Canadian Musician November / December 2019 | Page 28

PERCUSSION
Ted Warren teaches at the University of Guelph and is a well-regarded clinician and adjudicator. Ted has worked with
many acclaimed performers, including Mel Torme, Rob McConnell, Slide Hampton, Bob Newhart, Maynard Ferguson,
Lew Soloff, Chuck Mangione, Jeff Healey, Norma Winstone, Sheila Jordan, Howard Johnson, Nick Brignola,
Kenny Wheeler, and Jerry Bergonzi.  
By Ted Warren
Inside Double Comping Ideas
Part 1: Eighth Notes
In this article, I’m working with groups of four eighth notes between snare
drum, bass drum, and hi-hat (played with foot) used as a comping device
in conjunction with the jazz ride rhythm on the cymbal. I’ll call the patterns
“inside doubles” because the middle two pitches are always repeated.
This isn’t some grand plan; simply a way of organizing the material and
is derived from this sticking, as with Ex. 1:
Ex. 3A
Ex. 3C
Ex. 3B
Ex. 3D
Ex. 1
Ex. 3E
Ex. 2A
Ex. 2B
Ex. 3G
Ex. 2C
Ex. 2E
Ex. 3H
Ex. 2D
Ex. 3I Ex. 3J
Ex. 3K Ex. 3L
Ex. 3M Ex. 3N
Ex. 2F
In Exs. 2 A-F, we’re playing these types of patterns with the snare, bass
drum, and hi-hat while our ride cymbal plays the standard swing rhythm.
For those of you who haven’t comped much with the hi-hat before, the
coordination for some of these may feel a little strange at first – particularly
2B and 2D – because the hi-hat will be on beats one and three. As you
play the exercises, keep in mind that the ride cymbal is really keeping the
time here (and needs to be consistent and strong) while the other three
limbs are complementing and colouring. All examples are to be played
with jazz eighth note interpretation.
Now, if we start to use space in these comping ideas, it gets very interesting
indeed. In Exs. 3 A-P (Phew! That's a lot of letters!) we’re just playing the
four-note ideas and moving it through the bar, one quarter note at a time.
As you can see, you can get a lot of mileage out of these simple ideas –
and they work great for fast tempos!
Finally, let’s use these ideas with more space in them to create three-
beat ideas within 4/4. I’ve only written out the first one (Ex. 4), but you
get the idea…
28 CANADIAN MUSICIAN
Ex. 3F
Ex. 3O
Ex. 3P
Ex. 4
As I mentioned at the beginning, you don’t necessarily have to put the
doubles in these in the middle. Experiment with the pitch order as well
as articulations like hi-hat splashes, use of toms, buzzes, and dead strokes.
In part two, we’ll be looking at using these ideas in triplets with the jazz
ride as well as 12/8 rhythms. As always, play for the music and have fun!