Drum lessons with Jason McGerr from Death Cab

[iwaslikepfffft]

this never ceases to amaze me

[luisframirez91]

i dont get whats going on with the bass drum... whats he mean a pattern in five?

[hiphopsucks96]

@luisframirez91 five as in the pattern is in the time signature 5/4

[keithgreene79]

My last post because my head just exploded

[krupboom]

Saw Jason playing at the Brixton DCFC gig last night. He was simply superb. One of the best drummers i've ever seen (and at the age of 50, I've seen a few). Inspirational.

[Giles4200]

makes it look so easy...... i wish i could do that :P

[mancam221]

the only part that obaying the laws of 4-4 timing is the snair,

everything else is mathematically unbelievable

and thats crazy hard to do

[scissor2me2timbers]

@mancam221 Actually, the whole rhythm is "obeying the laws of 4-4- timing" All the other beats are just syncopated which means that they fall on notes that are not the strongest beats of the 4/4 time signature, and in the 4/4 time, the strongest beats are 1 and 3 despite what the common belief is--which is that the strongest beats are 2 and 4. The next strongest ARE 2 and 4 (which is the snare). Everything else is syncopated, falling on even smaller notes (16th notes) than the 4 main beats.

[scissor2me2timbers]

@scissor2me2timbers hence why he counts 1e&a 2e&a etc.

[powerbomb91]

this is what you call feel! if it feels good, it sounds even better.

[indycolts4]

HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT

[westboundelephant]

sounds like your new twin sized bed's beat, almost a slower grapevine fires

[hiphopsucks96]

@westboundelephant your new twin sized bed has a 16th note pattern on the high hat, accenting on the 1, 2, 3, and 4. grapevine fire is a shuffle, with an accent on the three. i can see how u think it sounds the same, but they're all quite different.

[Thekidsareonfire]

i found it quite enjoyable

[ChaplainDMK]

Altough this is a rather complex and cool drum line, the reason most drummers "pound" as you people say is because a drummers role is to keep rythm.

Hard to keep rythm to a drum track like this tbh.

[BadCompany2113]

@ChaplainDMK how is it hard to keep rhythm to at all? he's giving you straight eighths on the ride and a backbeat, you'd have to be very unmusical to not be able to keep rhythm to this, not to mention the fact that there is a metronome on in the background, this is your rhythm's best friend. tbh

[coolguy0421]

Oh and no it's not from Transatlantacism... but that cd is super awesome

[coolguy0421]

Jason I've tried to do this over and over and that bass drum kicks are hard and when you do that inverse on the ride after a couple of second just makes the beat even more impossible to do. But I'm still gonna get at it 'til I can get it. You rock. Death Cab is awesome, one of my favorite bands... It's really great music.

[omahh1]

good drumming but i wouldnt call it a lesson

[suitxwithxipod6]

Is this from any one of their particular songs? It sounds really familiar, like maybe off of their Transatlantacism album? I'm not sure...

[whodonaldwhat]

so simple yet very complex

[indycolts4]

@whodonaldwhat hardly simple. 3 over 3 time with 5 over 5 time plus variable rhythm with the ride and a 4 over 4 snare. quiete sounding? Yes. Easy? No. Simple? No.

[TheWhispersofRain]

@indycolts4 I would like to clarify that there is no 3 over 3 time, seeing that there is no "Third note" rather, he is playing a 3 over 4 or a 5 over 4 time respectively, the top number indicating the number of beats, and the bottom number indicating the type of note being counted, all of which in this case are quarter notes. Thus the "4" on the bottom

[tommyjojo]

Wow! If you figure it out it just starts over after sixty beats. This guy is incredible!

[Dougie208]

He's a good drummer, I also play (or used to before selling my kit years ago like a fool)! However I will but another soon, and learn that beat

[agreen182]

I was made for guitar not drums lol. This is amazing

[therhythmlab]

That was tight!

I'm going to learn it tomorrow!

Wish me luck!

[RadioWar1212]

@therhythmlab GOOD LUCK! i wont even attempt

[muzikscud23]

@Margiana123 AGREED....... =o

[Margiana123]

Wow!

[keiffdrum4Kleeners]

Holla Seattle Drum School!

[Amulius]

What a freakin incredible drummer!

That's what i call independence!

[thienly]

WOW!

[himynameiscreed]

i've seen this on the dvd a million times and it still puts my mind in bewilderment

[MikeDaniels3951]

What a drummer . The best thing about the band.

[iwaslikepfffft]

sick

[THX10538]

Insane independence going on here. Shame he is in such a girlie band, he could tear some funky shit up. Not that deathcab is a particluarly bad band, they're just really girlie

[xtremesk8er294]

AMAZING

[KylePattyWillson]

Holy shit talk about independence.

[seanmurray90]

idk what a dot a pattern is, or a pattern in five.. i know what a back beat is and 16th notes tho.. so confusing..hes so fuckin creative.ive been playin for almost 12 years. i cant do off beats like these 2 save my life, 2 much math 4 me.. i just play and what comes out comes out.. i dont even count ever.. i needd 2 start again..im forgetin soo much shit :(

his beats are truly art

[deathcabiscool]

hey do u know a tammy bowman shes my anut she said she jammed with you

[redhorserainbow]

Forget all the Joey Jordison metal super speed shit, this is what drumming is all about.

[spencerr21]

except for Matt Greiner..

[luciferdy9]

@redhorserainbow dude, whatever you say but Joey is a fucking dope drummer! period.

[hebronsawyers]

EPIC

[steverlord]

"New Breed" to the max! Great job, as always!

[zambizzi]

Has anyone found or made a transcription of this exercise? I saw it on the 2006 MD Festival DVD...seems like a great independence exercise.

[sparkles67]

i have no life? at least i don't listen to crap music that makes me want to take my own life!!! go blow a goat!

[EuReKaDeAdScOpE]

You sir have NO LIFE.. Go fuck a camel.

[chunkylover190]

in the last quarter of the vid it sounds kinda like he screwed up but I usually can't get past the first third so Im not one to talk

i gues

[TomBangsDrums]

He just switches to offbeats on the ride instead of doing quarter notes. It does sound off for a second though.

[XxDanRemxX]

You have to feel the groove. He obviously does because poly-rhythms played well sound awesome.

[jakeandbobo4ev]

i love this guy, those funky beats he manages to throw at you all the time remind of chad smith a bit. perty hard beat, especially with the hi hat. im sure if he put a double pedal on there instead of the hi hat it would sound effing spectacular

[cuteguy8394]

He is sooooo Hot!!!!

[tbgoog]

as ozzy would say... "you're a freakin magician" !!!

[lukeeeep]

I bet you can't do it :P

[hahabark]

its really not that hard.... you just break it donw like he does

[TheFreshGroup]

omg you have to have like 4 brains for this.

[sandrokman]

best drummer out there. most drummers would have to record the kick or hi-hat part separately and splice it together

[ruckbogers]

that's just amazing. I'm a drummer and I've never even attempted to play a beat anything like this. Kudos.

[catflap2704]

I've been playing 23yrs and would struggle to get this good in another 23yrs and I'm a good drummer. It's all down to Jason's talent and hours of practice. I hate the way he makes it look so easy.

[TheTampTalks]

oh well maybe you've played this by mistake then.

[DazeWolf]

He is adorable. (: I wanted to play the drums when I was younger, but looking at this it seems impossibly difficult! I can't believe people can do this. (: Double points for all drummers out there.

[TheTampTalks]

I'm going out on a limb and saying that the vast majority of drummers can't do this.

[DazeWolf]

Aha, well for me, even tapping out quarter notes on one hand and 8th notes on the other is too difficult. xD

[JoesRedGuitar]

Man, i'm pretty sure my brain just melted.

[pretendyourealive]

yeah it may not look like it but this beat is ridiculously hard

[yahman1245]

fuck right. this is bad-ass and super-frickin-hard!!

[ZantaClawz]

hehe neat groove! love it :)

[Eating003]

h'o my gad!

[kickboxinggardner]

kool

i love death cab and the drumming rox!

[dwdrumsk8er]

fuckkkkk

definitely not enough credit I didn't even know he could get this technical but damn I guess death cab never really called for it.

so good

[greasemunky326]

can YOU say independence?

[yamanylon]

Yeah :( I wish i could do more than say it though

[superpidge]

black adidas sambas, just like mine :P

[satysfacti0n]

the triplet part is so hard

[wheredoeaglesdare]

holy shit

[DigitalKid14]

Dang! o.o I tried this, and this is hard! He's got skills!

[dannooooooo]

i never gave this guy enough credit, hes sick

[carlrhoads]

whoo thats a complex rythm!

[benramon]

hah!  pretty impressive stuff. good exercise

[badcabbage123]

"...cool sounding beat that isn't very complex."

Might not sound complex, but this is a great exercise that's maddeningly difficult to execute well. Even for an experienced drummer you really have to concentrate.

He makes it look waaaaay too easy.

[cubedrummer67]

Very cool sounding beat that isn't very complex. I'll have to try out some different rhythms for my hi-hat pedal, that sounds pretty sick.

[ultrablue123]

sick

[halftimeshufflizer]

AMAZIN'

[breakingcharacter]

Adidas! XD

[SomberDestiny]

beautiful

[elrika222]

ajajajjaa ridiculo

simon wey

tu ni as de poder redoblar ajajajajaja no mames toka eso wey luego opinas sobre el no as de poder tokar nie so ajajajaja

[1tacoplease]

and a oney and a twoy and a therreey and a foureeee.

lol made my grounding for a mounth one tiny bit beter

[CBondraJr]

He is disgusting.

[thelollerchef]

lol

[carlybonzai]

he is ridiculous.

amazing.

[lukesuperflyjones]

HOLY Possums!

[BooJP]

OMG PONIES!

[RedRedWineMusic]

yeah they really do.

[snafubeemex]

Jason we miss you in Bellingham, you rock... you set the beat to my day. We met once at the most random of random places.. the bank! You were super chill, and very cool with being recognised. Thanks for being nice, and thanks for making our tiny town a little cooler.

[Faurbye4ever]

awesome :O

[dethcab4cuty]

holy shit thats awesome

[yourfav2000]

One of the best drummers in years. A real musician. What a wonderful change from all the pounders.

[blaznblue]

definitely. on most of plans there are incredibly subtle yet great beats. summer skin, what sarah said, someday you will be loved, etc. all great

[djhindsight]

You have to really play it slow and get the feet first I think. The hands aren't doing too much. That being said I love the beat and hate the idea of learning it!

[pjk812]

?.....

[the2989]

Nice groove, I'll have to work on my 4-way coordination before I can pull that off.

[JJCasuals3]

How is he coming up with the hi hat part? Is he just making it up? What does he mean by dotted eighth pattern? Does he mean and eight and a sixteenth? I can feel how he's playing it but that would be really hard to write! Jason McGerr is so great. And I disagree about this beat being useless. It's a good thing to be able to play as well as it sounds pretty cool on its own.

[snareman41]

dotted eight, eight notes and sixteenth notes is all music theory. Music theory is the closest thing to writing music on paper.

[notepadsucks]

he is a profesional drummer, of course he would know the theory behind his playing.

plus its just counting rhythms, it's not that hard

[michiellegm]

Polybeats. Easy.

[tharxneo8x]

basically sick.

way awesome.

also, foolyfool, did someone name you that?

i'm sure that you "heared" it from someone else; one with the mental capacity, or lack thereof, to use the word(not-word) "heared" could not possibly have thought of a name as "clever" as FoolyFool.

[kickthebass]

you're cool.

[weaselidiotu]

i disagree

[ant1ph0n]

it's all patterns, it's really quite easy once you get used to controlling all your limbs, i've been playing drums for about 6+ years now (self taught), i'm no pro per se but i can hold my own.

[vikas]

Its amazing how he can maintain that rhythm and pattern, my head's spinning just listening to it.

[inmongosworld102]

dude you band rocks

[kickboxinggardner]

nice

[xvicomatorium]

It took a while, but I'm glad they found Jason McGerr.

[FoolyFool]

yeah, i mean i have heared about them before but never really spent the time listening to their music and then i started listening to t&s and came through that to dcfc!

[aplavljanich]

lol oney and a twoey and a threey and a fourey.

[NoBrakes23]

Actually it is One-e-and-uh, two-e-and-uh, three-e-and-uh, four-e-and-uh. He is serving as his own 16th note metronome.

Sometimes written like:

1 e + a / 2 e + a / 3 e + a / 4 e + a

8th notes would just be One-and-two-and-three-and-four­-and.

Quater notes in 4/4 are simply one,two,three,four. Make sense?

[FoolyFool]

sure! that how i came across death cab! i love them both!

[YodaPala]

I......Love.....Drums

[kickboxinggardner]

Wow! he's awesome!

can't wait until I can do that!

[benishome07]

he is the linear king

[benishome07]

he is the linear king

[TylorVan]

Sorry. I accidentally Gave you a thumbs down. It was for the guy dissing his shoes.

[henrilionel]

His Adidas suck.

[sichisch]

while trying to comprehend playing all different things with all 4 limbs my head exploded.

[TENDURA22]

He adds such depth do death cab. Just listen to the records before he joined. Theres something lacking...its jason

[aspaa27]

its not hard if ur good its acctually easy take it piece by piece.

[weaselidiotu]

this beat is so hard!! and useless!

[CoheedMars90]

hahaha how is it useless, it's an insanely colourful 4/4 beat. Learn how to do it well, and then pull it off in front of other drummers, guarantee they'll be blown away.

[weaselidiotu]

thats all its good for.. impressing idiots. i like this guy's drumming .. but this rythim is as useless as it is hard to execute. that is my opinion.

[johannaOZ]

jason rocks... he s awesome

[winnerbaby44]

this guy is so great..

most people dont realize the amout of independece this guy ownzzz!

and the stuff he does in his band.. DcFc.. gosh.. really "hidden" stuff.. great

[paij75]

i have new respect for this dude...that's hard to do..

[littleks]

my friend is his cousin

[3577]

thats epic

[FrankLoydWright]

pretty epic

[3nimal]

Hahh.. Love Mr.McGerr, he's a most peculiar drummer. One of my favs alongside Darren King. Spectacular sense of rhythm and good technique, would love to catch some lessons from him :)

[Bananomon]

thats hard ._.

[Boxcarracer190]

this reminds me of his beat from different names for the same thing. its in a different time signature

[mrchuckmorris]

I will now leave my computer and cry myself to sleep because I have no chance of ever being able to do this.

[shoch123456]

its not that hard, just when you start, always have a metronome around to keep rythum, cause really, thats all you need. the ability to keep patterns and the ability to count.

[mllj0]

yeah. thats true.

[weeweegordy]

bald drummers are always better. Phil selway and this guy for example

[mbs240]

...will champion, phil collins, ringo starr(not really)...

[oeddawg]

but danny seim has a full head!

[fghtffyrobesity]

That is crazy difficult.

[gigglyjello]

people who don't play drums would most likely say this is easy to play. But with my 4 years of brutal playing (everyday for 2 hours a day AT LEAST) i found this hard. GO JASON!

[p621806]

novice guitar guy here... love DC... that is some sooooo smoothe drumming... soooooooo smooothe.

[gigglyjello]

lol...he's REALLY good

[paxilixap]

i was a casual listener of DCFC. Listening to his new album his drumming blew me away. I especially love this beats on I Will Possess your Heart.

[homeboyman]

holy wow, that was a ridiculously difficult beat to play

[immadrummer]

For people who dont play drums they would not understand what he was talking about at the start at all, and would think that beat was easy...

but jesus jason youre awesome..!

[notttaylor]

I don't play drums and I got it.

I also understand how ridiculously hard that was.

That is why I love death cab. It sounds simple but it is hard.

[guette01]

Danny Carey from TOOL recommends a book called "4-Way Coordination" by Marvin Dahlgren for limb independence. It's definitely helped me. I would recommend notating complicated rhythms, (rh, lh, rf, lf separately). It helps to see exactly when and what your limbs are doing. Never stop counting! You will not advance if you don't know how to count rhythms.

[Dessyman18]

HOLY CRAP

[akaTheBeast]

Yeah, he's awesome. He's subtly spectacular, and DEFINITELY under-appreciated. I've learned a lot from his style... mostly influencing me to stay in the pocket more and be more resourceful around the kit. The drum work on Narrow Stairs is the best yet, i think.

[PsycoticSin]

I agree, I love the drums in the song Cath.

[dnangelfreak13]

Yeah...beautiful song...

[TMVmucho123]

the drum machine just dissapears

[DalleKanelius]

i sat for like an hour trying to do that on airdrums, can't freakin' do it! :P

[etotheli]

What a freaking amazing beat

[guitarfreak521]

Helpful.. Thank you!

[saib108]

i love drummers like mcgerr who keep it really simple when it comes to playing for bands, but they have all this secret talent that they can bust out as shown here (: another example is fab from the strokes, what a g!

[mooserooy]

I totally agree. Same thing with Chris Walla. That man has some serious guitar (not to mention bass,keyboard...) skills, but he never has crazy solos or anything. He just compliments the songs without showing off how good he his. I give him and Jason (and Nick, and Ben...)major kudos for that. What a great band.

[KingGreen12]

I agree. This guy is a highly under-rated drummer. In my eyes a legend. But he seems happy not to be in the limelight

[shotz2thadoubleglock]

ben is def the stand out musician.

[mcnev05]

your right it is hard....im trying it right now, lol :P

[theleroy28]

holy crap that looks so hard to do!!

[vAvarmenia]

Wrong at 1:20 .. But who cares his good ! :)

[colouRnotcolor]

look at the concentration in his eyes!! wow.

[e30reece]

omg he is wearing sambas. great shoe. but samba classics are better

[blinkRebelsDOTnet]

i understand completely what he is saying, but i cant play it cause im a nooooob at drums hahaha.

[eddiemcgregory]

Uhhhhh.... WOW. McGerr is a brilliant drummer.