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.

The Basilica of Saints Justus and Pastor

Every Wednesday I share five things I've liked and think you might like too. Here are this week’s Five Things…

1. Channel 4 has a new series called The Trial. The idea behind the show is rather clever: "In a pioneering series that reveals the inner workings of the legal system, a fictional murder case is tried in a real court, by eminent legal professionals and a jury of 12 members of the public". I really liked the first episode so will most probably watch the rest of the series.
    
2. Drummer's have their quirks, and so it appears do drum books. Drumset = You is an entertaining look at the eccentricities contained within the pages of drum method books. This quote was the highlight for me: "A tree has an organic shape, and I can play that shape on the drums. I can play like a bear moving, like a bird flying, or like children rolling in the grass " — erm what?!
    
3. This is pretty cool: "The Autocanonizer ... takes any song and tries to make a canon out of it". Some songs work better than others, but my favourite is the autocanonized version of Over The Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. 
    
4. I'm currently reading Creating Freedom by Raoul Martinez. It's a powerful, thought provoking book that explores the notion of freedom and how "We are far less free than we like to think." It's currently free on Kindle, I recommend you download a copy.
    
5. This week's musical recommendation is Disparate Youth by Santigold and it's a teensy bit different from previous week's picks. I'm not really sure how best to describe the song, except that it has a great drum beat and that it's a good song to listen to now the sun is out! Have a listen and see what you think.

That's all for this week. If you enjoyed it, subscribe and you'll get the next one delivered to your inbox.

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.

The first edition of my Drumlist newsletter goes out this Sunday!

Here's the blurb...

A free monthly newsletter for drummers. Become more creative and inspired at the kit with free lessons and resources straight to your inbox.

Sign up at www.drumlist.com. It'll be worth it!

I'm currently in the process of launching the Drumlist Newsletter. Each issue will contain all sorts of drumming goodies — PDF lessons, technical exercises and advice, exercises for improving creativity and vocabulary at the kit, and a load of other useful resources. All for free.

If you like the sound of this (did I mention it's free?) visit www.drumlist.com to sign up. The first edition goes out very soon!