This excerpt is taken from the complete article that appears in the February 2016 issue, which is available here.

Basics

More Cowbell

Embellishing Grooves With a Different View

The phrase “more cowbell” has seeped into the public consciousness with good reason—cowbell rocks! Classic rock songs like “Mississippi Queen,” “Honky Tonk Women,” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” inspired this month’s lesson.

The first three exercises focus on practical rock grooves with syncopated bass drum figures. I’ve included a series of two-bar patterns, starting with Exercise 4, that hints at a half-time inflection or a syncopated over-the-bar feel. Not to worry—the quarter-note cowbell glues them together. Be sure to subdivide so you can clearly mark the phrases with solid time.

Beginning with Exercise 10, the cowbell takes on a linear, melodic quality. Exercise 13 is a triplet-based rock ’n’ roll escapade that begs for more variations. Be sure to apply all of the hi-hat foot ostinatos that we included in a previous issue (December 2015) to these exercises. Shedding those coordination exercises allows you to express yourself freely when you hit the bandstand or the recording studio. More cowbell, please! Advertisement

Check out a video demonstration of the exercises below.

Rich Redmond

For the complete lesson with transcriptions, check out the February 2016 issue, which is available here.