The Drum Also SingsA study exploring playing tonal melody on the jazz drum set

Jakob Sundell

Music, bachelor's level

2022

Luleå University of Technology

Department of Social Sciences, Technology and Arts

Abstract

The drum does not just swing and waltz; It also sings.

This thesis is about playing tonal melodic content on the jazz drum set and what possibilities

and limitations such performance has. The purpose with this thesis is to evolve my melodic

vocabulary on the jazz drum kit through studying and applying tonal melodies on the drums.

To answer this, I use the research questions:

In what ways can the jazz drum kit be used as a tonal instrument to perform melodic themes?

In what ways can the jazz drum kit be used for melodic improvisation?

What possibilities and limitations does a tonal melodic approach to the jazz drum kit have in the

context of the jazz-ensemble?

The method of research consists of practice, recording and analyzing six jazz standards wherein

the melody of each jazz standard was performed tonally on the drums. The recordings were

made in two sessions. The result is presented partly through the analysis of the recorded

standards and partly through the discussion of limitations and areas of interests.

This thesis addresses those who have interest in tonal melodic performance on the drum set.

Whether you are a drummer or not, I hope this thesis can give an overview in tonal melodic

drumming.

Keywords: Jazz drumming, melodic drumming, drums, playing technique, Ari Hoenig, Jeff

Hamilton.

Acknowledgements

I would firstly like to thank the musicians that so kindly offered to play with me in this thesis:

Simon Bergvall, Linus Svanholm, Erik Brandell and Samuel Tillberg. I am very thankful to be

playing with such excellent musicians. You guys brought my melodies to life.

And to the sound technician willing to record me, Johan Hällgren, thanks a lot for the

recordings and being so easy to work with.

I would also like to thank my mentor Mathias Lundqvist for the discussions and the ideas

regarding this thesis, it has been very helpful!

I would also like to acknowledge my classmates: Simon, Helena and Matti. Thanks for all

the music and all the good rehearsals and concerts. You have also been willing to discuss my

progress. It has been very helpful in working through my ideas and thoughts.

I would also like to thank my drum teacher Jocke Ekberg. You have been a huge

inspiration and your happiness and musicality are really contagious.

I would also like to give a huge thanks to the ensemble teachers through the three years

at university: Arne “Basse” Hagström, Erik Weissglas, Hans Backenroth, Harri Ihanus, Johan

Tegheim, Tommy Lakso, Robert Svensson.

My family Ove, Hilda, Gustav and Hannes; and to my extended family Carina, Mathias,

Filip, Ethan, Caroline, Tilda - thanks for the support and the well-wishes.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Personal Introduction ........................................................................................................1

1.2 Introduction to this thesis ..................................................................................................2

2. Purpose and research questions ..................................................................................... 3

2.1 Purpose .............................................................................................................................3

2.2 Research questions: ...........................................................................................................3

3. Theory ........................................................................................................................... 4

3.1 Literature review ...............................................................................................................4

3.1.1 MELODIC JAZZ DRUMMING by Jonathan David McCaslin (2012).......................................................... 4

3.1.2 Melodic Drumming in Contemporary Popular Music: An Investigation into Melodic Drum-Kit

Performance Practices and Repertoire by Michael Jordan (2009). ...................................................................... 4

3.2 Short history of the jazz drum kit ........................................................................................5

3.2.1 The first years ......................................................................................................................................... 5

3.2.2 The emergence of melodic drumming ................................................................................................... 7

3.3 Defining the term “melodic drumming” ..............................................................................8

3.4 Playing techniques .............................................................................................................9

3.4.1 Jeff Hamilton .......................................................................................................................................... 9

3.4.2 Ari Hoenig ............................................................................................................................................. 10

4. Methodology ............................................................................................................... 11

4.1 Choice of Melodic approach ............................................................................................. 11

4.2 Practice-based research ................................................................................................... 11

4.3 Documentation ................................................................................................................ 11

5. Result........................................................................................................................... 12

5.1 Recording One - Practice .................................................................................................. 12

5.2 Recording One - Analysis .................................................................................................. 14

5.3 Recording Two - Practice .................................................................................................. 17

5.4 Recording Two - Analysis .................................................................................................. 18

6. Discussion .................................................................................................................... 20

6.1 Equipment ....................................................................................................................... 20

6.1.1 Drumheads ........................................................................................................................................... 20

6.1.2 Drumsticks vs timpani sticks. ............................................................................................................... 21

6.1.3 Drum set setup ..................................................................................................................................... 21

6.2 Melodic improvisation ..................................................................................................... 21

6.3 Physiological limitations ................................................................................................... 22

6.4 The Listener ..................................................................................................................... 22

6.5 The drums in relation to the jazz ensemble. ...................................................................... 22

6.6 Further studies ................................................................................................................ 23

6.7 Complimentary material .................................................................................................. 23

7. References ................................................................................................................... 24

8. Appendices .................................................................................................................. 25

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1. Introduction

1.1 Personal Introduction

During my senior high school, I had just started listening to jazz and the possibilities of the

improvisation and the playfulness of the music grabbed my attention quickly. After I graduated,

I started studying jazz at community college. In the first year a teacher of mine showed me and

my classmates the album “Lines of Oppression” by the drummer Ari Hoenig (2011). I had

previously listened quite a lot to the pianist Tigran Hamasyan who was playing on this

recording. So, I was interested in his work, but my attention was quickly diverted to Hoenig’s

drumming. The playfulness and complex rhythmical structures inspired me enormously. On the

record he also played the jazz standard1 “Moanin”. But instead of presenting the melody in a

conventional way, by a singer or a saxophonist for instance, the melody was performed

exclusively on the drums. Hoenig managed to perform the notes with high precision, and one

could sing along with the melodic lines. I had not heard this way of presenting the theme

before and I have been interested in melodic performance ever since.

During my musical education I have always heard about drummers not knowing the heads2 to

songs. They usually know different common comping styles for each different jazz style, such as

swing, bebop, up tempo, bossa, samba etcetera, and they know what comping style is most

commonly played over a specific song. But they do not always have intimate knowledge about

the song’s melody. If a drummer was asked to play the melody of a song orchestrated on the

drum set, they usually could not easily do it. This has bothered me in my own practice as a

musician. The drummer has a very specific role in the ensemble and in that role the

musicianship has sometimes suffered. I want to feel as free in my improvisation as possible and

be able to refer to the melody. I want my improvisation to fit into the song and work towards

the collective goal of the musicians playing a specific tune. This interest has led me to want to

state more of the actual tonal theme on the drum set. Since the 1930s the drum set has been

1 A song that is a part of the standard jazz repertoire. 2 The melody of an improvised performance. The melody notated in RealBooks are heads for instance.

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able to be tuned with high precision. High enough precision that the drum set can express tonal

content rather than just rhythmical.

1.2 Introduction to this thesis

This thesis is not aiming to give a de facto guide to melodic approaches by established

musicians discussed in this thesis. In my work on applying melodic approaches on the drum set I

have done so with the will to evolve the possibilities of what a drummer is able to do with the

drum set. Throughout the process I have always strived for musical value and precision. I do not

want my melodic ability at the drum set to be a ‘party-trick’ or a ‘gimmick’. I would like the

melodical expression of the drum set to be a natural part of my musicianship. The aim has been

for me as a musician to be able to use rhythm, phrasing, melody and harmony just like any

other instrumentalist; to do what other instrumentalists have done but in another musical

context. The drummer Max Roach has been foundational in the evolution of melodic drumming

at its roots. He made the drum set a full-fledged improvisational instrument, not just an

instrument for theatre shows and for comping. On his album Drums Unlimited (1966) he

performed one of the first jazz drum solo pieces ever recorded: The Drum Also Waltzes. With

this work, I want to show that the drum does not just waltz and swing; it also sings!

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2. Purpose and research questions

2.1 Purpose

The purpose of this thesis is to evolve my melodic vocabulary on the jazz drum kit through

studying and applying tonal melodies on the drums.

2.2 Research questions:

1. In what ways can the jazz drum kit be used as a tonal instrument to perform melodic

themes?

2. In what ways can the jazz drum kit be used for melodic improvisation?

3. What possibilities and limitations does a tonal melodic approach to the jazz drum kit

have in the context of the jazz ensemble?

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3. Theory

3.1 Literature review

3.1.1 MELODIC JAZZ DRUMMING by Jonathan David McCaslin (2012).

In his doctoral dissertation Jonathan David McCaslin (2012) seeks to answer the question: how

do jazz drummers use melody when they play the drums?. Through interviews with practicing

jazz drummers and teachers and through analysis of historical and contemporary examples he

gives a good overview of drummers’ melodic intentions, philosophies and technique in their

practice as jazz drummers. He gives examples of influences from outside of the jazz tradition

and relates them to contemporary drummers’ usage of melody in their drumming. His

conclusions in different areas are outlined in his analysis of historical and contemporary

drummers. This work has been very helpful in giving perspective and ideas for this thesis. It has

also been one of the main sources in this thesis.

3.1.2 Melodic Drumming in Contemporary Popular Music: An Investigation into Melodic Drum-

Kit Performance Practices and Repertoire by Michael Jordan (2009).

In his master’s thesis Michael Jordan (2009) seeks the answer to three main research questions:

How can melody be voiced on the drum-kit?, What techniques are needed to realize melodic

drumming? and To what extent can compositions involving melodic drumming be inclusive of

other instrumentalists?. His research methodology was based in practice-based research,

composition and interviews with Australian drummers and through auto-ethnographic analysis.

His conclusion is partly presented in the form of his compositions and partly in his analysis of

melodic approaches and techniques. In his compositions he uses multiple techniques where

just some are centered around tonal accuracy. Some of his compositions use an extended drum

kit with song specific tuning. This thesis has been of marginal value for my work.

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3.2 Short history of the jazz drum kit

The jazz drum kit has had some different roles throughout the history of the instrument. I will in

the following section shortly describe the evolution of the instrument in jazz to give a historical

context to my work.

3.2.1 The first years

The jazz drum set had a few different roles in the beginnings of jazz in the early 1900s, in the

late 1910s and the early 1920s. The jazz drummers of this time often had a military background.

The drumming style had therefore some similarities with the drummers of march and brass

bands (Gridley, 2012). The drumming also had some rudimental concepts in it. In the first ever

recognized recording of jazz by the Original Dixieland Jass Band3 the drummer Tony Sbarbaro is

playing rudimental lines as well as improvised syncopated bass drum hits from ragtime

melodies (Brennan, 2020). This was very common for the drummers of that day.

Gridley describes the drummer playing in addition to the lines of the fellow musicians rather

than timekeeping:

The earliest jazz drummers could also perform in timekeeping style and often did. However the point here is an additional one: the earliest jazz drummers often devised lines of activity bearing rhythmic and melodic contours that were distinctly different from the contours of lines being contributed by their fellow musicians. (Mark Gridley, 2012, p.90)

It should be noted that drum sets at this time were quite different from what modern

drummers are used to. What the drum set was composed of varied, but it usually had a big bass

drum, a snare drum mounted on a stand, a suspended cymbal and woodblocks and cowbells

attached to the bass drum. The drummer also had an apparatus for playing a cymbal with a foot

pedal, but this could not create the “chick” which is commonplace in later styles of jazz (Gridley,

2012). Chinese tom-toms were used by these drummers as well. At this time some drummers

used a piece of kit called the snowshoe. It was made with two wooden planks attached on one

3 Note that jazz was spelled with “s” instead of “z”. The modern spelling started of jazz started in the late 1910s.

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side with a hinge. At the other end of the planks where two small cymbals. The player had a

strap on the top plank which allowed them to lift their foot and then smash the cymbals

together creating a chick sound. The evolution of this, the lowboy, was a similar device. The two

cymbals are now mounted 9 inches from the floor. The upper cymbal is connected to a pedal on

the floor, when pushed on by the foot pulls the cymbals together. By the mid-twenties, tubing

was added to lift the two cymbals up to a height in which it could be played with both hands

and the left foot (Dean, 2011). This is what we today would call the hi-hat.

It is here where we can see the first emergence of the proto ride cymbal pattern. New Orleans

drummer Warren “Baby” Dodds is credited for being the first user of the pattern. Arthur

“Zutty” Singleton is credited for being the first user of what later became the standard in swing:

to play every beat on the bass drum (Gridley, 2012).

Gridley writes that the priorities for swing drummers changed in the 30s and 40s. The drummer

had more timekeeping responsibilities “[T]he majority of drummers who played with big bands

during this period tended to limit themselves to making the beat obvious for dancers and

lending a swing feeling to the band” (Gridley, 2012, s.103). The drummer usually played every

beat on the bass drum for timekeeping. At the same time the drummer played timekeeping

patterns on the snare drum or the hi-hat. The drummer did this for lengthy periods of time

except sporadically interrupt the rhythm with a hit on a gong or cymbal for dramatic effect. The

independent drumlines of the early jazz drummer were gone. Jo Jones iterated the techniques

of “Baby” Dodds and “Zutty” Singleton. The ride pattern was still played mainly on hi-hat but

Jones now played it while opening and closing the hi-hat on beats two and four. This lent a

more sustained feeling to the pattern. The bass drum was now more softly played which made

the pattern more flowing and less abrupt. This paved the way for the way of playing which was

usual in the bebop era (Gridley, 2012).

A major development for the modern drum kit came when the Slingerland company in

cooperation with Gene Krupa created a tunable tom-tom. Gene Krupa’s drum set, Slingerland

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Radio King, had done away with all the small percussion instruments and had slimmed it down.

The kit had a four-piece setup with a mounted tom and a floor tom. The drum kit as we know it

was born (Dean, 2011).

Drummers kept on evolving during the 40’s and early 50’s. In the bebop era drummers became

more than just timekeepers (Gridley, 2012). Jonathan David McCaslin writes in his doctoral

dissertation:

However, as jazz music developed, the drum set as an instrument, and the creativity and imagination of drummers themselves, evolved as well. Over the course of jazz history the role and possibilities of the drum set as a musical instrument developed significantly to the point where the drum set could no longer be considered an instrument that exclusively ’keeps a beat.’ Rather, jazz drumming has developed to a point where the drums can contribute musically to an ensemble at the same level of sophistication and interaction as any other musician or instrument. (McCaslin, 2015, p. 10)

Drummers adapted the techniques established by Jo Jones; the timekeeping rhythms that had

been played on hi-hat or snare drum were now played on a suspended cymbal (Gridley, 2012).

The widespread use of the now called ride cymbal meant that the timekeeping rhythms now

had a more legato sound. The drummer also played what is called “chatter”: a spontaneous and

improvised assortment of rhythms played as a compliment to the ride pattern. This is similar to

the rudimental lines that were played by the drummers of the earliest types of jazz.

3.2.2 The emergence of melodic drumming

It is first in the hardbop era in the 60s that the real use of the term melodic drumming emerges

in my research. Drummers Max Roach and Art Blakey are credited with the first editions of

melodic ideas on the drum kit. Art Blakey’s way of playing is informed by the music. McCaslin

(2015) writes about this after interviews with drummers. The drummer Kenny Washington is

one of them. According to Washington Blakey is acutely aware of the melody and changes his

playing depending on it. He orchestrates the musical passages depending on the articulations of

the horn player. Long notes in the melody are played as long notes on the drums (McCaslin,

2015).

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Max Roach also had a big influence on the ways in which drummers play melodically. As a

soloist, he arranged his drum solos as melodical statements. Billy Drummond comments on

Roach’s approach in an interview with McCaslin. “…hearing him play drum solos and use the

pitches of the tom toms, bass drum, snare drum and cymbals melodically and rhythmically…”

(McCaslin, 2015, p.88). In this way Roach used the pitches of the drums’ to state melodic lines.

Note that the pitches here are indetermined. Roach is using the drums pitches to phrase his

playing in a melodic way. In the DVD Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, Steve Smith relays

from a conversation with Max Roach that Roach described his own playing style as “lyrical”.

Roach himself describes it as a story:

It’s like a conversation, even in a solo that you set up with yourself. You play a phrase;

you respond to the phrase. You make a statement; you respond to the statement and

you try to create an overall little story. (Smith, 2008, 1:54)

A continuation of this idea continues with the drummer Roy Haynes in Thelonious Monk’s

recording of In Walked Bud (Monk, 1958). In it, during the first chorus of his solo, Haynes is

playing the rhythms of the song’s melody and orchestrating it so the melodic movement is

similar. He uses the pitches of the drums to outline the melody. When the melody is going

upwards, he plays on a higher pitched drum and when it goes down, he plays a lower pitched

drum, this to create a specific contour. John Riley is describing it this way in an interview with

McCaslin:

So, it’s just a matter of your approximating the line, not so much playing exactly the line. I think it’s possible to convey a melody without really relating to the exact pitches, it’s just more or less the direction. But even then, it doesn’t have to be the same direction; it can be the overall rhythmic shape and emotion of it. (McCaslin, 2015, p.57)

3.3 Defining the term “melodic drumming”

The term melodic drumming is used by contemporary drummers in many ways, and it can be

hard for practicing drummers to separate the different meanings of the term. The term has

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been used to describe the way in which a drummer performs rhythms with a melodic approach;

what has also been called ‘lyrical’ drumming. As discussed earlier the term is often used in

relation to Max Roach. In this way the drummer is not necessarily striving for a specific melody,

rather a melodic and form-based approach to the drumming. This in special regards to solo

playing.

The term melodic drumming can also encompass the style of using dynamics, phrasing and

voicing as melodic devices. In this way the drummer can state a melodic theme, either

improvised or predetermined, with the goal of completing a whole melodic statement. The

drummer Dan Weiss uses this technique. He demonstrates this technique on his YouTube

channel where he in a few videos is playing simultaneously with a solo of a known soloist. In the

video Dan Weiss plays with “Take The Coltrane” (Weiss, 2020) and emulating saxophonist John

Coltrane’s solo in the recording of “Take The Coltrane” (Coltrane, 1963) on the drums. Weiss is

using the specific phrasing of Coltrane to widen his vocabulary on the drums. “He has decided

to use non-drum specific musical ideas and information to influence and inform his own jazz

drumming concept and vocabulary” (McCaslin, 2015, s.147).

3.4 Playing techniques

3.4.1 Jeff Hamilton

The last definition of the term that will be discussed in this thesis is the style of Jeff Hamilton

and Ari Hoenig. Although their two techniques differ in some part it has the similar aim to

present a tonal melodic theme with the tonal relationships still intact. Jeff Hamilton’s technique

is best heard in his solo rendition of the Dizzy Gillespie tune A Night in Tunisia on his record

Live! (Hamilton, 1996), in which he uses similar devices discussed regarding Roy Haynes. The

difference is that Hamilton is manipulating the pitch of the drums he is playing (more on this in

the following paragraph on Ari Hoenig’s technique), in this way he has a bigger range of notes

to express the tonal relationships of a melody. Hamilton’s intention is not to create a note for

note rendition of the melody, but rather an approximation of the melody. McCaslin (2015)

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describes it as Hamilton is “mimic[ing] and approximate[ing] the phrasing and overall melodic

content of the composition” (McCaslin, 2015, s.114). This is similar to the way John Riley

described it above.

3.4.2 Ari Hoenig

Ari Hoenig uses the same kinds of techniques as Hamilton but instead of approximating the

melody Hoenig strives to recreate the specific notes of the melody. To achieve this Hoenig’s

technique relies on two different aspects: 1) The tuning of the drums, 2) The manipulation of

pitches.

Ari Hoenig is using his fourpiece drum kit tuned in determined pitch (contrary to the

conventional way of tuning the drums in indetermined pitch). In his instructional course on Jazz

Heaven (n.d.) he describes a few different ways of tuning his drums. He usually tunes his toms

and his snare in a triad. Depending on the song he can tune the drums in a first inversion or

second inversion triad in major or minor depending on what is the easiest for a specific song.

The floor tom is the lowest, tom-tom the middle and the snare drum the highest4. For second

inversion the floor tom would be the fifth, the tom-tom the root, and the snare the third (either

flat or natural).

Ari Hoenig continues to describe different ways of manipulating the pitch of the drums. He can

either use his elbow or his hand to press down on the drumhead to raise the pitch of the drum.

He can also instead of lifting the stick of the drumhead when hitting the drumhead push it in to

the drum. Both these techniques make the sound of the drum a little bit muffled and the note

is somewhat unclear. This is the reason for changing the tuning between songs. Hoenig calls the

notes played on a drum without any pitch-shifting5 an open note. (Jazz Heaven, n.d.).

4 Henceforth in this thesis, if not explained in another way, when tuning of the drum set is referred to, the floor-tom is always the lowest note, the rack tom-tom is the middle note and the snare is the highest. 5 Changing the pitch of a drum by applying pressure on the drumhead.

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In the following video I demonstrate the different techniques: https://bit.ly/3xbJylK

4. Methodology

In the following chapter I will shortly describe and the process the means of documentation of

my research.

4.1 Choice of Melodic approach

In my literature study above, I have found some different ways in which the drum set has been

used for melodic drumming. I have chosen the definition of melodic drumming most alike Ari

Hoenig’s and Jeff Hamilton’s technique. I will strive to present melodic themes with absolute

pitch as far as the scope of this thesis allows.

4.2 Practice-based research

The practice-based part of my research consists of four steps. 1) Practice and learning of jazz

standard tunes. 2) Recording of these standards. The standards represent different jazz styles

and have different melodic content. For example: blues, bebop, diatonic, modal. After the

recording of the standards, I have then 3) sought feedback from peers, teachers, and

established musicians. This feedback informed my continued work of technique practice and

the recording of more standards. In total I recorded two times and with three songs each time.

The recordings are then 4) analyzed to answer the research questions.

4.3 Documentation

The musical result is documented in two audio recordings done in a studio. Three songs each.

Audiovisual recordings have also been used in this thesis to demonstrate techniques, these

were filmed with a Lumix G7, and the audio was recorded with a Zoom H5. These clips where

then cut and edited in Adobe Premiere Pro. Additional audiovisual recordings from the studio

were filmed with an iPhone 8+. During the research I have kept a journal in which I noted

thoughts on my progress.

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5. Result

In the following chapter I will present the musical recordings and give some background to why

I chose to record each standard respectively. I will then give a summary of step 1) and 2)

practice and learning standards and recording of them. After this, step 4) analysis of the

recordings will be present presented for each recording respectively. I will overview difficulties

that occurred in the practice, relevant thoughts on the process and present the conclusions of

my analysis. Step 3) feedback from peers, teachers, and established musicians informed the

practice and learning of the second recording and is outlined in the summary of practice for

recording two.

5.1 Recording One - Practice

In this recording I played three jazz standards of different character. The three songs are: 1.

Straight No Chaser written by Thelonious Monk, 2. Monks Dream also written by Monk, 3. My

funny Valentine written by Richard Rodgers. The recording was made October 16, 2021. Johan

Hällgren recorded and mixed all three songs. Simon Bergvall played guitar and Linus Svanholm

played bass.

The songs are available at the links below:

1. Straight No Chaser: https://bit.ly/3w6tuCT

2. Monks Dream : https://bit.ly/3CIDkML

3. My funny Valentine: https://bit.ly/3IcwxMu

The melody of “Straight, No Chaser” is composed of chromatic movements. In the recording of

this song, I wanted to evolve the precision needed to play a melody with chromatic ascending

lines. When practicing the tune, I found the chromatic steps to be particularly challenging. I’ve

written in my logbook that I had difficulties intonating and hearing the pitches. I went through

and tuned the drums in different ways, firstly I tried to tune the drums so that the first three

notes were tuned to open notes on the drums. So, in this case C-F-G. This to have more than

one interval to intonate against. But after playing I opted to tune to an F-major chord in third

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inversion. If I played the theme slowly, I could make the notes clear. With practice I was able to

push it up to an adequate tempo. I remember the process of learning the song was based on

where the notes should be instead of where they are. I did not use my ear effectively at this

point. I was not used to the sound of the notes, so my intonation suffered.

The melody of Monks Dream on the other hand has leaps which are rhythmized in triplets. In

the tempo the triplets are quite quick. The song was chosen for the purpose of developing my

technique while playing fast leaps. The tune was also chosen because the rhythms of this song

are recognizable. This helped me in the phrasing of the melody. The learning of this tune went

quite quick. There were no major stumbles. In the ‘B’ (fig. 1) section there is a F# in the second

bar. This note was tricky because my instinct said that the note would be an F since the rest of

the notes are from the C mixolydian Scale.

My funny Valentine was played in a ballad style and tempo. With an approximate tempo of 50

beats per minute the duration of some notes is quite long. The song was chosen to develop the

technique of bending the pitch of each drum while on long notes. During the practice of this

song, I encountered no major problems. A stylistic choice I had to do though was regarding the

step between a D and an Eb at the end of bar one and into bar two (fig. 2). And bar three onto

bar four. The drums were tuned to a C-minor chord. The rack tom was therefore tuned to an

Eb. Then one would think to play the Eb on the open note on the rack tom. But I found that

Figure 1 The 'B' Section from Monks Dream

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because the D was played pitch bent with my elbow on the floor tom, it having a quite muted

sound, it sounded better if I played both the D and the Eb on the floor tom. So, the notes had

the same timbre. The same stepwise movement occurs in bar 9 through 12. But in that case, it

was played on the rack tom.

5.2 Recording One - Analysis

In the recording of Straight No Chaser (appendix 1) I used different techniques to perform the

melodic theme on the drum set. The drums were tuned to an F minor tuning in third inversion

(floor-tom C, rack tom F, snare Ab). This recording is played in the key of F major, rather than

the key of Bb which is the original. The theme in this song is performed with the band. The

drums and the band take turns playing melodic segments and then play a part in unison (fig. 3).

The theme has melodic lines which are based on a lot of chromatic steps. The chromaticism in

the song is hard to perform with clear pitches at a high tempo. But as discussed earlier in theory

chapter 3.2.2, the exact melodic pitches are not necessary for the listener to hear the melody.

The phrasing is important as well. The perception of the drum set melody is also helped by the

back and forth with the band. The listener has a clear presentation of the melodic content of

the tune in the guitar and the bass. In this way the listener has a clear reference point to which

Figure 2 The 'A' section from My Funny Valentine

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they can interpret the melodic performance in the drums. If I would have chosen a slower

tempo the melodies and the melodic content might have been clearer. I chose the tempo of

about 200 bpm for this song for two reasons. Firstly, that is close to the tempo of the original

recording by Thelonious Monk. And it is also the tempo that is commonly played at jam

sessions. Secondly, because I wanted to explore if the melodic content was to be perceivable in

this tempo.

In the recording of Monks Dream the drum set was tuned to a C major chord, first inversion.

The song is in the key of C major. The drums start the performance with a short improvisation

with melodic movements. The aim was to evolve the tonal melodic improvisation. The melodic

improvisation is, in this case, limited by my tonal improvisational abilities. Hence the melodic

content is sparse in the improvisation. In the recording I used the melodic content of the theme

as a basis for my improvisation. The improvised lines start with segments from the melody. In

some cases, the segment is verbatim the segment in the spot it is played in the melody. This

was both a simplification of the melodic improvisation and an aid in intonation and form. After

the short improvisation the drums present the ‘A’ section of the theme with hits by the other

performers. On the ‘B’ section I played the melody in unison with the guitarist. The following ‘A’

Figure 3 - The arrangement of Straight No Chaser

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section was played in unison with the guitar as well. This theme is mostly contained within an

octave which is the available range when using three tuned drums. But there is one bar in the

end of the ‘A’ section (see appendix 2) that goes lower than the range of the drum kit. I

transposed these notes up an octave to be able to play them. The melodic line is still

perceptible. This is helped by the fact that the chords follow a similar movement as the melody

in this specific case. During the recording of this song the first melodic improvisation was

supposed to be played with timpani sticks. But at the point of recording, I had difficulties

switching between the timpani sticks and the drumsticks. I therefore opted to play the whole

song with regular drumsticks in this recording. As such, the melodic content of the

improvisation is therefore lacking in clarity.

For the song My Funny Valentine (appendix 2) I chose to use a C minor triad in first inversion as

tuning. The song is in the key of C minor, which is the original key. The song begins by the guitar

and bass stating a V-I6, after this the drums play the first ‘A’ section alone. The section is played

with a rubato feel. I chose to do the section rubato to explore the possibilities for the drums to

play slow and singable melodies. The biggest hurdle with this is when a phrase ends on a note

that is not open. Because of the mechanics of playing a note pitch bent I can just lay with one

hand. Hence, I cannot play a buzz roll/tremolo which requires both hands. This limits the

possibilities in playing sustained notes. For songs with singable melodies with sustained notes

one should take care in the choice of tuning, so that as many sustained notes as possible are

played as open notes. After the first ‘A’ the drums play the repetition with band comping. Still

with quite a loose time-feel. My phrasing was intended to imitate the phrasing of someone

singing it. With this phrasing comes a stretching of the phrase. This is quite normal in the

vocabulary for lead instruments in jazz. What I felt at the time was that the stretching of the

phrases was hindering my time feel.

6 A chord progression found in jazz. Referring to the fifth chord (V in roman numerals) and the first chord (I in roman numerals).

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5.3 Recording Two - Practice

In this recording I played three other jazz standards with different character. The three songs

are: 1. It Could Happen To You written by Jimmy Van Heusen, 2. Doxy written by Sonny Rollins,

3. I Mean You written by Thelonious Monk. Johan Hällgren recorded and mixed all three songs.

Erik Brandell played tenor saxophone and Samuel Tillberg played bass.

The songs can be listened to at the links below:

1. It Could Happen To You: https://bit.ly/3tTd4eI

2. Doxy: https://bit.ly/3KD72p4

3. I Mean You: https://bit.ly/3wdGgzw

The melody of It Could Happen To You has some fast leaps as well as some stepwise motion. It

was chosen for its variety in the melody. I have written loosely in my logbook that I had

difficulties with intonation. I think that was based on the tuning that I chose for this song. I

chose a C major chord in first inversion. During the practice of this song, I improved my

intonation quite much. It was still lacking in some parts after the first recording. I think that at

this point, I was just starting to get a good enough ear for hearing the melody on the drums.

Doxy has a quite simple melody in a A1A2BA1-form. The B section has almost exclusively notes

that has to be pitch shifted to be played. And the top note is also at the upper bound of the

range with the respective tuning. The song was chosen to evolve my intonation at the upper

bounds of the range on the tuned drums. During practice I did notice that the highest note in

the ‘B’ section was hard to reach. Also, with the amount of pressure I needed to use to reach

that note it was quite muted to the point that it was hard to pick out the note. In the recording

of Straight no Chaser, I had used the band to help the melody come across. I remember that I

decided quite early to play the ‘B’ section of doxy in unison with the band so that the melody

would come across.

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The recording of I Mean You was made in a quite fast tempo. The song was purely chosen to

work on playing melodic lines at a fast tempo. This song was very fun to play. I had played this

song before, and I always really enjoyed playing it. When looking at the melody I thought it was

manageable but would be hard. I have written in my logbook that the intro was difficult to play,

especially in fast tempo, and I that that part would probably have to be played in unison with

the rest of the band. I also found that I got better at sticking and how to play certain parts.

When I say sticking it is not just about what hand I am playing with, but also which notes should

be played with the stick pushed into the head and which notes to play with pitch-bending with

the hand or elbow. My coordination got better during the learning process.

5.4 Recording Two - Analysis

For the recording of It Could Happen to You (appendix 3) I chose a tuning of C major first

inversion. This is because the last note of the first ending, an E, would be an open note. Also the

E is quite important in this melody and to pitch-shift the floor-tom up a major third is at the

upper limits to how far up you could pitch-shift a drum. And even when you can hit the note it

is muted because of the technique required to play it. So, I opted for having E as an open note. I

want to have the melody end in an open note so that I know with certainty that the melody is

ending on a correctly intonated note. This is the last thing the listener hears before going into

the solos, so I would like it to be intonated correctly. The open notes I think is a help to the

listener as well. If the listener can hear where the melody is resolving this sets a clear reference

point in relation to the harmony. In this song I had problems with intonation. In the second bar

there are three consecutive notes that are pitch-shifted. After the three notes (D-Eb-D) that are

played on the floor-tom an A is played on the snare, also pitch-shifted. I must release my elbow

from the floor-tom before playing on the snare drum. This means that the last note is always

going to fall back to its open note. To come around this I could mute the tom. But at this tempo

I do not have the time to mute the drum.

The melody for Doxy (Appendix 4) is played in the key of F major. I chose the tuning of F minor

second inversion for this song. I tune to F minor because Ab occurs in the melody. It is easier to

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heighten a drum one half step rather than playing another drum and having to pitch-shift it up

a minor third. I play the theme on the drums with the bass the first eight bars. Bar nine to

twelve are played in unison with the saxophone. Then the last eight I play the theme with the

sax playing the last phrase in unison with the drums. I had intended to play the theme with

timpani sticks at the recording but when I played it I did not like the sound of the drums. The

pitch-shifted drums did not produce the tone I wanted. I had to use quite a lot of force to get

them to produce the tone I wanted. That in relation to the tone I get from open notes would be

much quieter. Because of these reasons I opted to play with sticks instead. In this melody the

note E natural occurs in the melody (see appendix 4). This is below the range of the drums in

this specific tuning. I chose to play that note on the bass drum even though it is of

indeterminate pitch. The note is played as a ghost note.

In the recording of I Mean You (appendix 5) I was aiming to get the overall melodic line of the

song, but not with tonal accuracy. In the recording we are playing the theme in a quite fast

tempo and the melodic precision is not the most important thing. Overall phrasing and the

melodic line are more important. I tuned the drum kit in a F major second inversion. In this song

I used an additional drum as well. It was tuned to an octave above the C on the floor-tom. The

first and second phrase ends with an F, which in this tuning is an open note. In the ‘B’ section

there is a long F, and since I need to play it with both hands to play a buzz roll/tremolo this note

must be open. The song starts with the first ‘A’ section being played exclusively by the drums.

The bass then comps with the drums in the ‘B’ section. In the seventh bar the whole band play

the triplets in unison. Then the last ‘A’ section is played with just drums. Then the whole band

plays the unison section at the end. I made the choice to play that part in unison to make it as

clear as possible. The lowest note in the unison part in the end of the theme is an Eb. This note

is a minor third from the open tuning of the floor-tom it is played on. To get that note I would

have to push at the head with my elbow to get more force to reach all the way up to the Eb.

When playing the theme, I do not have time to have my elbow on the floor tom and then go to

the snare with my elbow. Therefore, I play the drumstick in to the drumhead and holding it

right after the striking moment. This does not produce the Eb, but rather a ghost note. This

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song was the most challenging of all my recordings. The speed of the melody is the biggest

factor in the difficulty of this song. And also, the actual physical movement of performing it.

This is discussed further in Chapter 6.3.

6. Discussion

6.1 Equipment

During my studies I have found what equipment I use to be important in producing notes on

the drum kit. I will further discuss the equipment choices and their effect on the performance.

6.1.1 Drumheads

I found that the drumheads have an important role to play in the production of a note on the

drum. Firstly, the drumhead thickness seems to closely relate to the clarity of the note. In the

audio recordings presented above I used Remo Diplomat Fiberskyn classic on the toms. On the

snare I used a Fiberskyn coated. The drumheads are thin; 7.5 mil and 8mil7 (0.1905mm and

0.2032mm) respectively. Later in the spring 2022 I changed my drumheads to Evans G1 on both

snare and toms. These heads are 10 mil (0.254 mm) so a little thicker. I found that the thinness

of the head was closely related to the intonation while pitch-bending. On the thicker heads I

needed to press significantly harder on the drumhead in order to reach the same note.

I found that the Evans G1 had a clearer tone while using timpani sticks. The Fiberskyn

drumheads were developed to imitate the look and, to some ears, the sound of drumheads

made of animal hide. They use a layer of thin fibers to imitate the ununiform finish of natural

heads. In discussion with fellow student Simon Bergvall, we concluded that the Fiberskyn

drumheads might be muted because of the layer of fibers. The G1 drumheads, which are made

from uniform plastic, are therefore more able to freely vibrate and therefore produce a cleaner

tone.

7 Mil - thousandth of an inch. The drum set industry uses imperial system of measurements.

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6.1.2 Drumsticks vs timpani sticks.

The choice of striking implement is important to the sound of the drumhead. The softer tip of

the timpani stick produces a rounder and softer sound and can deliver a clearer note.

Therefore, Timpani sticks perform worse regarding attack. If the melodic performance and the

phrasing of said melody require a quicker attack, then regular drumsticks are to be preferred.

The choice of timpani sticks also matters. In the recordings I used “timpani sticks”/mallets that I

owned beforehand. They were off-brand, soft mallets intended for creating a “washy” sound on

cymbals. After the recordings I once borrowed a pair of Kaufmann 108 from the university and

found that the clarity of the drum’s notes were very much improved. I will, moving forward, just

be using authentic timpani sticks.

6.1.3 Drum set setup

The drum set is predominantly a rhythm instrument. And I want my drums to sound good when

playing conventionally, as well as playing melodic content. This means that I cannot tune the

drums too high or too low. In my studies I have found that the best tunung for the floor tom is a

C. This tuning works well both for melodic performance and for conventional drumming.

Furthermore, the number of drums could be increased for a bigger range. I want to be able to

use melodic drumming on a standard jazz drum kit rather than having a bespoke setup for my

music. For me I want the application of melodic drumming to be as easy as possible. Therefore,

I aim to always play on a setup that is as close to the standard jazz setup as possible.

6.2 Melodic improvisation

As a drummer I have not practiced melodic improvisation as much as I have rhythmic. There are

parts of melodic improvisation on other instruments that is imminently transferable to the

drum set. Such as phrasing, tension and release, call and response and melodic contour. But the

melodic content in tonal improvisation is not. The drum set can be able to play improvisational

lines based on scales. For this to happen the intonation and melodic intention has to be of high

precision. Improvisational techniques are a subject for further studies.

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6.3 Physiological limitations

During one of the recordings one of the other musicians said that “…it looks fairly acrobatic”.

We were playing the song I Mean You in quite a fast tempo. During the song I am switching

between drums rapidly and bending the pitch of them with my hands or elbows. This makes me

twist my body around the drum kit at some speed to be able to play the drums with the

required techniques. Songs with long leaps with notes other than open notes in rapid phrases

are therefore impossible. A video of me playing the theme can be seen here:

https://bit.ly/3NwZeXT

6.4 The Listener

Separating myself from the music I am playing is almost impossible. And to listen to the songs

that I am playing as if I have never heard them is doubly so. For me it is quite hard to define

what the listeners are perceiving in the respective performances. But what I have understood

from other people that are listening to me is that it can be hard to grasp the melody if you have

not heard the song before. But if the listener does know the melody, then the perception

becomes a lot easier. Rodrigo Villanueva writes regarding Jeff Hamilton’s approach:

As listeners we have the tendency to “fill in the blanks”; in other words, we tend to use our own experience with a given melody, such as this jazz standard, and hear the actual theme even when it is played by a typically non-melodic instrument. (Villanueva, 2007, p.8)

I found in my own listening to Ari Hoenig that songs I have not heard before I have a harder

time grasping and being able to restate the melody after listening to it. It is easier to hear the

melodic content with slower and repeating melodies. The listener’s relationship with the

performance and the melodic content is a topic of further studies.

6.5 The drums in relation to the jazz ensemble.

As discussed throughout this thesis, the drum set has many possibilities. What I found during

the recordings and practicing of the jazz standards in this thesis is there was always some kind

of concession that had to be made for the song to work. There either was something that the

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drums had to do that was different to the original melody, or sometimes parts had to be played

in another octave. Ornaments had to be discarded or the arrangement of the songs had to be

altered to fit the new lead instrument. This limits how well the drums can recreate the melody

being played on a conventional melodic instrument. You also lose the function the drums have

comping. I also found during this thesis that the rest of the band cannot comp as loudly as they

do for conventional lead instruments. The melody is not as clear.

6.6 Further studies

This project has made me very aware of the possibilities in melodic implementation on the

drum set. For my future exploration of the subject, I want to explore the possibilities of adding

more drums to my drum kit. This could be an easy way to extend the range of the instrument.

On the other hand, I would like to use just the basic setup for a jazz drum kit. This is to not have

to change paradigm and therefore make it easier for me to find the pitches on the drums. If the

number of drums on the drum set were to be increased, it would be easiest if the additional

drums were added at the top or the bottom of the range. With the standard setup of three

drums the range of an octave is sufficient. But in certain cases, a larger range would be useful.

In discussions with other students I have noticed that I, after writing this thesis, instinctively

know where a specific note is on the drum kit and what I must do to be able to play it. I do not

need to “figure out” where the note is. I think that the basic drum kit setup has a lot of areas

where I could evolve the performance of melodic content on the drums.

6.7 Complimentary material

In late spring 2022 I had my graduation concert, where I played songs I recorded for this thesis,

but I also played some new songs using the techniques explored in this thesis. Excerpts can be

found here:

1) How High the Moon, written by Morgan Lewis: https://bit.ly/3myrFJ9

2) Monks Dream, written by Thelonious Monk: https://bit.ly/39hGhtn

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7. References

Brennan, M. (2020). Kick It: a social history of the drum kit. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

Dean, M. (2011). The Drum: A History [ebook]. Scarecrow Press Incorporated.

Gridley, M.C. (2012). Jazz styles: history & analysis. (11th edition). PEARSON

Jeff Hamilton Trio. (1996). LIVE! [Album]. Mons Records.

Hoenig, A. (2011). Lines of Oppresion. [Album]. Self-released.

Jazzheaven.com. (2011). ARI HOENIG: Melodic Drumming [Video]. Jazzheaven. https://www.jazzheaven.com/yes/courses/ari-hoenig-melodic-drumming-edge/

Jordan, M. (2009). Melodic Drumming in Contemporary Popular Music: An Investigation into Melodic Drum-Kit Performance Practices and Repertoire. [Master’s thesis, RMIT University] Research repository.

McCaslins, J. D. (2015). Melodic Jazz Drumming. [Dissertation, University of Toronto]. TSpace. https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/69408

Monk, T. (1958). In walked bud [Song recorded by Thelonious Monk Trio]. Riverside Records Monk, T. (Composer). (1962). Straight No Chaser [Sheet music]. Hal Leonard Corp. Monk, T., Hawkins, C. (Composer). (1947). I Mean You [Sheet music]. Hal Leonard Corp. Roach, M. (1966). Drums Unlimited [Album]. Atlantic Rogers, R., Hart, L. (Composer). My Funny Valentine (1962). [Sheet music]. Hal Leonard Corp. Rollins, S. (Composer). (1963). Doxy [Sheet music]. Hal Leonard Corp. Van Heusen, J., Burke, J. (Composer). (1944). It Could Happen to You [Sheet music]. Hal Leonard Corp. Smith, S. (2007). Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. [DVD] Hudson Music. https://hudsonmusic.com/product/drum-legacy-standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants/

Strayhorn, B. (1963). Take The Coltrane. [Recorded by Coltrane, J., Elington, D.]. Impulse!

Weiss, D. (2020). Dan Weiss plays with “Take The Coltrane”. [Video]. https://youtu.be/CCwofNCFy4w Villanueva, R. (2007) Jeff Hamilton’s Melodic Approach. Percussive notes (February 2007), 16-23.

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8. Appendices

Appendix 1

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Appendix 2

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Appendix 3

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Appendix 4

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Appendix 5