The Basics of Brushes - Ulysses Owens, Jr. | 2 Minute Jazz

Ulysses Owens, Jr. demonstrates the essentials of what it takes to play the drums with brushes.

#2minjazz #ulysses #owens #openstudio #jazz #drums #tutorial #brushes

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(rhythmic drums beating)

(hi-hat clinking)

(brushes tapping)

(brushes sweeping)

- The brushes are my favorite thing to play. It's one of the most sensitive ways to play as a drummer and it's one of the coolest ways to really create amazing textures. When you play the brushes, there's a couple different rules that you have to apply by, but ultimately you can still make great music. The first rule is, left hand. Left hand is your sweeping hand, like a broom. You sweep, one, two, three, four. One, two, a-uh, uh, uh.

(brush sweeping and tapping)

This is with an accent. This is without an accent.

(brush sweeping)

We'll go back to the accent.

(brush sweeping and tapping)

Then you can take that right hand with the same spang-a-lang pattern you played in the right hand with the ride cymbal, you add that to the center of the drum, like this.

(drum beating)

(brush tapping)

(brush sweeping)

Then you can add the hi-hat in,

(hi-hat clinking)

(brush tapping)

(brush sweeping)

Then a little bit of bass drum.

(Bass drum booming)

Then sometimes you can add some fill.

(rhythmic drums beating)

(brushes sweeping and tapping)

The cool thing about the brushes is that they're really used with great singers. You can use them in certain arrangements with big band. You can use them even in certain arrangements with horn players or you can just use them to play softer. For younger drummers and drummers that are playing around locally, you can use them in different venues, whether it's a restaurant gig, or club gig or whatever, but it's an art form that you've gotta really check out. There's some great drummers to check out, Vernel Fournier, Papa Jo Jones, Kenny Clarke, Elvin Jones and so many others. But I really love the brushes because it's a way to find your own, creative sound. And I have a lot of fun playing the brushes, but you've gotta really make sure you check out the brushes and make sure that you know how to play the brushes by themselves and with the hi-hat. So like this,

(drum beating)

(brushes sweeping and tapping)

(hi-hat clinking)

and also like this

(drum beating)

(brushes sweeping and tapping)

(drum booming)

So again the brushes are a great thing to have fun with and it's a great way and a true part of the jazz tradition of being a jazz drummer. I love the brushes.

(fast, rhythmic, percussion music playing)

(percussion playing)

(melodic piano playing)

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For full lessons with Ulysses Owens, check out Open Studio Network: https://www.openstudionetwork.com/project/fyb-overview/

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