Can u teach a drummer to make the time elastic or is that an innate quality ? -Dave

Awesome question!!!  (Check out Dave's band Blind God on itunes- great stuff!)

This is something that I've thought about quite a bit over the last bunch of years- why is it that some drummers can groove and some sound like they're doing fractal mathematics?  Also- how can I teach the concept that time IS an elastic morphing, changing constant?

The entire concept became crystal clear to me when I was studying with Duduka Da Fonseca, Kim Plainfield and Bobby Sanabria at The Collective NYC.  It became evident to me that in western contemporary music that our idea of time placement and groove is to put the backbeat "in the pocket" and keep it precisely the same from bar to bar throughout the entire song.  I felt that in Afro-Cuban styles- the masters could and would "push and pull" time placement- not only within the bar but throughout the entire song including fills, solos and heads.  It was a huge wake up call!!!

As I began to investigate this, one thing that became evident is that the way someone learns in, say- a samba school in Brazil versus Western European methods are vastly different.  I was taught to read music first- playing simple patterns on a pad while being coached by my teacher.  Soon, I was allowed to move to the drumset where more complex patterns were placed on the music stand for me to work through- while my teacher coached.

The way many Afro Cuban drummers are taught from an early age is predominately in a group setting- gathered around the master.  The master will play a pattern and then go from student to student allowing them to slowly pick it up by ear while watching repeatedly how the master is physically moving.  There's actually a scene depicting this in the new Canadian Documentary "A Drummer's Dream" where supreme conga master Giovanni Hidalgo is teaching a group of young drummers in this fashion.

As students at the Collective- we were also exposed to this type of learning- and it was a blast!!!
Eventually you had 6-7 drummers all sharing and playing at the same time- and if you happen to "trip", it was pretty easy to get back into the groove with your friends.

In my own teaching practise,  I try to incorporate this type of learning experience when I can but, although it sometimes works, it does go against the grain of how people tend to learn now.  In order to effectively communicate with the majority I came up with this concept process to open the students' minds to the idea:

The 3 stages to becoming a master drummer:

First stage: Basic technique and co-ordination.  Simple beats and poly rhythms- 8th notes, 16th notes and 8th note triplets.

Second Stage: Intermediate/Advanced technique.  This is where the math really comes in!!!  Subdivisions, Divisions, Metric Modulation, all that stuff. Most Importantly- I can write anything in this stage down on a piece of paper and give it to you to study on your own.  It's concrete.  You can hold it.  Give it to your friends for Christmas!!!

Now because this stage is so real to so many people- there's a comfort zone there.  You can sit in your basement for years lost in the mathematical beauty- just you and your click and a case of Ensure drink boxes and feel safe.  Consequently, many many people just get stuck here and never progress- they might even feel as if they're moving forward while moving away from the groove!!!  So, I try to open their minds with the concept of the-

Third Stage: The realization that time is elastic.  In nature, time stretches and pulls constantly.  The best clock in the world- the optical clock- is accurate to 1 second every 3.5 billion years.  Although impressive- not perfect!!! Time is a constant- but not scientifically perfect.

I tell students that in our society- we don't all haul out the lawn chairs on Oct 15 to watch the leaves change colour and fall off the trees every year!  It stretches and pulls.  Think of anything in nature and it easily teaches us this lesson.

The next step after the concept realization is to train the ear to hear the "pocket".  Learning Afro Cuban grooves and the importance of clave is important.  Also, I have a bunch of songs that I play for the student and then discuss.  These can include "One Headlight" by the Wallflowers and "Leave Your Hat On" by Joe Cocker (Matt Chamberlain and Mike Baird on drums) among others.

Luckily for younger students, they're getting pretty savvy to things like "griding" on protools and are in to checking out the Earl Palmers and James Gadsons and Jeff Porcaros for the real groove!!!

Thanks to YouTube, it's all there now for the taking!

Thanks for the question!!!
JAY!