Sound Enhanced

Hear the music examples marked in the

Members Only section of the PAS Web site at
www.pas.org

Left Foot Son Clave Ostinato

BY ROB LEYTHAM

R
emember when all you had to do with your feet on the 2. Practice each of the following ride cymbal patterns over
drumset was play the bass drum and hi-hat? Then, about the foot ostinato. Start with the straight eighth-note pattern at
twenty years ago, a second pedal was added next to the a slow, workable tempo. When that is comfortable to play, then
hi-hat pedal so you could play double bass patterns on a single practice the two sixteenth-note ride patterns, adding the bell of
bass drum. Now the bar has been raised again, with drummers the ride cymbal where notated to create a nice groove.
like Horacio Hernandez, Akira Jimbo, Alex Acuna, and Gregg
Bissonette playing a Jam Block or cowbell with the left foot. It 2a
is becoming more common to have three pedals on the left side,
creating greater independence and challenging patterns.
When students come to me wanting to learn how to develop
4¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ..
this independence, I give them a series of exercises. These clave
ostinato exercises can be practiced with the left foot playing ei- ã 4 — . œ— ‰ — ‰ —œ—
ther cowbell, Jam Block, or hi-hat. J
Key
2b
< < < <
Ride Cym.
¿ <¿
Cym. Bell
¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿.
œ
ã — œ ã 44 — . œ— ‰ — ‰ —œ— .
Cowbell
Jam Block
Snare Drum Bass Drum J
or Hi-Hat
2c
1. Learn the ostinato with the left foot playing the 3:2 son
< < < <
clave. We will keep the bass drum simple by playing it on the
4¿¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿¿ ..
“ah” of 1 and the “ah” of 3.
ã 4 — . œ— ‰ — ‰ — œ —
1
J
ã 44 — . œ— ‰ — ‰ —œ—
.. 3. While playing Exercise 2, play the following rhythms with
the left hand on the snare drum. Repeat each pattern four

J times before trying to play the twelve measures straight

through.

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PERCUSSIVE NOTES 18 JUNE 2002

 3a, 3b, 3c

(Note: In the Sound Enhanced section of the PAS Web site, MIDI file 3a is the following example played with pattern
2a; MIDI file 3b is the following example with pattern 2b; and MIDI file 3c is the following example with pattern 2c.)

j j j j
4
ã4œ œ œ œ ‰ ‰ œ ‰ œ ‰ œ œ œ Œ œ œ Œ
œ Œ œ œ Œ œ œ

j j j j j r
ã œ ‰ œ Œ œ œ œ ‰ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ. œ ≈ œ . ‰ œ œ œ ‰. œ œ œ. œ

j j j j j
œ œ œ œ
ã Œ . Œ . Œ œ ‰ œ œ . œ œ œ œ œ
. ≈ . . ‰œ œ œ . ‰ ≈œ . œ
œ œ

4. Once that is mastered, turn those rhythms into a solo. teenth notes. Accents that fall on a beat or an “and” are played
Keep playing the 3:2 son clave ostinato with the feet and play on the floor tom with the right hand. Accents that fall on an “e”
alternating sixteenth notes on the snare drum. The rhythm or “ah” are played on the high tom with the left hand. All unac-
patterns from Exercise 3 will be played as accents on the six- cented notes are played on the snare.

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 19 JUNE 2002

 4

> > > > > > > > > > > >
4
ã 4 œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ
> > > > > > > > > > > >
ã œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ
> > > > > > > >> > > > > > >
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ
ã
> > > >> > > > > > > > > > >
œ œ œ œ œ œ
ã œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ œœœ œ œœœœœ œœœœ œœœ œœœœœ œœœœœœ
5. Continue playing the foot ostinato under alternating six-
teenth notes. Move your right hand to either the bell of the ride
cymbal or a cowbell, keeping your left hand on the snare. Prac-
tice each of these sixteenth-note hand stickings over the 3:2 son
clave foot ostinato.

ã 44 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ..
R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L
R R L L R R L L R R L L R R L L
R L R R L R L L R L R R L R L L
R L L R L R R L R L L R L R R L
R R L R L L R L R R L R L L R L
R L R L R L R R L R L R L R L L
R R L L R L R L R R L L R L R L
R L L R L R L R L R R L R L R L
R R L R L R L R L L R L R L R L
L R L R R L R L L R L R R L R L
R L R L L R L R R L R L L R L R

Once you feel that you have the control to play each of these
exercises, practice the 3:2 son clave ostinato with rhythms
found in Ted Reed’s Progressive Steps to Syncopation or Gary
Chester’s The New Breed, and with stickings in George
Lawrence Stone’s Stick Control. Have fun discovering the new
drum grooves and solo ideas that this ostinato will create.

Rob Leytham is a private drum instructor at Antioch Music Cen-

ter in Kansas City, Missouri, and an instructor of snare drum
and drumset at Missouri Western State College. He has written
many articles for Modern Drummer magazine and five books for
Mel Bay Publications: Rock Drumming and Soloing Methods,
Jazz and Blues Drumming, Progressive Rock Drumming and
Soloing Methods, Rudimental Drum Set Solos for the Musical
Drummer, and Ostinatos for the Melodic Drum Set. Visit
Leytham’s Web site at www.robleytham.com. PN

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 20 JUNE 2002

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