A student last week asked me about learning the drum groove from The Time's song "777-9311." Although I was very familiar with the song, I had never taken the time to learn the groove. I know it was originally programmed on a Linn drum machine. On YouTube there are many videos of different drummers (both known and unknown) sharing their personal takes on the groove. As drum machines can do things human drummers are incapable of, it was interesting to me to see so many different variations both in videos and in actual notation.
As is my habit, I prefer doing things my own way so I first slowed down the original track and notated it. Then I began scouring YouTube for different live versions. Gregg Bissonette does his take on it on his last instructional DVD. John Blackwell does a killer versions. There are many non-famous drummers that also do excellent variations on the classic beat. I found a live performance by the time on American Bandstand and was able to slow that version down as well. Granted it was most likely lip synced as was the practice for most of the performances on that show but Jellybean Johnson had to fake like he was playing it and he KILLED the track on that performance. That was the track I decided to actually transcribe. Below are the links to the video I used as well as my transcription of that live drum track. Enjoy!
777-9311 Live on American Bandstand
777-9311 Grooves Transcription
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Summer Update!
It's been a while since my last blog posting! Let me catch everyone up on what has been happening since my last post.
I've cut back a bit on my performance schedule in order to spend more time with my family. My teaching has always been my main focus (and always will be!) but live performance has been a great way to supplement my teaching income and keep my live playing chops up. The older I get, the more I realize what's important to me. As much as I enjoy playing live, I enjoy spending time at home with my wife and son even more. As a result, I'm no longer playing as many club dates as I formerly did. I'm more interested in the corporate/casual gigs I've been blessed to play over the years. I've decided to focus my energies and resources on securing more of those gigs and cutting back on the club dates. I've already felt a tremendous amount of relief since making this decision and know that in the future, I'll feel even better as more cuts are made!
The teaching studio is really coming along nicely! I was able to add a table/desk to hold my laptop, speakers, drum machine and future printer/scanner. With this latest addition, my studio is basically complete. I have everything I need right at my fingertips so no time is wasted during lessons! Here is the most recent picture of Rob Ferrell Drum Studio:
I've cut back a bit on my performance schedule in order to spend more time with my family. My teaching has always been my main focus (and always will be!) but live performance has been a great way to supplement my teaching income and keep my live playing chops up. The older I get, the more I realize what's important to me. As much as I enjoy playing live, I enjoy spending time at home with my wife and son even more. As a result, I'm no longer playing as many club dates as I formerly did. I'm more interested in the corporate/casual gigs I've been blessed to play over the years. I've decided to focus my energies and resources on securing more of those gigs and cutting back on the club dates. I've already felt a tremendous amount of relief since making this decision and know that in the future, I'll feel even better as more cuts are made!
The teaching studio is really coming along nicely! I was able to add a table/desk to hold my laptop, speakers, drum machine and future printer/scanner. With this latest addition, my studio is basically complete. I have everything I need right at my fingertips so no time is wasted during lessons! Here is the most recent picture of Rob Ferrell Drum Studio:
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