I'd like to share with you a challenging little pattern that I recently came up with. My goal when I started working on this was to come up with a beat that incorporated as many different sound sources on my kit as possible, and that would force me to lead with both my right and left hands. I also wanted a pattern that was musical, as well as one that was a good exercise to strengthen my upper body. The result was the Funky Octopus. (Don't worry, eight hands are not required to play it!)

The beat is a four-bar phrase, with the first two bars moving one way on the kit and the second two bars moving in the opposite direction. You'll understand what I mean when you check out the sticking pattern. Besides leading with both hands, the beat incorporates what I call "broken" double strokes: the first note of a double is played on one sound source, the second note on another.

I use a fairly large kit, and this beat becomes downright nasty the more sounds you try to incorporate. However, it works just fine played on a smaller drum set. Example 1 is written for a kit with just one tom (in a repeated two-bar phrase). No matter what size kit you have, work on this one first. Example 2 is the full Octopus, adding a lot of different sound sources (and a slight sticking change) to the pattern. The beauty of this pattern is that it can be applied to whatever type of kit you have.


A few more suggestions: I'd begin working on this beat by practicing the sticking alone on a pad or a single drum, before sitting down at the kit. Once you're comfortable with that, it's easier to adapt it to the set. When you start working on it at the drums, just play the hands parts without your feet. Add your feet only after your hand motion is under control. One other thing to keep in mind: this is supposed to be funky, so play the accented bass and snare notes hard, and make it groove.

As you play through the patterns you may find that you have difficulty playing certain notes on the hi-hat, because of the cross-overs that occur. If, because of your set-up, this is a problem, try substituting a right hand/hi-hat note with a right on a cymbal bell on the right side of your kit. (I have two rides - on the left and right - and I occasionally substitute all of the written closed hi-hat notes with bell hits.) Feel free to experiment.

I have found this beat to be very helpful in increasing my overall strength and my ability to get around the kit in a slightly different way. I enjoy putting on some Funk music and playing this beat along with it for long periods of time. It's a good workout. Have fun with it!


Reprinted from Modern Drummer magazine, October 1992