Big Mouth (Indie) - Walkthrough
With
Sophie Alloway
What's in the course
114 lessons (3h 47m) · 1 free
01. Rock Drumming Introduction
7:55
02. Example 1 - Single Strokes
2:44
03. Example 2 - Double Strokes
1:28
04. Example 3 - Paradiddles
2:37
05. Bonus - Combining Singles, Doubles, and Paradiddles
2:22
06. Rock Lesson 2 - Adding Rests
1:48
07. Example 1 - Rest on Beat 4
1:56
08. Example 2 - Rest on Beat 2
1:36
09. Example 3 - Moving Rests
1:05
10. Example 4 - Piston Bars 12-16
1:56
11. Bonus Exercise 1
1:49
12. Bonus Exercise 2
1:02
13. Rock Section Summary
1:50
01. Pop - Adding the Hi-Hat
1:31
02. Example 1 - Quarter Notes on Hi-Hat
1:40
03. Example 2 - Resting on Beat 1
1:42
04. Example 3 - Two Consecutive Quarter Note Rests
1:28
05. Bonus Exercise 1
1:11
06. Bonus Exercise 2
1:10
07. Pop Lesson 2 Example 1 - Combining the Hi-Hat & Snare
1:11
08. Example 2 - Moving Quickly Between Drum Voices
1:17
09. Example 3 - Two Drum Voices in One Bar
0:59
10. Example 4 - Take It to the Top Bars 1-4
1:10
11. Bonus Exercise 1
1:08
12. Bonus Exercise 2
1:04
13. Pop Music Section Summary
0:51
01. Introduction to Country Music
4:13
02. Skills Checkpoint
1:54
03. Example 1 - Half-Note Rest
1:18
04. Example 2 - Placing of the Half-Note Rest
1:31
05. Example 3 - Bass Drum Phrases
1:29
06. Bonus Exercise 1
1:27
07. Bonus Exercise 2
1:10
08. Country Lesson 2 - Combining Bass Drum, Snare, and Hi-Hat
3:07
09. Example 1 - Combining the Bass Drum & Hi-Hat
1:40
10. Example 2 - Adding the Half-Note Rest in Various Positions
1:10
11. Example 3 - Moving Quickly Between Drum Voices
1:10
12. Example 4 - Borderlands Bars 1-4
1:06
13. Bonus Exercise 1
1:30
14. Bonus Exercise 2
0:56
15. Country Music Section Summary
0:26
01. Metal Introduction - Playing Two Drum Voices
3:35
02. Example 1 - Focusing on Coordination
2:19
03. Example 2 - Bass Drum Variations
1:16
04. Example 3 - Coordinating the Hands
1:09
05. Bonus Exercise 1
1:05
06. Bonus Exercise 2
0:50
07. Metal Lesson 1 Summary
0:25
08. Metal Lesson 2 - Playing Your First Full Beat
1:56
09. Example 1 - Basic Rock Beat Hi-Hat Pattern
1:08
10. Example 2 - Adding the Back Beat
0:58
11. Example 3 - Adding the Bass Drum
0:59
12. Example 4 - Power Trip Bars 13-14
1:32
13. Bonus Exercise 1
1:10
14. Bonus Exercise 2
0:53
15. Metal Section Summary
1:05
01. Indie - Introduction to the Style
1:26
02. Example 1 - Resting on Beat Three
1:01
03. Example 2 - More Variations
1:00
04. Example 3 - Coordinating the Limbs
2:16
05. Bonus Exercise 1
1:10
06. Bonus Exercise 2
0:50
07. Indie Lesson 1 Summary
0:25
08. Indie Checkpoint - Mallets
2:46
09. Indie Lesson 2 - Introducing 8th Note Bass Drum and Snare
1:25
10. Example 1 - Eighth-Note Snare
1:36
11. Example 2 - Eighth-Note Bass Drum
1:04
12. Example 3 - Eighth Note Phrase
0:59
13. Example 4 - 'Big Mouth' Bars 1-4
1:48
14. Bonus Exercise 1
0:38
15. Bonus Exercise 2
0:59
16. Indie Section Summary
0:34
01. Hip-Hop Introduction - Basic Beats and Fills
1:33
02. Example 1 - Snare & Bass Drum Fill
1:10
03. Example 2 - Snare & Hi-Hat Fill
1:08
04. Example 3 - Fill Using Snare, Hi-Hat & Bass Drum
1:09
05. Bonus Exercise 1
1:38
06. Bonus Exercise 2
0:47
07. Hip-Hop Lesson 1 Summary
0:32
08. Hip Hop Lesson 2 - Introduction to Eighth Note Beats
3:53
09. Example 1 - The Basic Eighth-Note Beat
1:19
10. Example 2 - Snare Drum Variations
1:28
11. Example 3 - Bass Drum Variations
1:09
12. Example 4 - 'The Dogg' Bars 13-16
1:56
13. Bonus Exercise 1
1:04
14. Bonus Exercise 2
1:09
15. Hip-Hop Section Summary
0:32
01. Introduction to the Pieces
1:04
02. Piston (Rock) - Walkthrough
4:57
03. Piston (Rock) - Performance
0:46
04. Take it to the Top (Pop) - Walkthrough
3:58
05. Take it to the Top (Pop) - Performance
0:50
06. Borderlands (Country) - Walkthrough
3:49
07. Borderlands (Country) - Performance
0:48
08. Power Trip - Walkthrough
5:04
09. Power Trip (Metal) - Performance
0:51
10. Big Mouth (Indie) - Walkthrough
You are here5:26
11. Big Mouth (Indie) - Performance
0:52
12. The Dogg (Hip Hop) - Walkthrough
6:14
13. The Dogg (Hip Hop) - Performance
0:51
14. Overload (Rock) - Walkthrough
5:23
15. Overload (Rock) - Performance
0:50
16. Slam (Metal) - Walkthrough
4:28
17. Slam (Metal) - Performance
0:51
18. Under the Radar (Indie) - Walkthrough
5:02
19. Under the Radar (Indie) - Performance
0:50
Lesson transcript
Music Lesson: Drumming Techniques for "Big Mouth"
Introduction
The indie piece Big Mouth starts with quite a lot of space for us on the drum. So, we’re not playing that many notes.
- Tip: Keep your counting going to ensure a strong entrance with those snares on beats two and three of the first bar, then move up to the hi-hats on beats two and three of the second bar.
Sticking Patterns
Regarding the sticking patterns, I’m quite a fan of practicing hand to hand. This approach helps to avoid favoring one hand, whether it’s the dominant hand (usually the right for right-handed players or the left for left-handed players).
- Note: Using these first two bars as an opportunity to play hand to hand is beneficial.
Example Playthrough
If I play bars one and two, it will sound like this:
- I’ll count myself in because there’s a rest on beat one.
- Even on the hi-hats, I’m playing right, left.
Note: You don’t have to play them both with the right if you prefer. However, this practice helps to get our single strokes more even.
Bar 3: Fill-In
When the fill comes in during bar three of the first line, we have eighth notes.
- Important: There's a rest on beat one, so watch out for that.
- I’ll count myself in when I play this for a time reference: 1, 2, 3, 4, 1.
Bars 3 and 4 of the First Line
You might notice that I chose to play both hi-hats in bar four with the right hand. This is partly to set myself up for the groove that follows in line two.
Groove Coordination
As we move into line two:
- The guitarist is playing a nice eighth-note pattern on the guitar.
- We want to lock in with that to make it feel good.
- Snares: Don't come in until the second bar of the second line, so be confident when they do. They drop out again for the third bar and come back in during the fourth bar.
Line 3: Consistency and Transition
On line three of the piece, the groove becomes much more consistent.
- In bar four of this line:
- We want just the bass drums on the quarter note.
- The snare drops out, setting up the next line, which then reduces further to only bass drums on the quarter notes.
Demonstration
I’m going to demonstrate the fourth bar of the third line going into the first bar of the fourth line.
Note: Little by little, different parts of the groove drop out until we’re left with just the bass drum.
- Tip: Stay strong with your bass drums to maintain the pulse, especially when the hi-hat hand drops out.
Final Bars: Technique and Sticking
Watch out for the half-note rest in the second bar of the fourth line.
- In bar three of this line:
- It’s up to you how you play the unison snare and bass drums.
- This may be the first time we see this in one of these pieces.
Right Hand with Right Foot
If you’re right-handed, you may naturally feel more comfortable playing the right hand with the right foot on beats two and four of the second-to-last bar.
- Challenge: Try playing the left hand with the right foot to see how that feels.
- This might lead to flams, where the two drum voices don’t land together.
Practice Recommendation
Let’s aim to make them land as closely together as possible, committing ultimately to playing left hand snare.
- Final Bar:
- Nice and simple: rest on beat one, play the snares on beats two and three.
- Choose your sticking, but I still recommend hand to hand, whether it’s left to right or right to left.
Keep practicing, and have fun with it!
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Sophie Alloway is a session and touring drummer at the heart of the London jazz scene. She has performed with Jason Rebello, Yazz Ahmed, Laurence Cottle and Tony Allen, and notably played for Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace shortly before he became King.
Touring credits include Roots Manuva, the Thriller musical and Paul Stacey (Oasis / The Black Crowes). She is also the drummer in original fusion band Lydian Collective, with over six million Spotify streams.
Sophie has recorded sessions at Abbey Road, AIR and Angel studios, and her television appearances include Later… with Jools Holland, Glastonbury and two series of Adrian Dunbar’s drama Ridley. She is featured on Abbey Road Masters: The Drum Sessions and performed for the BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024 finalists, broadcast on BBC TV and Radio. Jon Newey of Jazz FM dubbed her the “goddess of groove”.
