It’s been a distinct honor and privilege to write about the recent Drum Channel video series presented by my former teacher, Ed Soph. I studied with Ed for more than four years while he was teaching at The Creative Music Studios in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
Even after Ed left there to become a full-time professor at North Texas State University, he would continue to send me additional new practice materials. I still have every single lesson he ever wrote out for me in his distinctive calligraphic writing style. I studied with a true musical genius… Rarely was there a question about drumming that Ed couldn’t answer. He was also the most caring, and concerned drum teacher I ever had.
Ed Soph’s Drum Channel videos fall within his original concept of ‘Exploring Improvisation and Developing Your Voice’… Ed breaks down the most important information that every drummer needs to improve their time, feel, and the ability to improvise musically.
A total of twenty- five chapters blend seamlessly into each other through a logical progression.
The Complete Drum Channel Program includes:
Foundational Stick Technique
Ed dives into the fundamentals of hand technique and shows the mechanics of holding the stick as well as the basic hand motions, which allow you to play with control while staying relaxed.
Sanford A. Moeller Foundational Exercises
The Moeller Stroke is a technique that uses a “whipping motion” - designed to help drummers play faster, and louder while also staying relaxed.
Set Up Guidelines
Shows the importance of making the drum set comfortable to fit your needs. It’s important that each drummer has a slightly different way of setting up. The kit should be set up to play comfortably and efficiently. Doing this avoids discomfort and injury.
Foundational Pedal Technique
Ed will help you gain control of both the bass drum and hi-hat pedal. He demonstrates how to find the balance point of each pedal and how to achieve the desired spring tension for good rebound from the bass drum. He also shares how to pull the sound out of the drum, and a variety of hi-hat techniques to gain control of your sound and dynamics.
Foundational Brush Technique
Ed then covers different brush concepts and how to apply them in a musical situation. Various articulations are shown to achieve the desired staccato or legato sound. He also shows how to apply different rudiments and sounds to add more depth to your brush vocabulary.
Rhythmic Improvisation on the Pad
This series of lessons covers one of the most important parts of being a musical drummer, playing the melody. Ed demonstrates how to approach playing in and around the melody by using a few different concepts for developing a musical solo.
Ride Cymbal Concepts
If you study any of the greats in drumming history you’ll notice they all have a good ride beat. Although they may all have subtle differences, one key factor that Ed shares is that they all have consistency in sound, time and dynamics. This course will help you develop your ride technique in a variety of tempos as well as understand how to adjust the time and feel to best suit the musical situation, whether it be on top, in the middle, or slightly behind the beat.
Taking the Tune to the Drum Set
Practicing tunes on a pad shows how it can be applied to similar concepts on the drum set. Ed demonstrates a variety of concepts like using space, motif development, and rhythmic phrasing to help us to improvise and build a musical solo around the melody. He also demonstrates how we can apply all these concepts to various styles of Jazz.
Playing In A Jazz Rhythm Section
Ed demonstrates all of these concepts with his group featuring: Chuck Berghofer on bass, David Garfield on piano, and Jacob Scesney on tenor sax. Together they play and discuss musical interaction, comping, listening, and time-feel. Overall, Ed Soph’s online videos feature an incredible wealth of information for all drummers.
Also included is a six-part series hosted by Don Lombardi titled: ‘Ed Soph and His Students’ which features Ed’s former students from the University of North Texas. His students have included - Earl Harvin, Ari Hoenig, Keith Carlock, Jason Sutter, Bill Campbell, Blair Sinta, Rich Redmond, Brian Delaney and Stockton Helbing, and numerous others.
Ed Soph is one of the most respected and influential drum set educators in the world. He has also participated for many years in the ‘Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops’ where he taught John “J.R.” Robinson and Steve Houghton.
Ed’s own career includes playing and recording with the big bands of Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Bill Watrous, and Clark Terry; and, combos with Joe Henderson, Bill Evans, Lee Konitz, Randy Brecker, Marvin Stamm, Bobby Shew, Cedar Walton, David Liebman, Eddie Gomez, and Carl Fontana. Ed was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame in 2016.
Ed Soph’s online drum lessons are available at:
In Addition: Ed Soph Shares Two Incredible Tony Williams Stories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePFX4sknhW4
A LESSON FROM TONY WILLIAMS
“When I was a kid, for about two years I played like Max Roach. Max is my favorite drummer. Art Blakey was my first drum idol, but Max was the biggest. So I would buy every record I could with Max on it and then I would play exactly what was on the record, solos and everything. I also did that with Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Jimmy Cobb, Roy Haynes, and all of the drummers I admired. I would even tune my drums just like they were on the record.
People try to get into drums today, and after a year, they’re working on their own style. You must first spend a longtime doing everything that the great drummers do. Then you can understand what it means. Not only do you learn how to play something, but you also learn why it was played. That’s the value of playing like someone. You can’t just learn a lick; you’ve got to learn where it came from, what caused the drummer to play that way, and a number of things. Drumming is like an evolutionary pattern.”
-- Tony Williams
1984
In addition… A grateful note of thanks to Jenny Trask, and Adam Kuns of Drumchannel.com for all of their invaluable assistance.