’re playing brushes on a NealHefti or Sammy Nestico chart, and thedynamic is supposed to be mezzo piano oreven mezzo forte, but the band is playingforte, then the band needs to be at thecorrect level. A lot of youthful bands willbe too loud. If the director is not in touchwith what the rhythm section dynamicshould be, the band will often start withloud bass and guitar amps. Get those dy-namic levels down to an acoustic sound.If that is done, you can hear the brushesand the band will get down to the volumeof the rhythm section.

I’m tired of hearing ballads playedwith sticks. Tell the other musicians toturn down their amps so they can hearthe brushes, and play music based on oneof the most important things in music:dynamics. Don’t be afraid to dig intowhat the brushes have to offer in order toget the most out of your instrument.

Brushes aren’t just for the snare drum.Playing brushes on a cymbal can be quiteeffective, although I don’t particularlylike to hear a brush playing time on acymbal with rivets where you can’t hearthe pulse. All one hears is just a wash of

rivets, unless you are playing on the bellto get some definition. I grew up listeningto Papa Jo doing that, as well as EdThigpen with Oscar Peterson.

There is that shifting of gears in theOscar Peterson school of intensity whereyou change something from chorus tochorus to make it more intense. Example:start with brushes playing quarter noteson the snare, with hi-hat on two and four,and four beats lightly on the bass drum;second chorus, a little hiccup on thesnare, an accent “bop”; third chorus, stopthe sweep and go to the cymbal bell.Keep building that way until you get tothe sticks playing time. Make each cho-rus more interesting and intense thanthe previous one. Do that instead of play-ing brushes on the first chorus and thenswitching to sticks and flailing away onthe rest of the tune. Take six or sevenchoruses to build up to that point.

That’s not to say that it always needsto be that way; sometimes you want toget hot right out of the “head.” But knowhow to build gradually by playing thebrush on the cymbal bell, then opening itup on the cymbal body to get a widerspread sound.

Other techniques you can use for colorinclude scraping across the cymbal withthe brush hoop, sweeping on the cymbal,using the side of the wire on the cymbal,or playing snare patterns on a non-rivetcymbal, trying to get that high “tinkling”sound. Check out all the options, then lis-ten to what the music needs and be ableto add to the music.

A GREAT EXERCISEI used to play brushes to an entire

Basie record. Play the time and the fig-ures with brushes, and try to keep thecontinuity without breaking it up. You’replaying what the band is playing, whileplaying time so you can learn how to dothat. I learned “Shiny Stockings” by play-ing it with brushes. Don’t forget dynam-ics.

EQUIPMENTI like wire brushes; I’ve never cared for

the sound of plastic or nylon. Also, I likerubber handles rather than wood for alittle more weight and a better grip. Mostdrummers who use brushes with a stickhandle play like they have sticks in theirhands. An exception is Joe La Barbera,who plays great brushes with a woodhandle. My choice is rubber handle tele-

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 22 FEBRUARY 2004

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 23 FEBRUARY 2004

scopic wire brushes, like my signatureRegal Tip model.

Calfskin heads were perfect for me forabout twenty years. But not when youget a pinhole in them or you’re playingoutdoors in the rain. With the develop-ment of the Remo Fiberskyn head, whichfeels like calfskin, we finally got a plastichead that allows you to let the brushesdo the work on the head. In fact, I useFiberskyn on every drum.

A PET PEEVEDon’t ever, ever, drop your brushes on

the floor. You never know when you aregoing to have to accompany a bass solo.Or, the singer turns around and says,“Two-beat on the head-out.” If the head-in was in a two-beat feel, chances areyou’ll take it out the same way. Nothingis worse than the drummer splashing thehi-hat for time, but you can’t see thedrummer because his head is under thefloor tom trying to find the brushes. Keepyour brushes handy at all times; keepyour sticks handy at all times, too, so youcan get to them at any time. You’ll learnthat lesson quickly if you ever get firedbecause a leader wants you to go to sticksand you are down on the floor trying tofind them in the dark.

ENDING ON A POSITIVE NOTEFollowing are some drummers I tell

my students to listen to for great brush-work: Vernell Fournier with AhmadJamal and Israel Crosby; Ed Thigpenwith Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown;Shelly Manne, My Fair Lady, with AndrePrevin and Leroy Vineger. In fact, anyShelly Manne recording with a trio orsmall group will have a lot of brushes,such as a series of CDs on the Contempo-rary label called The Poll Winners withShelly, Barney Kessel and Ray Brown.Jake Hanna plays some smooth timewith brushes on many Concord records.And, of course, CDs with Jo Jones as theleader of a trio.

Of all the things one can do at thedrumset, playing the brushes gives methe most enjoyment. They offer so muchvariety, which allows you to expand yourmusicality. After all, the main goal isserving the music. So keep that sweep go-ing and, as Philly Joe said, “Be pretty.”

Photos from Brush Artistry by Philly JoeJones. Copyright © 1968 by the Premier DrumCompany Limited.

Jeff Hamilton attended Indiana Univer-sity, where he studied with GeorgeGaber, and he also studied with John VonOhlen. He has performed with the NewTommy Dorsey Orchestra, Lionel Hamp-ton, the Monty Alexander Trio, WoodyHerman and the Thundering Herd, theL.A. 4, Ella Fitzgerald, the Count BasieOrchestra, Rosemary Clooney, and theRay Brown Trio. Jeff is currently touringwith his own trio, the Clayton-HamiltonJazz Orchestra, and Diana Krall. Jeff canbeen heard on nearly 200 recordings withsuch artists as Natalie Cole, Diana Krall,Milt Jackson, Rosemary Clooney, BarbraStreisand, Mel Torme, John Pizzarelli,Benny Carter, Lalo Schifrin, GeorgeShearing, Dr. John, Clark Terry, GeneHarris, Toshiko Akioshi, Scott Hamilton,Harry “Sweets” Edison, Keely Smith, BillHolman, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel andMark Murphy. PN

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