August 2011

Rock ‘N’ Jazz Clinic

Write Creative Drum Parts

Part 3: Interpreting Threes

by Chris Prescott

For the third installment of this series, I thought it would be appropriate to examine the various ways to interpret music based in threes. Most rock music is played in 4/4, or common time, but a great way to add variety to a set of songs is to use alternate time signatures.

Without incorporating too much complexity or disjointedness, a few bars of 3/4 or 6/8 can do a lot to make your music unique and more interesting.

Here are the five mp3s that accompany the article.

Check out the complete article in the August 2011 issue for transcriptions and additional insight.