PERCUSSIVE NOTES • DEC EMBER 199626

A S A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT,I dreamed of studying withAlan Dawson at the BerkleeCollege of Music. By the time

I arrived in Boston, he was no longer teach-ing at Berklee. Fortunately for me, he hadan active private practice at his Lexing-ton, Massachusetts residence. I gladlyjoined his roster of students and began afriendship that lasted until his death six-teen years later.

Alan was a wonderful mentor whoselessons extended far beyond the art ofdrumming. I was particularly cap-tivated by the confidence he had inhimself and his students. On sev-eral occasions, he recommended mefor gigs that he could not make. Iwill never forget the time I substi-tuted on a gig with Mose Allison.Allison, an award-winning musi-cian and composer, prefers a rhyth-mic structure that he calls “anti-time.” Although I had never playedmusic like this, I met the challengeknowing that Alan believed in myability. This, and other gigs forwhich Alan recommended me,opened the door to performanceswith other musical giants.

In this interview, done several years be-fore his death, Alan shares his view ofcreative drumming—a topic about whichwe had numerous conversations. I presentit here as a tribute to my teacher andfriend with the hope that his words willinspire others to strive for excellence indrumming and life.

Arvin Scott: What are you thinking whenyou take a drum solo?

Alan Dawson: Something different isgoing on in my mind for every drumsolo. I’m using melody and form as aframework in ninety-nine percent of thecases, with the remaining one percentbeing the free solo. I especially like tuneswith rhythmic melodies that make iteasy for you to make statements onmelody. For example, “Caravan” is apopular piece for drum solos, but frommy standpoint it’s not an ideal tune be-cause the melody is legato and spreadout. It’s not active rhythmically andwould be difficult to use as the basis fora solo. So with this tune, I would use thestandard arrangement as a framework,which is a Latin style for the “A” sec-

By Arvin Scott

tions and straight ahead for the bridge.This is in contrast to “Oleo,” where themelody is so rhythmic. It would be prettydifficult to sing and think this tune andnot play the rhythm of the melody. Sothese things are to be considered in theapproach to the drum solo. But as far aswhat I play within that framework, Ihope that varies to the extent that Ican’t tell you what I think.

Scott: And that is what improvisation isall about, isn’t it? When you improvise

you are not necessarily planning whatyou are going to do, or trying to repeatsomething that you have done before.

Dawson: You are trying to really do some-thing that’s right in the moment. NowI’m sure that it would be unusual toplay strictly from a creative standpointall of the time, because we are to someextent creatures of habit who learn fromour experiences. Though I don’t knowwhat the actual percentage would be, Iwould guess that we play things we knowseventy-five percent of the time. We evenlearn how to rearrange them and makethem sound different. And maybetwenty-five percent of the time—andthat’s pretty high—we play from inspi-ration. Of course, ideally we would alllike to be able to play very well andpurely creative.

Scott: How can you increase the percent-age of creative playing?

Dawson: I have a theory that to be one-hundred percent creative, you must to-tally disregard learning the instrument.You’ll be absolutely creative, but thatdoesn’t mean that what you play will

A Conversation with Alan Dawson on C reative Drumming

sound good. By learning the basicsI might become less creative, but what Imight play would be more interesting tothe discerning ear. I would even expectto become less repetitive, because asI learned the instrument I would mas-ter a variety of things to play.

Scott: And you learn more ways of usingwhat you know.

Dawson: That’s right, more ways of us-ing what I know—that’s what improvi-sation is. It’s like taking an amount of

material and being able to rearrangeit so that it doesn’t sound the same.For example, there are only twenty-six letters in the alphabet, but lookat all the novels that have been writ-ten. Somebody who invents anotheralphabet might be more creative,but nobody will understand whatthey are trying to communicate.There is a lot to be done with what’sout there already. None of us havereally tapped all the possibilities ofwhat already exists.

Scott: You are consistently de-scribed as a melodic drummer, andyour personal philosophy and prac-

tice of singing tunes as you solo reflectsthis style.

Dawson: In all the music of the world,the elements of rhythm and melody arepresent. Harmony is not necessarilypresent in all music. I don’t mean toimply that harmony isn’t great. It is,but it isn’t necessarily present in themusic in all cultures like rhythm andmelody. Harmony is another addition—a sophisticated addition to making mu-sic—but it isn’t the basis.

Scott: You’ve often played vibes on gigs.Do you find yourself needing or requir-ing something special from the drum-mers on these gigs?

Dawson: I think that playing anotherinstrument is important for a drummer.I don’t mean that the instrument mustbe vibes, but just to play another instru-ment and to have a drummer play be-hind you broadens your perspective ofdrumming. I have been in an audiencelistening to a drummer play and thoughthe was really cooking. Moments laterwhile on the break, I’ve heard fellowplayers complain about his playing—in

PERCUSSIVE NOTES • DEC EMBER 1996 27

particular his volume. So when I playwith another drummer, I become moreconscious of dynamics and how to blendwith the group when I’m the drummer.

Scott: Years ago when I took my firstlesson with you, you emphasized control,stamina, accuracy and speed—some ofthe basic ingredients of good technique.How important is a finely tuned tech-nique to the drummer?

Dawson: Good technique frees you sothat you can concentrate on the music.Some people have the idea that too muchtechnique gets in the way of the soul ofthe music. It is true that sometimeswhen a person who has been playingawhile starts to study, the playing maynot go as well as it did before he or shestarted to concentrate on technique.That’s only temporary. After studyinglong enough, you can be freed from hav-ing to think about how and what to play,and eventually there will be fifty millionmore things to play. The whole idea oflearning the instrument is to get to thepoint that it’s an extension of your fingersand toes. Eventually you can play musicthat will be more interesting than itwas when you started out.

Scott: You always appear to be so re-laxed, calm and confident when you

are performing. Will you share yoursecret with us?

Dawson: Good acting. I’m not alwayscalm and collected, but I guess most ofthe time I am. I don’t always love prac-ticing; I don’t always like going out inthe cold to get to the gig or lugging mydrums there. But the playing itself Ilove ninety-nine percent of the time.When I get up on the bandstand, I be-lieve I’m supposed to have some fun, andI usually do. So enjoyment contributes torelaxation. And I don’t feel that I’m com-peting with any other drummers. I justfeel that when it’s time for me to play,I’ve done all I can do to prepare myself.So here I am, fat ankles and all. By thatI mean I don’t take myself seriously as Ionce did. I do, however, take the musicseriously—very seriously. PN

Arvin Scott, an alumnus of the BerkleeCollege of Music, earned his Ph.D. fromthe Union Institute. Before joining the fac-ulty at the University of Georgia in Athens,where he teaches drumset and hand drum-ming, he taught at Berklee and the NewEngland conservatory of Music. His back-ground includes U.S. and European per-formances with major jazz, rhythm & bluesand hand percussion artists such as MoseAllison, Dorothy Donegan, Rufus Thomas,Mor Thiam and Denagan Janvier Honfo.

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PERCUSSIVE NOTES 38 AUGUST 1999

A performance-based drumset program stresses learningthe art of rhythmic improvisation in a variety of groupconfigurations from combo to big band, in a variety of

styles—not simply “jazz.” Participation in any of these en-sembles as well as entrance into the program is based upon howwell one plays,which is determined by an audition.

Let’s look at the profile of an unprepared drummer. His orher technique has been developed primarily by copying otherdrummers’ “licks” and soloistic devices. Little thought has beengiven to copying how another drummer keeps good time, delin-eates form, or plays within the rhythm section. The unprepareddrummer has listened to drummers without being aware of themusical context of their playing.

This applicant knows little of the physical and musical evolu-tion of the drumset. Often, this drummer ’s knowledge of thetradition of past masters of the instrument is by name aloneand not by the music of those players. And by “past masters” Iam not referring simply to jazz drummers, but to the masters offunk, pop, and rock as well.

Most unsettling is the lack of melodic awareness. Tuneknowledge, something as simple as being able to sing a melody,is rare. Often one receives the response, “I know the beat butnot the tune.” Again, this is attributable to listening only to thedrums.

Unprepared drummers can read rhythmic notation but can-not interpret musically what they are reading. The dynamicrange is usually very narrow. Soft dynamics often don’t exist inthe hands of the unprepared player. Steady time sounds erraticbecause of over-played accents and subsequent lack of dynamicbalance on the instrument.

All of these deficiencies can be taken care of before one seeksadmission to a program. Most desirable, of course, is a teacherwho can teach music on the instrument; not simply technique-pattern books and beat compendia. A teacher is needed whosupplements instruction with a discography so that the studentknows how the instrument sounds when played musically, notjust drumistically.

It is to the aspiring student’s advantage to get snare drum in-

Preparing for A Drumset AuditionBY ED SOPH

struction—rudimental and orchestral. Learn the basic strokesystems, the ways a drum can be struck. Learn dynamic controland accent techniques. Learn how to interpret musically.Learning on one surface gives one the musical foundation totransfer to the multiple surfaces of the drumset. Get the basicsout of the way so that one can concentrate on music-making.

There are many things one can do without a teacher, too. Us-ing historical videos, study how Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, andBaby Dodds played the instrument: how they played time andworked with the rhythm section; how they accompanied solo-ists; how they soloed. Read books like Drummin’ Men by BurtKorall. Purchase and use musical drum books. John Riley’s TheArt of Bop Drumming and Beyond Bop Drumming are excellent.Check out John Ramsey’s book on Art Blakey. David Garibaldi’sFunky Beat, Allan Slutsky’s and Chuck Silverman’s The GreatJames Brown Rhythm Sections, Herlin Riley’s and JohnVidacovich’s New Orleans Jazz and Second Line Drumming areenlightening books. Two more books worth studying are JimPayne’s Give The Drummers Some and Zoro’s The Command-ments of R & B Drumming. All of these books are about playingthe drums in a musical context. That’s what one will be doing inschool. That’s what one will be doing in his or her career afterschool. Get started now!

All of the books I’ve mentioned contain discographies, andthat is where the truly serious studying is done. One must hearthe music to understand how the instrument is played musi-cally. If listening is not enjoyable, do not pursue music.

In closing, I’ll relate a true story to illustrate how NOT to ap-proach learning. I once asked a student if he had read an articlein Modern Drummer about Tiny Kahn, who had a tremendousinfluence on many drummers. Tiny had died at the age of 30 in1953. The student said he had seen the article but did not readit. “Why not?” I asked. “Because I didn’t know who he was,” wasthe incredible reply.

That’s how NOT to prepare for an audition!

Ed Soph is an Associate Professor at the University of NorthTexas. Soph is the co-leader with trumpeter Marvin Stamm of a

THE DRUMSET AUDITIONI listen for good, solid timekeeping, combined with stylistic awareness. I need to see that the drummer has

really studied and analyzed the jazz, rock or Latin style and can play it with authenticity. When it comes to sight-reading, I look for a drummer who can take control of the chart, reading down the figures, provide the proper set-ups and fills and, of course, nail the style. I want to hear playing as if the band were sitting right there in theroom. Often times, I hear drummers read charts with “practice chops.” I want to hear “performance chops” withperformance intensity.

It is always a good idea to do some research on the type of audition you are about to take. For example, acruise-ship audition would ask for different things than would an audition at UNT, a top-40 band, or a Disney gig.Know who or what you are auditioning for and understand how past successful drummers in that setting preparedfor the audition/gig.

Steve Houghton: Performing artist, author, clinician

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 39 AUGUST 1999

quartet that includes Bill Mays, piano, and Rufus Reid, bass.The group recently recorded with the addition of saxophonistDavid Liebman. His books, Essential Techniques for Drumsetand The Big Band Primer, are highly acclaimed. He is also theco-author of one of the first instructional videos, The Drumset:A Musical Approach. PN

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DRUMSET AUDITION PREPARATIONProspective percussion majors at Wichita State University are asked to demonstrate reasonable proficiency in

all areas of percussion. The drumset portion of the audition generally adheres to the following format.First, the students are asked to play along with a recording that is minus a drum track, or a CD that has a

drum track that can be tuned out. For this segment, no headphones are used to see if the student can adjust tothe volume of the room speakers. Recordings used might include: Oscar Peterson and the Bassists (Pablo Live,OJCCD-383-2) or Essential Styles, Books 1 & 2, by Steve Houghton and Tom Warrington (Alfred Publications, Inc.;CDs included).

The second part of the audition is done with headphones. The student must demonstrate a knowledge of andproficiency in swing, rhythm & blues, rock, various Latin rhythms and the like, while playing with recordings. Mate-rial is chosen from the following: The Drumset Soloist by Steve Houghton (Warner Bros.; CD included); Alfred Mas-ter Tracks— Blues, by Steve Houghton and Tom Warrington (Alfred Publications, Inc.; CD included); Afro-CubanGrooves for Bass and Drums (Funkifying the Clave) by Lincoln Goines and Robby Ameen (Manhattan Music Publi-cations; CD included).

For the final portion of the audition, students are asked to read a big band chart. Materials might include:TheUltimate Drumset Reading Anthology by Steve Houghton (Alfred Publications, Inc; CD included); Louis Bellson Hon-ors 12 Super Drummers (Warner Bros.; CD included); Studio and Big Band Drumming by Steve Houghton(Barnhouse Publications; CD included).

From this type of audition, which also includes mallets, timpani, snare drum, etc., I am better able to asses astudent’s level of proficiency and potential as a drumset performer. Many prospective students have had little ex-perience with drumset. The materials mentioned above will provide a focus for study.

Dr. J.C. Combs: Professor of Percussion, Wichita State University.

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 16 AUGUST 2002

My generation was probably one of the last to learn howto play jazz when that music was still a part of every-day life. One could see Miles Davis on The Steve Allen

Show and many of the great bands and jazz singers on The EdSullivan Show. Even jingles for automobiles and ballpoint penswere swingin’! We played what we heard and it was fun.

There were books already on the market that attempted toexplain the intricacies of jazz “independence.” We played whatwe read and the fun was gone as we tied ourselves in knots pit-ting one appendage against the other. While we were strugglingwith our Chapin and Reed applications, jazz faded from the air-waves and clubs. Enter rock ’n’ roll and the ascendancy of “de-pendent” drumming.

Now here’s the rub. Jazz drumming is just as dependent asrock (and as independent and linear as funk). We lucky oneswho had the music around us continued to learn how to play bylistening to the music. And we first learned to play the style de-pendently. The books were strictly secondary, as their authorsprobably intended them to be. And the more we listened, themore we realized that very, very few drummers played in thestyle of those books. That is even more apparent with today’smasters.

The cultural situation has changed and the majority ofdrumset students I see today are primarily from a book back-ground, not a listening one. Consequently, they have very poorjazz coordination skills because of the unrealistic and unmusi-cal manner with which those skills are often taught by solelybook-based teachers.

So many times I have heard a young person say, “Jazz drum-ming is hard because you have to play different patterns ineach appendage, or play one pattern against another. Rock iseasier because everything falls together.” The kid is right! Wereit not for such things as “coordinated independence” and a re-petitive ride cymbal pattern, a lot more youngsters would enjoythe experience of learning how to play jazz styles. Even today,the most difficult aspects of jazz coordination are taught first—those of “independence.” That’s like learning the coordinationnecessary to play rock by starting with transcriptions of DavidGaribaldi grooves.

Long ago, a fellow in New York called one of the masters andarranged to have a lesson. There were two sets in the studioand the student assumed that the master would share some ofhis incredibly hip licks. Instead, the lesson was spent with themaster running the young man through a series of seeminglysimple dependent exercises that, much to the student’s embar-rassment, he could not play. The master’s words were to the ef-fect that, until you can play your limbs together (dependently)in different dynamic and tempo configurations, there is noworth in trying to play them apart (independently).

That makes very good sense. Look at our own motor-skill de-velopment. Ask a young child to play “bap-bap-bap-bap” on atable with his hands. Does the kid use a sticking pattern? No,he does it with unison hands. The genesis of drumming coordi-

The Declaration of DependenceBY ED SOPH

nation, the clapping of hands, is a dependent/unison action.Here are some ideas for teaching jazz coordination skills from

a dependent approach. First, banish the idea that a ride pat-tern is just this:

Second, a ride pattern is a sound, not a pattern. Third, thereare two fundamental ways of thinking about the patternsplayed on the ride cymbal. Those patterns emerge either fromadding subdivisions of the quarter notes to the basic quarter-note rhythm of the time signature:

or, by leaving out subdivisions of a shuffle pattern:

The following examples start with the two ride “roots” ex-plained above. Interpret the eighth notes in jazz style. Example1 is in 12-measure blues form and example 2 is a 16-measureAABA format. The exercises begin with unison figures andgradually progress to more syncopated comping phrases. Thisprogression is shown in examples 3 through 7.

I’ll close with a quotation from the great writer KatherineAnne Porter. Substitute “drumming” for “writing”: “Writingcannot be taught, but only learned, and learned by the indi-vidual in his own way, at his own pace and in his own time, forthe process of mastering the medium is part of cellular growthin a most complex organism.”

Declare your dependence!

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PERCUSSIVE NOTES 17 AUGUST 2002

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PERCUSSIVE NOTES 18 AUGUST 2002

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‰ ‰ Jœ ŒEd Soph is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of North Texas. In addition to teaching, Soph performs and recordswith the Stamm/Soph Project: trumpeter Marvin Stamm, pianist Bill Mays, and bassist Rufus Reid. He is currently completing aseries of books on dependent coordination for jazz styles. PN

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