I like him the best, the most power, the most musical and the most unpredictably aggressive drumming that has always challenged his band mates to keep up with him.
All that power and explosiveness, and willingness to put forth an unapologetically muscular sound- also with an incredible groove that’s as wide as a canyon. He’s like an anomaly.
I saw Mr Williams in San Francisco at THE KEYSTONEKORNER the week Max Roach and his group had the gig. That was 1979. The club was full of drummers, every night, night after night. That was part of the education his is talking about. Listening to Mr Roach and being around the drummers was an experience I will never forget. I was humbled.
CALLING ALL DRUM HEADS!!! CHECK THIS OUT. The longest, most detailed video I've ever seen and heard with Tony Williams talkin 'bout the drums. Thanks for posting this Ted Sirota.
I was there and lucky to be back stage - what an epic day! I kind of snuck in very early in the day with the help of a couple of Brook Mays friends that were working the thing. I didn't eat all day because I was afraid to leave and not get backstage again. Also that day Simon Phillips, Vinnie (the man), Kenwood Denard, Tommy Aldridge, Louis Bellson - just spectacular. Do you have this entire day? All these guys were personable and friendly. A highlight of my life!! Thanks for posting.
His discussion on grip is priceless. While I encourage all my students to hold the stick in a way that is comfortable to them, I always stress not to curl the index finger under the stick. Squeezing should never be a part of any grip. The stick should be held securely, without tension... imo. This video is amazing!
I think he has become a good drummer because he is intelligent. Learning an instrument seems to me like a riddle i have to solve. And i never even was able to solve pokemon rubin edition so im fucked
I remember the first time my teacher introduced me to Tony. He played an excerpt of Tony at the blue note with Miles. I said I didn't like it (I was new to jazz then). I said Tony's ride swung, but it was kinda scrappy and too lose. Everyone sounded kinda rusty. But then my teacher said, yeah but listen to the tempo. I was silent for a second and when I realised, it was a jaw to the floor moment. Simply blazing, blistering speed with feel and a huge volume/presence too, but didn't sound forced. An incredibly difficult combination of sounds to achieve.
Great video - it's one thing to put in the time, but it's another to know what to spend time working on. I feel that people like Tony seemed to know what to work on b/c of who he played with.... and it made a huge difference.
Yes Ari, Every time I saw him, he was incredible , musical, explosive, incredible technique, feel, swing from another planet, and I studied with Alan Dawson also I saw Tony 4 times live- and one incredible Zildjian clinic in LA
You do have to remember what Tony views as independence will be a wildly different concept than a lot of other more, shall we say "technical" drummers. Right foot and left hand combinations is where it's at. Boom Bap. Boom Boom Bap.... for example. There are some Tommy Igoe clips on CZcams that any drummer who can drum can learn from about how independent independence can be. RIP Tony. We were truly blessed. xx
Playing like someone else helps you decide what you want to play and what you don't want to play...if you don't do that then you're just floundering around being insecure... Very well said. A master who has passed on, God rest his soul.
his 3 main influences are my influences when it comes to bebop ...max roach art blakey and philly joe ....my favorite and main drummer for all other things is gadd and tony williams boom!!!!
I gotta say, I love using the "interactive transcript" feature on this video. It makes Tony sound so much smarter than what youtube actually thinks he's saying
Tony to Audience: "As you see, by the way I'm dressed... I'm performing surgery in the morning" Audience: looks at Tony like a dog that's just been shown a card trick
Tony will be performing surgery in a town near him..he's a real talent on the drums... Tec style, creative, passion.. keep learning......Williams is a self taught talent .but he does teach. First time in hearing him an his thoughts. So he's a teacher... To play is to be cordeanated on drums . To have a style so people can understand you. Williams is the Bruce l. Of drumming making it easier for the students to eliminate unessary movement's
But what he says about his grip is very misleading! Watch his right hand on the snare from 1m 0s in Part 1: czcams.com/video/uFCJs_WvsG4/video.html This is very standard German-grip rebound strokes, with the stick held up in a fulcrum between thumb and second finger and being rotated down by squeezing from the back two fingers and back up again by rebound, with some assistance from wrist/elbow motion. Plenty of bounce used, and needed, and the rear two fingers aren't holding the stick, or certainly aren't holding it *up* as demonstrated at for example 26:43. What about his famous fast ride technique? The old CZcams slo-mo of his ride playing from 1967 czcams.com/video/T5pT9200HPs/video.html shows largely more of the same, but here his thumb is up so it's classic French-grip "drop-catch". Again lots of "bounce" and finger motion is core to the technique, and the grip is between thumb and second finger (or *maybe* first finger this time, at least some of the time). But is that representative of how he was playing the ride in 1985? Well, the first few minutes of Part 3 czcams.com/video/rAw2f_n0-h0/video.html seem to show him dropping and catching much as before on the ride when he needs to go fast. The place where his technique *does* start looking a lot more like his description of it is when he starts moving around the shells in Part 1. See for example at 7m 13s czcams.com/video/uFCJs_WvsG4/video.html . Now the fingers are holding the stick against the palm and there is no rebound, so everything is coming from the wrist and elbows as single strokes. And now the stick does seem to be being held mostly by the two rear fingers, with the second finger seemingly looser (and the first finger clearly loose). But even here there's still a wrinkle: at 7:23 and 8:27 in Part 2 his hand grips seem to imply that he does not play with thumb up and does play with German grip. But here he has switched to a thumb-up grip, away from the German grip he used when playing the snare with rebound strokes.
I agree with you 100%. The stuff about grip at the very end is solid drumming GOLD if you're willing to take it on board. It's not even just about grip, it's a clear illustration of how an artist at his level actually thinks, and he had a very original mind.
Thank you for posting this great video! Although he turned out to be so wrong on bounce technique he is still one of the greatest of all time. Just goes to show you...Technique is a tool and what works for some might not work for all. Peace and many greetings from NY.
Hahaaa,could be bro...could be :D I bet that Vinnie did not remember a word that Tony said afterwards,lol. Vinnie was ummm...distracted. Personally i thought that someone inserted a segment from adult movie into the clip,hehe. But i admit,that could be young Vinnie for sure. Thanks for the laughs,George :)
Some new players out there today make me feel confident about the future, thankfully. Hard to keep up with how easy it is to program things these days. But then again, those people couldn't comprehend what it means to play like Tony or anyone who knows how to play with soul, and use the instrument as a tool to communicate.
@tedsirota What Mr Williams just described at 6:00 - equals GAYLORD BIRCH who without doubt could do exactly what's suggested.. the evidence being Pointers, Betty Carter, Coldblood, Charles Brown, Santana, Garcia Band. The late Mr Birch excelled in every setting, indeed. was a feature. Mr Williams (rip him too) won several Grammys about the time of this nice upload's recording -"major assault on the record buying public" from NoCal! cheers man
Anybody know what he meant when he said something like, you don't control the stick with the wrist or the fingers but the hand. What part of the hand, not fingers, not wrist, is he talking about? Otherwise he was well-spoken and clear, but he loses me here.
It may be - and it looks this way from the stroke he's doing whilst talking - that he's meaning using the rotation of the hand as opposed to using an up/down or side-to-side movement of the wrist joint. If you rotate your hand as when turning a door knob and look at your arm you'll see that rotation is happening right up the forearm to the elbow joint, there's two bones in the forearm that rotate around eack other from the elbow. Have a look at an anatomy video to see. It's an important thing to be aware of, particularly if, like me, you have issues with the wrist joint.
Did he say he was going to perform surgery in the morning. You do all know that he had gall bladder surgery, suffered a heart attack while under the knife and he dies. What year was that in,anybody?
Playing with the hand but not the wrist??..how? Wouldn't that be impossible? Someone said he was using moeller method but, clearly not, his hands are far more vertical then horizontal and he does not seem to whip the arm and wrist like that technique dictates. No reliance on rebound and yet he does not flap his wings around as in the Moeller Method. Tony Williams is amazing especially learning to play like this it would have taken a lot of discipline. And still not sure how he can do it
+huh kuntz I know what he means. You can use rebound but for control keeps his back fingers there to control the stick. I do that too and yeah I cheat sometimes and go to the finger/thumb sometimes. I don't have the power though. Man his signature stick is a 2B. www.musiciansfriend.com/drums-percussion/zildjian-tony-williams-artist-series-drumsticks
In Kendo master swordsman Musashi talk about cutting with the hips, but not the arms or wrist, and vice versa- fire and stones vs falling leaves cut. Here Tony talks about playing with the hand but not the wrist. At one point he goes deep about 'the hardest work is lifting the drumstick, because gravity brings it down". I cant help but think these are related- when we know the mark and have raised the drumstick or sword with the proper angle, and put it in the right place for making a clean strike, using the wrist, hand, elbow, shoulder (and hip with a sword and many percussion instruments such as tambourine or Japanese taiko)- each joint extension/projection provides different effects. And as he says, how one holds produces limits to the potential strikes possibile. Being able to switch grip and stance is important for meter and timing, depending on desired effect. Martial Arts and musical arts are very similar, I think. I should study more music! I'm rambling here. My point is, after 25 years of martial arts, when I listen to him play I can tell hes a master. When I listen to him explain, I can tell hes a great teacher. Just found him today. 6 hours ago. Still digging.
I disagree. I use traditional grip to get a certain sound from the snare drum and for me, traditional grip is great for jazz, funk and blues. There are certain techniques with traditional grip that can get a certain feel. I change depending on the style of music and what sound I'm trying to get.
AquaAnim Yeah, it's all what you feel most comfortable with. I used to use traditional only, then I switched to matched only, and then I go back and forth as some styles one, to me, I get better results or a better feel for that style music. for me, I just can do more finesse work with traditional and I can slam a rim shot actually better with my left hand. I tried to learn left hand ride playing, but my right hand simply doesn't do well with traditional. I'm not used to it, so my left is trained to do both, my right is matched only. :-)
AquaAnim Yeah, traditional grip is for finesse playing over matched, at least for me. What's funny is I heard from students of Tony that he demanded that his students played traditional grip when they took lessons from him, but when Tony plays live, he played mostly matched grip unless he was playing on a 4 piece kit, which didn't play towards the end of his career. Tony cracks me up, he's funny in a cool way. :-)
I disagree with his matched grip opinion. Too radical and opinionated. Too bad he never got to see Bill Stewart. I don't even think that matched grip makes the sound less boring. He actually got boring after he left Miles. His drumming changed dramatically and became more for jazz rock. He was really talented though. He just loves to talk in third person about himself.
Tony changes himself "drammatically" after Miles. And i'm another one that thinks we have lost something great with this change. But I think i't true that with traditional grip we have the opportunity to think "differently" . I'm not against matched grip (there's no reason to be against that) but I believe you think drumming in a different way. Bill Stewart, a giant, uses matched grip but i see that left is "different" than right when he plays his great music. Just an opinion
***** a lot of people switched from matched to trad when they plays jazz. I think it's both psichological and cultural but not only. Maybe lots of years of jazz played in trad way had created something different in language and approach. But...all the ways are good if you play great things like Bill Stewart. I've noticed that his left hand is a little bit different from the right hand. Jazz is a kind of different music from all the others musics, philosopically, in language, in approach. It's a "different" music . It's just an opinion, maybe right, maybe wrong...maybe LEFT (:-))
One of those drummers that I never get tired of watching. He is astounding!!!
I like him the best, the most power, the most musical and the most unpredictably aggressive drumming that has always challenged his band mates to keep up with him.
Yeah if you can play with Miles at 17 you are simply a legend
All that power and explosiveness, and willingness to put forth an unapologetically muscular sound- also with an incredible groove that’s as wide as a canyon. He’s like an anomaly.
"I love the drums, so I want other people to love the drums too..."
a most genuine quote.
I saw Mr Williams in San Francisco at THE KEYSTONEKORNER the week Max Roach and his group had the gig. That was 1979. The club was full of drummers, every night, night after night. That was part of the education his is talking about. Listening to Mr Roach and being around the drummers was an experience I will never forget. I was humbled.
I'm not a percussionist or even a musician. I am studied in kinesiology and meditation. Tony is brilliant! I love this!
Tony would have been 75 this year.you are sorely missed tony.but I'll carry on playing the drums the best I can.
CALLING ALL DRUM HEADS!!! CHECK THIS OUT. The longest, most detailed video I've ever seen and heard with Tony Williams talkin 'bout the drums. Thanks for posting this Ted Sirota.
What a beautiful HUMAN being.
He's not human tho...
@@WilliamEdwardJacob Ha 🍻🥁
I was there and lucky to be back stage - what an epic day! I kind of snuck in very early in the day with the help of a couple of Brook Mays friends that were working the thing. I didn't eat all day because I was afraid to leave and not get backstage again. Also that day Simon Phillips, Vinnie (the man), Kenwood Denard, Tommy Aldridge, Louis Bellson - just spectacular. Do you have this entire day? All these guys were personable and friendly. A highlight of my life!! Thanks for posting.
Epc1
I was there too - a memorable event indeed! Got a chance to go back stage and met all the players.
His discussion on grip is priceless. While I encourage all my students to hold the stick in a way that is comfortable to them, I always stress not to curl the index finger under the stick. Squeezing should never be a part of any grip. The stick should be held securely, without tension... imo. This video is amazing!
Tony was the most musical and adaptable drummer in jazz.
Vinnie looks mesmerized!
Tony aside from being a great drummer, is very intelligent and articulate, its a joy to listen to his insight and ideas about drumming
Billy Cobham certainly listened to tony Williams.
I think he has become a good drummer because he is intelligent. Learning an instrument seems to me like a riddle i have to solve. And i never even was able to solve pokemon rubin edition so im fucked
Awesome upload, thanks man. RIP Tony, you were indeed the man 🍻🥁So wise.
I've been working through "Stick Control" with traditional grip for the last month, happy with my progress.
Great book, Syncopation by Ted Reed as well.
this needs more views!
totally inspired.
this is the number 1 most important, informative and wise drum clinic out there. Thank you for sharing this.
A music lesson ,Thankyou Tony,....and for posting...cheers.
He's definitely one of my all-time favorite drummers
i am a guiar player. but i love to learn from players like him. i don't mind the instrument.
so great! thanks ted!
I remember the first time my teacher introduced me to Tony. He played an excerpt of Tony at the blue note with Miles. I said I didn't like it (I was new to jazz then). I said Tony's ride swung, but it was kinda scrappy and too lose. Everyone sounded kinda rusty. But then my teacher said, yeah but listen to the tempo. I was silent for a second and when I realised, it was a jaw to the floor moment. Simply blazing, blistering speed with feel and a huge volume/presence too, but didn't sound forced. An incredibly difficult combination of sounds to achieve.
Tony droppin' wisdom! thanks for posting this
Great video - it's one thing to put in the time, but it's another to know what to spend time working on. I feel that people like Tony seemed to know what to work on b/c of who he played with.... and it made a huge difference.
i've been looking for this video! his grip explanation helped me alot!
Incredible wisdom & teaching as Tony relates his philosophy of his style playing the drums!
Joey Scrima I'm pretty sure you have seen him many times back on the days, right Joey? Cuz you both are from Boston!
Yes Ari, Every time I saw him, he was incredible , musical, explosive, incredible technique, feel, swing from another planet, and I studied with Alan Dawson also I saw Tony 4 times live- and one incredible Zildjian clinic in LA
Joey Scrima you were my teacher once Joey, I don't know if you remember, like 10 years ago... I used to go to your house in Burlington.... Good times!
Awesome clinic, very informative musically and really honest.
Such a great drummer - he and Steve Gadd are my favourites - and so sad that he's not here any more - poor man.
amazing drummer ,& a blessed human !
Eloquent and articulate. The great Tony Williams!
You do have to remember what Tony views as independence will be a wildly different concept than a lot of other more, shall we say "technical" drummers. Right foot and left hand combinations is where it's at. Boom Bap. Boom Boom Bap.... for example. There are some Tommy Igoe clips on CZcams that any drummer who can drum can learn from about how independent independence can be. RIP Tony. We were truly blessed. xx
wow listen to this great artist talk truly remarkable he was
Playing like someone else helps you decide what you want to play and what you don't want to play...if you don't do that then you're just floundering around being insecure...
Very well said. A master who has passed on, God rest his soul.
his 3 main influences are my influences when it comes to bebop ...max roach art blakey and philly joe ....my favorite and main drummer for all other things is gadd and tony williams boom!!!!
I was lucky enough to see Tony and Stix Hooper on a double ticket at "Boston Berklee" back in 1978
Man, can you elaborate on this? I love Stix Hooper and don't really see much about him!
amazing video. thank you so much
I gotta say, I love using the "interactive transcript" feature on this video. It makes Tony sound so much smarter than what youtube actually thinks he's saying
Thanks Ted
Sadly missed 😞. Great man and drummer.
Danny Carey was in the audience as well.
Do you have the minute??? I already found Vinnie and his ex-wife.
Andrés Aguilar Danny mentions this in his Modern Drummer interview.
Super master!!!
Still miss him.
@Galactu5 Sure it was a good question! L.O.L. Again, what a beautiful HUMAN.
Gospel right there.
Tony to Audience:
"As you see, by the way I'm dressed... I'm performing surgery in the morning"
Audience: looks at Tony like a dog that's just been shown a card trick
:)) exactly
Hahahha
Joke fell flat as hell.
Tony will be performing surgery in a town near him..he's a real talent on the drums... Tec style, creative, passion.. keep learning......Williams is a self taught talent .but he does teach. First time in hearing him an his thoughts. So he's a teacher... To play is to be cordeanated on drums . To have a style so people can understand you. Williams is the Bruce l. Of drumming making it easier for the students to eliminate unessary movement's
Pure genius
Genial y super nice
Vinnieeee!!!!!!!!!
Big Tony!
Very interesting talk about grip at 7:00 & 24:30
Grips the microphone the same as the drumstick 26:45 :-D
But what he says about his grip is very misleading! Watch his right hand on the snare from 1m 0s in Part 1: czcams.com/video/uFCJs_WvsG4/video.html This is very standard German-grip rebound strokes, with the stick held up in a fulcrum between thumb and second finger and being rotated down by squeezing from the back two fingers and back up again by rebound, with some assistance from wrist/elbow motion. Plenty of bounce used, and needed, and the rear two fingers aren't holding the stick, or certainly aren't holding it *up* as demonstrated at for example 26:43.
What about his famous fast ride technique? The old CZcams slo-mo of his ride playing from 1967 czcams.com/video/T5pT9200HPs/video.html shows largely more of the same, but here his thumb is up so it's classic French-grip "drop-catch". Again lots of "bounce" and finger motion is core to the technique, and the grip is between thumb and second finger (or *maybe* first finger this time, at least some of the time). But is that representative of how he was playing the ride in 1985? Well, the first few minutes of Part 3 czcams.com/video/rAw2f_n0-h0/video.html seem to show him dropping and catching much as before on the ride when he needs to go fast.
The place where his technique *does* start looking a lot more like his description of it is when he starts moving around the shells in Part 1. See for example at 7m 13s czcams.com/video/uFCJs_WvsG4/video.html . Now the fingers are holding the stick against the palm and there is no rebound, so everything is coming from the wrist and elbows as single strokes. And now the stick does seem to be being held mostly by the two rear fingers, with the second finger seemingly looser (and the first finger clearly loose). But even here there's still a wrinkle: at 7:23 and 8:27 in Part 2 his hand grips seem to imply that he does not play with thumb up and does play with German grip. But here he has switched to a thumb-up grip, away from the German grip he used when playing the snare with rebound strokes.
I agree with you 100%. The stuff about grip at the very end is solid drumming GOLD if you're willing to take it on board. It's not even just about grip, it's a clear illustration of how an artist at his level actually thinks, and he had a very original mind.
Humble!
7:07 lol love how he hesitated - well they get "a sound" at any rate
SOOOOO COOOOOOOLLLLLLL :-)
Thank you for posting this great video! Although he turned out to be so wrong on bounce technique he is still one of the greatest of all time. Just goes to show you...Technique is a tool and what works for some might not work for all. Peace and many greetings from NY.
min 27:45 Vinnie Colaiuta and his girlfriend
wow.....
Bro is that Michelle Pfeiffer
Hahaaa,could be bro...could be :D I bet that Vinnie did not remember a word that Tony said afterwards,lol. Vinnie was ummm...distracted.
Personally i thought that someone inserted a segment from adult movie into the clip,hehe.
But i admit,that could be young Vinnie for sure.
Thanks for the laughs,George :)
IS THIS VIDEO STILL AVAILABLE??
존경합니다
I like how he even used two rack toms for jazz, now you could swear its illegal, and he didnt always tilt the snare forward for rim shots.
I use a lot of bounce and teach that way too. Should I change that?
there is a world of drumming untapped!
Some new players out there today make me feel confident about the future, thankfully. Hard to keep up with how easy it is to program things these days. But then again, those people couldn't comprehend what it means to play like Tony or anyone who knows how to play with soul, and use the instrument as a tool to communicate.
Not sure how he ended up such a nice, well-adjusted person after being exposed to Miles Davis at the impressionable age of 16.
Miles told him, “Do whatever you want.” He s 17.
Oh yeah,that actually is Vinnie.You were right,George. Let´s hope that Vinnie absorbed Tony´s words while he was making out ;)
Vinnie asking questions 👌
@tedsirota
What Mr Williams just described at 6:00 - equals GAYLORD BIRCH who without doubt could do exactly what's suggested.. the evidence being Pointers, Betty Carter, Coldblood, Charles Brown, Santana, Garcia Band. The late Mr Birch excelled in every setting, indeed. was a feature.
Mr Williams (rip him too) won several Grammys about the time of this nice upload's recording -"major assault on the record buying public" from NoCal! cheers man
Does anybody know if Tony was the first drummer to employ three floor toms?
XDrummerSteve Maybe Cobham ....
The consumate drummer!
Do you mean - consumate MUSICIAN?
Vinnie Colaiuta at 27:46!
Tony Williams open mic set
!!!
Yeah, it is a Zildjian day not the PASIC convention I attended.
Tony passed away in 1997.
1997.
You may be gone but we will always remember you,Tony
so he never bounces the sticks?
27 52 is that vinnie? IS THAT VINNIE?!
That is definitely Vinnie haha. When he takes his glasses off it's party time
Boston
27:48 vinnie colaiuta!!
No fancy talk, no complex things to tell. He said everything that he felt comfortable with. The idea is to be in control.
Can you believe someone said ‘play the blues’??? Jesus!!! 🤣
N K 🤣🤣
Dude, for weckl’s first clinic in Australia someone asked him to play ‘green sleeves’ 😂
I think my right hand actually does kinda do this but my left not yet
9.40 - - - LOL!
Anybody know what he meant when he said something like, you don't control the stick with the wrist or the fingers but the hand. What part of the hand, not fingers, not wrist, is he talking about? Otherwise he was well-spoken and clear, but he loses me here.
It may be - and it looks this way from the stroke he's doing whilst talking - that he's meaning using the rotation of the hand as opposed to using an up/down or side-to-side movement of the wrist joint. If you rotate your hand as when turning a door knob and look at your arm you'll see that rotation is happening right up the forearm to the elbow joint, there's two bones in the forearm that rotate around eack other from the elbow. Have a look at an anatomy video to see. It's an important thing to be aware of, particularly if, like me, you have issues with the wrist joint.
Oh my god 0_0 I didn't even know he was dead, that's terrible! Why do half of all jazz musicians have to die young?
It's a good question though! lol
Did they really tell him to play the blues ?! That was real funny
16:11
Sorry dude. I misunderstood!
That's Vinnie Colaiuta soaking up Tony's wisdom, while also getting cozy with some chick, maybe his wife?
He's like "check this out baby, watch me absorb this man's knowledge from the ether"
Tony is a true master and one of my all time favs but he really does not seem to have been that cool of a guy.
Tony didn't go for the moeller thing.
19:45 to 20:01
dude, he was making a joke about the way he is dressed.
27:48 wtf lol
Did he say he was going to perform surgery in the morning. You do all know that he had gall bladder surgery, suffered a heart attack while under the knife and he dies. What year was that in,anybody?
JohnFive Eagles Szuros 1997!!!!!
Playing with the hand but not the wrist??..how? Wouldn't that be impossible? Someone said he was using moeller method but, clearly not, his hands are far more vertical then horizontal and he does not seem to whip the arm and wrist like that technique dictates. No reliance on rebound and yet he does not flap his wings around as in the Moeller Method. Tony Williams is amazing especially learning to play like this it would have taken a lot of discipline. And still not sure how he can do it
Cindy Blackman explains, he didnt rely on rebound, however it doesnt mean he didnt use rebound.
+huh kuntz I know what he means. You can use rebound but for control keeps his back fingers there to control the stick. I do that too and yeah I cheat sometimes and go to the finger/thumb sometimes. I don't have the power though. Man his signature stick is a 2B.
www.musiciansfriend.com/drums-percussion/zildjian-tony-williams-artist-series-drumsticks
In Kendo master swordsman Musashi talk about cutting with the hips, but not the arms or wrist, and vice versa- fire and stones vs falling leaves cut. Here Tony talks about playing with the hand but not the wrist. At one point he goes deep about 'the hardest work is lifting the drumstick, because gravity brings it down". I cant help but think these are related- when we know the mark and have raised the drumstick or sword with the proper angle, and put it in the right place for making a clean strike, using the wrist, hand, elbow, shoulder (and hip with a sword and many percussion instruments such as tambourine or Japanese taiko)- each joint extension/projection provides different effects. And as he says, how one holds produces limits to the potential strikes possibile. Being able to switch grip and stance is important for meter and timing, depending on desired effect. Martial Arts and musical arts are very similar, I think. I should study more music! I'm rambling here. My point is, after 25 years of martial arts, when I listen to him play I can tell hes a master. When I listen to him explain, I can tell hes a great teacher. Just found him today. 6 hours ago. Still digging.
Nice comment
Brilland, even dress as a doctor haha
all trad is nec for is old fashioned marching drumming. anything that can be done trad can be done matched on a kit.
I disagree. I use traditional grip to get a certain sound from the snare drum and for me, traditional grip is great for jazz, funk and blues. There are certain techniques with traditional grip that can get a certain feel. I change depending on the style of music and what sound I'm trying to get.
stick shots are harder in matched its more a feel thing anyways both are valid.
AquaAnim Yeah, it's all what you feel most comfortable with. I used to use traditional only, then I switched to matched only, and then I go back and forth as some styles one, to me, I get better results or a better feel for that style music. for me, I just can do more finesse work with traditional and I can slam a rim shot actually better with my left hand. I tried to learn left hand ride playing, but my right hand simply doesn't do well with traditional. I'm not used to it, so my left is trained to do both, my right is matched only. :-)
Oneness100 I recently started playing both actually, for soft passages i love traditional grip.
AquaAnim Yeah, traditional grip is for finesse playing over matched, at least for me.
What's funny is I heard from students of Tony that he demanded that his students played traditional grip when they took lessons from him, but when Tony plays live, he played mostly matched grip unless he was playing on a 4 piece kit, which didn't play towards the end of his career. Tony cracks me up, he's funny in a cool way. :-)
lol one person is ignorant foool
I disagree with his matched grip opinion. Too radical and opinionated. Too bad he never got to see Bill Stewart. I don't even think that matched grip makes the sound less boring. He actually got boring after he left Miles. His drumming changed dramatically and became more for jazz rock. He was really talented though. He just loves to talk in third person about himself.
Tony changes himself "drammatically" after Miles. And i'm another one that thinks we have lost something great with this change. But I think i't true that with traditional grip we have the opportunity to think "differently" . I'm not against matched grip (there's no reason to be against that) but I believe you think drumming in a different way. Bill Stewart, a giant, uses matched grip but i see that left is "different" than right when he plays his great music. Just an opinion
giovanni natoli
"If I hold in this way i think in this way", just a choose of thinking, that is different!
*****
a lot of people switched from matched to trad when they plays jazz. I think it's both psichological and cultural but not only. Maybe lots of years of jazz played in trad way had created something different in language and approach. But...all the ways are good if you play great things like Bill Stewart. I've noticed that his left hand is a little bit different from the right hand. Jazz is a kind of different music from all the others musics, philosopically, in language, in approach. It's a "different" music
. It's just an opinion, maybe right, maybe wrong...maybe LEFT (:-))
***** Ditto!
My god Carlos.If you have have the creative energy this man had,you must be brilliant.Learn it all try try and play it all.Third person lol