Mastering improvisation & Interpretation

Composite Reading Situation

In what I would like to call a composite reading situation, we're looking at different parts of the drum kit. You might encounter:

• Eighth note rock grooves
• Sixteenth note funk grooves
• Triplet shuffle grooves
• Jazz rhythms
• Odd time grooves

These would be represented on the staff.

Practicing with Pieces

The best way to practice this is to:

1. Look through your pieces and get familiar with them.
2. Familiarize yourself with the styles present in various pieces.
3. Work through this with your teacher, if you have one.

Make sure that you're interpreting this information correctly.

Notation and Style Representation

What you'll probably see for the most part is a sense of notation as a representation of the grooves and styles you're playing. For example:

• In very typical pop and rock grooves, whether it's commercial rock, heavy rock, or heavy metal, it's often notated as eighth notes.
• In jazz, shuffle, and blues styles, you'll encounter more triplets, such as eighth note triplets or swung eighth notes. (Swung eighth notes is another concept, which I won't elaborate on here, but is a great way to sight read.)

Style-Specific Notation

• Funk grooves generally have more sixteenth notes, possibly more bass drum notes, and short fills, creating a recognizable groove.
• In hip hop or funk shuffle grooves, you might find more sixteenth note triplets or variations of them.
• At the higher grades, in some fusion tunes, you may play some thirty-second note fills around the kit.
• In Latin tunes, you'll often play cut time rhythms or 2/4 rhythms and read flam notes.

Everything has a stylistic interpretation.

Comparing Melodic Lines

Grab some melodic lines from various instruments:

• Trumpet
• Piano
• Saxophone

Look at these single-line rhythms and see how they differ from drum notation. In melodic parts, you'll get lots of ties because those notes are being held, making phrases look different.

This is really important if you can source material on non-drum charts, such as:

• Melodic charts
• Lead sheets

This will help you with your interpretation and improvisation of chart reading.

Exploring Stylistic Requirements

Why not look at some pieces that you're not performing in your examination? Check out:

• Stylistic requirements
• Tempo ranges
• Phrases
• Individual lines like rhythmic lines
• Ride lines and bass drum parts

Seeing all of this can enhance your overall reading perspective.

Quick Study Pieces

Finally, at grades 6, 7, and 8, you'll encounter quick study pieces. These are:

• Unprepared pieces
• Sight reading pieces

Though they're longer and stylistically specific, if you've done enough work and practice on the other grades and pieces, you'll find no problem tackling the quick study pieces. This involves a combination of:

• Single line phrases
• Fills
• Improvisation
• Development in specific styles

I hope that helps with your sight reading. I wish you the best of luck!