16th note fills using Syncopation - Part 1

This is the first part of a method for working on 16th note fills, which I developed for my intermediate students. It requires some selective reading, but in a constructive way- the same type of skill is required to read a chart or lead sheet. Use pp. 22-23 from Ted Reed's Syncopation. I suggest running through Reed ex. 1-15, plus the 20 bar exercise before proceeding to the next numbered item.

Feel free to post any questions in the comments.

Download the pdf

Best books: Like Syncopation

For many years Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer (better known as just "Syncopation") by Ted Reed was virtually the only drum book I used. As I alluded to in the Joe Cusatis book post, I'm a big advocate of the interpreting-a-melody-line approach to practice, for which Syncopation is basically the Bible. Or Das Kapital, Origin of Species, whatever you like. It does have its limitations, which caused me to look into sources for similar materials. Here is a survey from my library:

Modern Reading Text in 4/4 by Louis Bellson. A classic in its own right. I find the majority of it a little too difficult for daily use- either Bellson is going way outside what is conventional in order to challenge the user, or maybe he is including things more likely to be encountered by horns. I use it primarily for its "10 Syncopated Exercises", which are long exercises similar to the ones in Reed. I haven't devised much in the way of practice methods adapted to the strengths of this book.

Odd Time Reading Text by Louis Bellson and Gil Breines. A thick book dealing with a wide variety of odd meters. There are several pages suitable for Syncopation-type applications, and quite a few more involving triplets and 16ths. Much of it is extremely difficult, in changing or */16 meters, which are frankly of limited value to me.

The Rhythm Book
by Martin Bradfield. Bradfield is a teacher in Pennsylvania who has self-published this book and two accompanying volumes of interpretive methods. Covers roughly the same territory as Syncopation, but with a number of rhythms Reed left out. Maybe the best companion volume of these, and a great value. Highly recommended.



Syncopated Rhythms for the Contemporary Drummer by Chuck Kerrigan. Includes a list of interpretive methods for application on the drums. Four measure and longer exercises, using quarter notes, 8th notes, triplets, and 16th notes. Includes exercises of "equivalent" rhythms- the same rhythm (ignoring durations) is written using ties, dotted notes, and rests. Takes Reed's somewhat annoying convention of including quarter notes on the bass drum a step further by including quarter notes on the bass drum and the hihat throughout. The 16th note section is more valuable- more real-music like- than the 16th note sections in some other books.

Syncopated Big Band Figures by Jake Hanna. Two volumes, one of which is in duet form. Exercises are written semi-big band style, with combinations of syncopated passages, fill indications, occasional time indications, written out accented singles.

50 Syncopated Solos for Snare Drum by Joe Maroni. Snare drum solos in 4/4, 2/4, 3/4, and 6/8. Mostly in the style of the long exercises in Reed, with some 16th notes, triplets, accents and rolls added. A lot of material, easily adapted to the usual Reed applications, and a good value.

Studio and Big Band Drumming by Steve Houghton. A great book all around, includes several long exercises written quasi-big band style, and also a number of short exercises for working on common figures.

Basic Drumming by Joel Rothman. Includes several pages similar to everything found in Syncopation. An excellent book on its own, but maybe not worth purchasing just for this type of application.

The New Breed by Gary Chester. I only have the second volume of this book. Includes long exercises in 4/4, 6/8, 12/8, 5/8 and 7/8. Emphasis is on 16th notes. I've used this book very little. A sacred text of fusion drummers.

Best books: Rudimental Patterns by Joe Cusatis

Rudimental Patterns
Full Drum Set Studies for the Modern Drummer
by Joe Cusatis

This book represents pretty much everything I've always felt is wrong with the traditional approach to learning the drums, and I LIKE IT. For the better part of my study I've always looked for ways to multiply my practice efforts: if I worked on something, I wanted it to work on several levels at once- reading, hand technique, four-way coordination, orchestration on the fly, musical interpretation- as many things as I could fit in, I would. Things like pure, mindless calistenics, and pre-packaged licks (especially out of that traditional Krupa-like bag) were verboten. If it could not be learned through a quasi-musical application, it was not worth learning.

What I'm finding in working through this book (and a few others like it) is that not only do calisthenics actually work, they may be necessary. At the very least they're better for isolating a move and learning it completely and quickly, something more difficult (or easy to gloss over) when you're dealing with several issues at once. What I've found in my own playing is that there is a little bit of an Darwinian process at work, with some moves getting unconsciously weeded out of my playing through never having been learned thoroughly. Now, nobody cares if your left is a little slow making it to your floor tom, but I feel I have a little more freedom for not having to explicitly tell my hands to make certain things.


Many of the licks in the book are very cliche, and will be instantly recognizable if you're at all familiar with the more "drummery" drummers coming out of rock in the 60's- your Ian Paices and Ron Bushys- and your more bush-league Krupa clones. But I've found I actually prefer doing my calisthenics in the context of cliches rather than in the nearly content-free, purely logical/mechanical mode of some newer books (Rod Morgenstein's Drum Set Warm-Ups comes to mind)- I'm learning the moves and learning history at the same time. So far it has not caused me to start regurgitating jive licks verbatim.

I'm not wild about the archaic notation system, which uses a kind of exploded staff-for-dummies, which may have been easier for barely-literate drummers of the past to puzzle through, but is difficult for others to read quickly. It's a minor thing.

 So, another cherished ideal bites the dust. This book is recommended for anyone studying the drums- artist types like me will appreciate it filling in some technical gaps, and novices will appreciate someone giving them something to play.

Get Rudimental Patterns from Steve Weiss Music.

Best books - Chop Busters by Ron Fink

OK, the title is a little goofy- a lot goofy- but this is an excellent, fun book of snare drum exercises written by North Texas State University instructor Ron Fink to "uncover weakness in basic technique" and to "develop a) coordination of finger, wrist and forearm motions, b) sticking accuracy, c) speed, d) dynamics, and e) rhythmic recognition." They're organized by meter (2/4, 6/8, 3/4, 4/4, 2/2, and 12/8) and target tempo, and do not follow the usual mathematically logical sequence, running each idea well into the ground before proceeding to the next one. Exercises are not strictly rudiment based- they primarily deal with singles, doubles, accents, paradiddle variations, rolls, four stroke ruffs, and dynamics. Notably there are very few flam exercises.

There are a number of things I really like about this book. Any single page covers a number of issues, making it good for warming up, or for just giving yourself a break from some of the more mind-numbing technique books (cough *STICK CONTROL*). While challenging, you never get a sense that you are being asked to do something pointlessly difficult- the goal always seems to be to develop practical facility. There is a clear musical intelligence at work in writing and selecting exercises. It has something like the feel of a professional manual, focusing on vocabulary that will be useful in the field, rather than technique in the abstract.

And the price- it's 48 pages long and costs $4.50. A great value. Very fun and very nice to have around.

Get Chop Busters from Steve Weiss Music.

Best books - Even in the Odds by Ralph Humphrey

The classic text on odd meter playing by Zappa/Don Ellis drummer Ralph Humphrey, this book covers swing, funk, and solo patterns in 5/4, 7/4, 5/8, 7/8, and longer odd time signatures. Each meter gets a concise treatment of four or five pages focused on learning its particular terrain. The written text is also minimal but effective- the instruction "repeat each exercise until a casual swing develops" is representative. This is a welcome change from many current books which tend to include way too many exercises, and assume a lot of ignorance (and isolation from real-world sources of information) with overly detailed verbal instructions. It appears to be geared towards college students who are going to tear through it, then run out and complete the process by applying it in performance.

For a partisan (like me) of the modern, interpretive Syncopation-based method of practice (reading a single melody line and orchestrating it for the drums on the fly), the process used in this book is rather old fashioned, in the Chapin mode. This entails learning by fully written-out one measure patterns, eventually adding up to at least a practical vocabulary, if not a lot of understanding. This does work well with the subject matter, though- many of us are back in the stone age (or at least the early days of the Chapin book) when it comes to odd meters, and it's fine to be spoon fed the patterns a little bit while the shape of the meters sinks in. And this book is well-constructed in that at leads you easily into going beyond the written exercises- in a way, it seems like the pinnacle of that approach.



One unusual thing is the way the swing sections are handled- most of the coordination deals with just the feet and ride cymbal. This is actually appropriate, given that odd meters tend to use rhythmic vamps (typically supported by the bass drum) instead of walking bass lines, in which the bass drum is used more for punctuation.  The left hand is dealt with only briefly. Humphrey appears to be prioritizing in favor of getting the foundation together, and perhaps assuming that anyone using the book will have his left hand together, and be able to work it in once the foundation is solid. That has been my experience using the book, anyhow.

It's also notable that he explains the common ways  of dividing measures into 3s and 2s, but does not segregate the exercises that way, and many of the exercises will "cross"- the cymbal pattern may be 3+2, but the feet are playing 2+3. This not for any musical effect I'm aware of- it seems to be more for the purpose of loosening things up, since odd meters tend towards boxiness. 

The funk patterns have a little bit of that 70's thing going on, but that's OK; I'm becoming more of the opinion that book ideas should not be too hip. Let the student figure a few things out. It is a problem with Charles Dowd's odd meter book Thesaurus for the Jazz-Rock Drummer (renamed A Funky Thesaurus), which is more dated, with overly dense bass drum and snare drum parts. Again, we're just learning the shape of the measure, and it is left up to the student to find what works musically in performance.

The solo section also deals with a fairly narrow range of concepts- alternating accented single strokes and mixed stickings over running 8th notes, 16th notes, or triplets. While not getting too insane technically, the information in the section adds up to a good, flexible, practical improvising vocabulary. After learning it thoroughly musicians will be well set to take it much further.

Buy the book.

By the way, I do not have a relationship with Steve Weiss Music- I do not get anything for referring you to their site. Though I wouldn't mind it! They have a great selection of books I have not been able to find anywhere else, and their customer service has been good. If you purchase anything from them based on my reference, it would be lovely of you to make a note of it in your purchase order! Thanks! -tb