I'm a big fan of Jojo Mayer (as I wrote here), so when I stumbled across this documentary on him on YouTube I watched it immediately!
He's a really inspiring guy and musician. If you get a spare 50 minutes and want to learn about one of the greatest drummers to ever live, this would be an excellent place to start.
This guy is a beast! The ideas Matt shares in this short video could fill a lifetime of practice. Although what he's playing sounds pretty complicated, with a little bit of patience, it's something you can easily apply to your own playing.
To start, pick a simple groove (start really simple) and try shifting it either forwards or backwards by half a beat — like in the example below. It'll sound and feel strange to play at first, so it's a good idea to practice it to a click and to count as you play. Once you feel comfortable playing your new displaced groove, try alternating between it and the original version.
As Matt demonstrates in the video, you can have a lot of fun with this idea!
Jojo Mayer is one of my favourite drummers and he's undoubtably one of the greatest drummers alive today.
This solo has a bit of everything. It's musical, technical, dynamic, surprising and built on a cohesive set of ideas. A great example of what makes an engaging drum solo.
What really stands out to me is his use of volume. He utilises a very broad range of dynamics. It's so easy to just play loud all the time, but that's pretty boring to listen to. And once you've reached full volume, that's it, you can't go any louder. Contrasting loud with quiet keeps things interesting, and holding off playing your loudest will mean you always have somewhere left to go.
One of the easiest ways to improve your drumming and soloing is to pay more attention to your dynamics. Jojo keeps you waiting, he teases, he explores the extremes. And that's what keeps you listening.
A couple of behind the scenes videos from Instagram of the gig at Wonder Fields with CoCo And The Butterfields!
A video posted by Ross Farley (@rossfaarley) on
A video posted by Ross Farley (@rossfaarley) on
