An Interactive Play Along Method: Tunes, Charts, Insight Interviews, Performances and Additional Instruction by Top International Players.
A Brief History of the “Inner Clock” Concept
Conceived at P.I.T in Los Angeles around 1995. While teaching the Big Band and ensemble technique courses there, I noticed a huge gap in student’s abilities to turn charts into music. While many of them were good readers, they could not make the jump from the page to the heart! So I put together sequenced parts of musical phrases that gave them the most trouble. They could now play over them and read the figures as many times as needed. Well, the little sequenced parts were a hit and soon all the students started asking for them! With time we zeroed in on the problems and discovered it was not reading so much as…a lack of experience with subdivisions and phrases that gave drummers trouble. Internalizing rhythmic figures and interpreting them meant of course returning to some basic principals of music. Mainly for the drummer, this is “sense of time” and a deep knowledge of……….Rhythm. Through experimentation, the sequences turned into songs. And with the collaboration of many very generous players, the method was born. The first book “Working the Inner Clock” (Published by Hal Leonard) is used in drum schools and conservatories worldwide. The book is loved by all drummers who work with it and has proven to be a most effective tool in many areas of drumming.
In the original book there were many topics related to Inner Clock work that I assumed everyone knew. But, it turns out that the depth of this kind of work escapes many students. Also, it was not possible to convey these concepts in a book.
Technology has taken giant leaps since the release of the original book. The video format is now so strong that books alone have almost taken a backseat in the minds of drummers.
The video format will now cover everything related to this method and more!!
1. What is Time
2. What is Rhythm
3. The Inner Clock Concept
4. Effects of subdivisions on time and music.
5. Feeling vs. Counting
6. Song / Drum part analysis and breakdown
7. Specific Independence for each song
8. Specific Rhythmic analysis of each song
9. Creating music on drums – The Arches system of song development
The songs / exercises have a concept to them. They are not randomly selected tunes. They are written with specific exercises in mind. Each one has exercises built in to them which makes working on target goals a BLAST instead of drudgery.
Styles – Besides the work specifically for Inner Clock studies, the tunes take us around the world through different musical styles. Why? It was proven through the initial experimentation with the sequences, that to develop a truly strong sense of time and phrasing, the phrases and subdivision exercises had to be played in different feels and styles to be most effective. One example = Dotted quarter note + eight note. There is a huge difference in this phrase if you go from a rock style, to shuffle, to 6/8 to Funk to Afro Cuban Afro Brazilian and Fusion. The vocabulary on drums totally changes. This method gives you an opportunity to develop language in different styles while benefiting from the “Inner Clock” specific exercises.
This time I will also be featuring some of my favorite musicians from around the world on the tracks. Not only sequenced parts but top musicians playing with the tracks. So that the feel of the pieces drummers and percussionists will play along with is greatly improved. AND…I will be featuring different drummers doing alternate takes of the tunes. So that we can all get as much inspiration as possible from each song. This has never been done before in play along books and I am sure that everyone involved in working with the method will be extremely satisfied.
Guest Artists signed on so far
- Billy Childs (LA)
- Luis Conte (LA)
- Cliff Almond – Drums (NY)
- Tom Kennedy – Bass (NY)
- Andreas Schermann – Piano (DE)
- Pete Lockett (UK)
- Derrick Murdock – Bass (LA)
- Jojo Mayer – Drums (NY)
- Irio Oʼfarill Bass (NY)
- Bob Quaranta (Piano (NY)
- Francisco Torres – Trombone (LA)
- Wally de Los Reyes (LA)
- Rich Mangicaro (LA)
- Martin Verdonk (NL)