In this short video lesson, supplied by Drum Guru and Hudson Music, August 2015 cover artist, Antonio Sanchez, shares his favorite exercise for developing complete creative freedom with the left hand in a Brazilian samba style. The right hand and feet play a typical Brazilian ostinato, which comprises constant 8th notes on the ride, a dotted 8th/16th-note figure on the bass drum, and offbeat “chicks” with the hi-hat foot. Over that, the left hand works through the various 8th-note subdivisions on the snare. After practicing those exercises systematically, experiment with improvising different left-hand ideas on the snare without interrupting the ostinato on the ride, bass drum, and hi-hat.

 
Antonio Sanchez was born in Mexico City and started playing drums at age five. He has a degree in classical piano from the National Conservatory in Mexico and a degree in jazz studies from Berklee College of Music in Boston. Sanchez has played drums with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist Avishai Cohen, saxophonist Michael Brecker, vibraphonist Gary Burton, and pianist Chick Corea, and for over a decade he has manned the throne with Grammy award–winning jazz guitarist/composer Pat Metheny. Sanchez has released several albums under his own name (2007’s Migration, 2010’s Live in New York, 2013’s New Life, and 2015’s Three Time Three and The Meridian Suite), and he composed the music for the 2014 Academy award–winning movie Birdman.

Antonio Sanchez is the featured cover artist of the August 2015 issue of Modern Drummer, which can be purchased purchased at: http://wp.me/p1bQfj-fuj