Drum rolls
With
Alex ReevesAlex Reeves shows how to drop a closed (buzz) roll into your drum fills to sustain a note, and where in the fill it works best.
What's in the course
15 lessons (1h 26m) · 1 free
01. Locking on
Free lesson4:27
02. Moving around the kit: Some basic ideas
4:37
03. Short fill-ins
5:43
04. Longer fill-ins
4:55
05. Playing with music
4:51
06. Tightening up the Rhythm
7:00
07. Faster beats
5:31
08. Triplet phrases: snare drum only
7:01
09. Adding triplet phrases to fills
6:11
10. Combining triplets and straight sixteenths
5:28
11. The Shuffle feel
5:48
12. Dynamics
6:37
13. The use of long notes and space
4:54
14. Drum rolls
You are here5:22
15. The remainder
8:24
Lesson transcript
Lesson 14: Drum Rolls in Your Fills
Welcome to lesson 14, the penultimate in our series of fills. In time, we're going to be concentrating on adding drum rolls to your fills.
Types of Drum Rolls
There are lots of different types of drum rolls, including:
- Single stroke roll
- Double stroke open rolls
However, in this lesson, we will focus on the buzz roll or the closed drum roll.
Technique Overview
I'm not going to go into too much detail about technique, as this has been covered very well in other videos. Instead, I intend to suggest where it might be appropriate for use within your fills.
Key Point: Changing between single strokes and a closed roll involves adjusting the pressure on the stick. The stick will neither bounce too little nor too much.
Observations
- Notice when I play the roll, how my back three fingers let go of the stick when changing to the sex tuplets.
- Ensure that you play plenty of the single stroke roll before moving on to the closed roll.
- Also, make sure to play a variety of dynamics.
Practical Application
The whole of this next tune is scored out in small buzzes on the snare. This can make your beats feel loose and funky.
In this example, I played some rolls with my left hand whilst keeping time with my right.
Note: Pay attention to the phrasing between the snare drum and the bass drum.
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Alex is a freelance musician who has performed live and in the studio with artists as diverse as Dizzee Rascal, Unkle, Bat for Lashes, Guy Garvey and Elbow. He has played headline slots at all the major UK festivals, including televised appearances on Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage, Oxygen Main Stage and T In The Park. International TV performances also include Live on MTV, the Jools Holland Hootenanny and The BBC Electric Proms with Dizzee Rascal.
On stage Alex has played with artists who have scored number one singles and albums all over the world, including Boy George, The Jones Girls and Johnny Hates Jazz. Alex has also been Musical Director for Island Records' Cocknbullkid, produced an album for Lotte Mullan, and performed live with Mercury nominated rapper Ty, American Blues legend Earl Thomas and singer-songwriter Ezio.
Alex has recorded in all the major studios in London, including Abbey Road, Angel, Air and Rak, and runs his own private drum studio from East London's Fortress complex. Recorded highlights at The Drum Fortress include the top 5 single Shine with the Lovefreekz, Wretch 32's Breathe, UNKLE's collaboration with Nick Cave and the beat for American rapper Nas's single Nasty. He has also played drums and percussion on major TV adverts for companies that include McDonalds, X-Box and Toyota, provided beats for computer games like Sega Rally 2 and Shellshock 2, and appeared on many TV and film soundtracks, including the major release of Brideshead Revisited.
Alex writes a regular tuition column for Drummer magazine, has written a book with accompanying DVD, and recorded a 1960s funk breaks sample CD. In his MusicGurus course, Fills In Time, he distils all that studio and stage experience into 15 quick lessons that sharpen your time-feel and build a vocabulary of drum fills you can drop straight into your own playing. And yes - he still calls his mum every week.
