Free Drum Lesson: Linear, Gospel & Triplet Style Drum Licks & Fills

A lot of drummers today are playing a style of drumming known as Gospel Drumming. This style of drumming evolved from playing along to Gospel Music which first came out of African-American churches in the 193 . !t has since grown and adapted over the years so that it"s influence can #e heard in modern Gospel$ %n&$ %ap and 'op music too. Gospel drumming$ like the style of music$ is mostly #ased around the swung si(teenth note. !t involves predominately triplet or swung #ased rhythms at medium to fast tempos and with a lot of energy. !t"s for this reason that this style of drumming has #ecome so popular and e(citing amongst drummer today. Although impossi#le to classify$ ! like to think of Gospel drumming licks and fills as playing mostly linear si(teenth note triplets$ thirty second notes and hand)#ass drum patterns. This seems to #e the essence of drumming in this style. ! love it. The most e(citing aspect of drumming for me is the linear$ hand)foot com#ination type patterns. There"s something very cool a#out involving the #ass drum in your drum fills as well as playing fast triplet #ased patterns around the drums. !t also turns out that it isn"t that difficult in theory...with a little practice. *o$ with this in mind$ let"s start the lesson.

&asic +inear ,and)-oot &uilding &locks Most of the time Gospel +inear style chops are played through triplets. &ecause the style of Gospel music is predominately played in a swung or triplet #ased meter$ the si(teenth note triplet su#division lends itself really well to the style of music. *traight si(teenth notes .ust don"t sound right as would any other straight meter played in a swung style of music. *o$ #ecause our Gospel chops are going to #e played through si(teenth note triplets our patterns are going to #e #ased in groups of three and si(. These /#uilding #locks/ are simply patterns to #e learnt and then com#ined with other #locks to form longer patterns and phrases. ,ere are the triplet #ased linear #locks that are going to #e used in this lesson. The suggested stickings for each #lock is written #elow each. 1. Three Notes: Two an!s"#ne $ass

%. Three Notes: #ne

an!"Two $ass

&. Si' Notes: Four

an!s"Two $ass

(. Si' Notes: Fi)e

an!s"#ne $ass

These happen to #e four of my favourite common hand and foot com#inations. They"re pretty cool on their own when used as individual drum fills and linear grooves #ut we want to do more with them. ! am a#le to play these four patterns at slow and fast tempos with a single #ass drum pedal or a dou#le #ass drum pedal 0depending on the tempo1. ! have tried to get these patterns to feel as natural as possi#le so that ! am then a#le to apply the ne(t step2 com#ine them to make more interesting and musical linear patterns. ! recommend you do the same. -irst learn these four linear patterns 0&uilding &locks if you like1 so that you are a#le to play them smoothly and at a range of tempos. 3nce you feel ready you can move onto the ne(t step.

4om#ined +inear Gospel *tyle +icks 5 -ills 0Triplet and Thirty *econd 6otes1 This lesson is only focussing on the a#ove four /#uilding #locks/ from which we can com#ine to make more complicated linear patterns. *aying that though$ there are still many possi#le com#inations to play with. This section of the lesson will focus on .ust a few of these potential com#inations. &are this in mind when trying these out for yourself$ the possi#ilities are endless with these com#ination ideas. Gospel Linear Triplet Style *'ample 1

This drum lick takes linear #uilding #locks 1 and 3 to create a com#ined Gospel +inear fill idea. 7ou can see that the #eats of the #ar have #een la#elled a#ove the music so that the alignment of the groupings can easily #e counted. This particular idea takes a rather cool idea where a pattern of nine is created using a group of si( and a group of three. 7ou can see that the first #eat and a half of the #ar is made up from this group si( and three and then again on the ne(t #eat and a half. The final #eat of the #ar is resolved with a simple group of si(. *o already you can hopefully see the fun that can #e had with com#ining these simple #locks into more complicated and fun linear style gospel licks. ,ere$ we"ve created groups of nine that move across the #eat of the #ar creating a very sophisticated rhythmic feel. Gospel Linear Thirty Secon! Note Style *'ample 1

Another rhythmic idea you hear played a lot in %n&)Gospel style drumming are thirty second note linear patterns. These are played at a faster rate than si(teenth note triplets and so can #e harder to play more accurately. 'laying thirty second note linear style gospel fills really deserves it"s own lesson #ut for now !"m going to introduce this concept #y using our four #uilding #locks from a#ove and applying them through thirty second notes.

The a#ove linear pattern contains a whole #ar of thirty second notes with the same grouping of /&uilding &locks/ from a#ove. 8e have two groups of a *i()Three followed #y the single group of *i( 0&locks 3$ 1$ 3$ 1$ 31. 9ach individual #uilding #lock has #een la#elled on the music using a little #lock #ar written a#ove the notes indicating where the #lock starts and stops. !nteresting 'oint: 7ou can see that something cool has happened here. A whole #ar of si(teenth note triplets takes up e(actly three #eats of a #ar of thirty second notes when transferred over. This means that we have a neat and easily counted single #eat 0#eat ; in this case1 to fill with what ever we want. !n this case it"s #een filled with a #eats worth of thirty second notes. This is cool #ecause all of our si(teenth note triplet linear licks can #e transferred over to thirty second notes with only one #eat left over each time. 6eat$ tidy and easy to remem#er for future e(perimentation and .amming. Gospel Linear Triplet Style *'ample %

!n this e(ample we"re using the same #uilding #locks #ut in a different order. <ust think how many different com#inations could #e possi#le with .ust these two #locks. This e(cites me #ecause ! only have to learn a few #asic linear #locks and then simply com#ine them to create all the cool patterns ! want. Gospel Linear Thirty Secon! Note Style *'ample %

Again$ we can transfer over all of the triplet linear gospel patterns into a thirty second note linear gospel lick. !n this e(ample though we"re e(perimenting with playing different su#divisions within the same #ar for the first time. &eat ; is filled with si( triplet notes made up from two groups of three. This has a cool affect #ecause we have two groups of three played through thirty second notes .ust #efore the two groups of three played through si(teenth note triplets. This makes the pattern sound like it"s slowing down as we move into a slower rate of notes. Mi(ing the

su#divisions in this way can create some really cool patterns with the tempo appearing to #e pushed and pulled= Gospel Linear Triplet Style *'ample &

This triplet linear gospel chop uses /&uilding &locks/ > and ; from the #eginning of this drum lesson. Gospel Linear Thirty Secon! Note Style *'ample &

And here we have the same linear pattern through thirty second notes.

4om#ined +inear Gospel *tyle +icks 5 -ills 0Triplet$ Thirty *econd 6otes A6? *i(teenth 6otes1 6ow$ .ust #ecause Gospel music tends to #e naturally a swung or triplet #ased music$ this does not mean that you don"t get e(ceptions. *ome music is straight and played in a funky style and some swung music #enefits from the playing of straight notes 0si(teenths and thirty second notes1. 8e also .ust want to #e a#le to play these patterns$ that we"ve practiced so hard$ in more places and with more possi#ilities. This ne(t part of the lesson will look at playing the triplet #ased linear #locks with different su#divisions including si(teenth notes. Gospel Linear +i'e! Su,!i)ision *'ample 1

This is a cool idea using #lock 1 and playing it through si(teenth notes and triplets. The triplets start on the /@/ of #eat >. This one group of three is played three times to fill a whole #ar using these su#divisions. Gospel Linear +i'e! Su,!i)ision *'ample %

*tarting to get a #it more complicated now with all of the possi#le com#inations and note values #ut still sounds awesome= Gospel Linear +i'e! Su,!i)ision *'ample &

This is also a nice idea where the same group of si( is played first through si(teenths$ then triplets and then thirty second notes creating the affect of the tempo increasing as the note rates increase. Two groups of three thirty second notes resolve the #ar starting on the /e/ of #eat ;.

Tasteful +inear Gospel *tyle +icks 5 -ills 8ithin Grooves +et"s #e honest$ so far some of the ideas given in this lesson are a little over the top or chop heavy for most music. 6ot everyone will appreciate you letting rip around the drums with the latest thirty second note linear lick you"ve .ust learnt. *ometimes less is more and sometimes su#tlety is the order of the day. This ne(t section of the lesson will look at .ust a few ways these gospel linear drum fills can #e used within a drum groove so not to interrupt the flow of music too much while still adding a #it of spice and e(citement. Taste-ul Linear Gospel Style Groo)es *'ample 1

This drum groove has a rather tasty triplet linear style idea starting on #eat 3 of the #ar using #lock 1 from the #eginning of this lesson. The snare drum notes in #rackets are ghost notes and should #e played Auietly so not to get in the way of the accented snare drum notes on #eats > and ;. 6otice how the ,i-,at"s are still playing on #eats 3 and the /@/ of #eat 3. The ,i-,at pattern has not #een interrupted #y the linear lick. 'retty tasty$ ehB Taste-ul Linear Gospel Style Groo)es *'ample %

This is the same idea as the previous e(cept now we have #lock 3 from the #eginning of this lesson instead. ! recommend that you play the ,i-,at and snare drum notes as dou#les$ that"s %%++ respectively. Again$ play the snare drum notes Auietly. Taste-ul Linear Gospel Style Groo)es *'ample &

*ome drummers might recogniCe this groove idea as #elonging to the great <ohn &onham. The lick is known as the /&onham &roken &ass ?rum Triplets 0you can view another drum lesson $ including a full video lesson$ discussing this su#.ect #y clicking here1. The ,i-,at is still grooving on the eighth notes keeping the flow moving while adding a little spice underneath. Taste-ul Linear Gospel Style Groo)es *'ample (

This final e(ample attempts to maintain the #ack #eat on #eats > and ; while playing around with notes in #etween the #ack #eat. All of the patterns are still played single handed 0%+%+1 #ut move around the tom toms and #ack to the snare drum in key places. This is more of a drum fill than a drum groove #ut one that maintains a strong #ack #eat while also throwing in a few gospel style linear licks.

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