Gary Chester's New Breed

[Det_Nosnip]

Ok...my teacher has been giving me some really cool ideas for different ways of using the New Breed books. I was talking to Josiah the other night, and he was coming up with some outright absurd ideas for it, so I thought I'd start a thread for discussing advanced applications of the New Breed series.

The first thing that I would like to stress is to practice these systems SLOW...I'm talking snail's pace here...40 BPM range. The benefits from doing this are endless, and I've already noticed substantial improvement in my playing after doing this. At that tempo, you really have to feel every single note, and the distance is so great between clicks that you really have to have your time down.

Another idea that my teacher said Gary himself would have his students do is to play every 4th measure (last measure on each line) as a fill. In other words...break the system, play a fill using whatever rhythm is in the beat, and then come back into the system. This method is a real bitch, I'm not going to lie...but it is great for developing fill ideas and improving your time and feel during fills. It'll also really improve your sight-reading ability.

Ok...that's pretty much what I have for now. Try going through some of the other drum books like Ted Reed's Syncopation with the New Breed systems, or, if you're truly sadistic, you can try using some of the various latin drumset patterns as a system and substituting what one of your limbs is playing as the melody figure. The sky's the limit with these books! :cool:

[Jezen]

I'll try the fill every 4th bar. Good idea. The Ted Reed 'Syncopation' is discussed in New Breed already though.

[billdrum]

You hit on some great ideas there Ted. I use some of them with students already. To take the fill idea further, try trading 4's with them (4 bars of the system with a melody, then 4 bars fill, rinse, repeat). Try making each 4 bar phrase a line from the melody pages.

[Det_Nosnip]

Yeah, trading 4s is a great idea. When I practiced tonight, I had this really nice loose, open approach going where I would break out of the system seemingly at random, sometimes in the middle of a bar, the only real condition being to always follow the melody. Makes it alot more fun, and helps to really hone in on understanding the rhythms. I also tried going through section V with no system at all, just completely improvised limb distributions of the melody - a New Breed drum solo, I suppose. :D Granted, it wouldn't have been the most entertaining solo to date, being that it was at 40 BPM, but it was great practice!

I'll try the fill every 4th bar. Good idea. The Ted Reed 'Syncopation' is discussed in New Breed already though.

I know. :)

[Futuro]

I have tore that book apart.

What a great book.

As for ideas. Do geometric patterns with different limbs.

[billdrum]

I also tried going through section V with no system at all, just completely improvised limb distributions of the melody - a New Breed drum solo, I suppose.

Great Idea. I have students do that with the patterns in Syncopation all the time. Use the rhythmic framework to develop solo and fill ideas. Nice work!

[tapioca]

to also practice half-time shuffles and other triplet based beats, you can rearrange the melodies like this:
http://img351.imageshack.us/img351/5360/newbreed3sn.jpg
so 1 = 3; e = first "t"; + = +; a = second "t"
another thing I tried was playing a ghost (32nd) note on the snare in front of every melody note, to give it kind of a drum'n'bass feel. you could do it behind every note as well.

[Skin Beater]

I just got this book and started out of it, and my reading isn't nearly what I thought it was. I can already tell this book is GREAT in terms of helping your reading.

[tapioca]

I just remembered another idea, I worked through New Breed:
use the melodies as accent melodies. so you could play doubles in thirty-second notes and always play an accented 16th note, when the melody says so. you then can apply different systems of orchestration of course. like playing the floor tom on every 1, 2, 3 or 4, third rack tom on the "e"s, mid tom on "+"s and high tom on "a"s (of the accented notes).
and something that came to my mind was linear playing where you could orchestrate the melody on snare and bass, filling out the gaps on ride/hats. again there are many possiblities of when to play a bass or a snare hit. or just play it completely random, which should also strengthen ones creativity.

[Det_Nosnip]

^^ The accent approach is also excellent for the Syncopation book.

[Kosmos Tree]

If you have enough time you could also work through the book again, playing everything reverse

[SadStairway]

Great thread idea.

Heres a tough one. Take the swing rythms from Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer (The ones with snare and ride cymbal). Play the bass melodies from New Breed on top of those.

[Det_Nosnip]

Nice! Reading 16ths in swing time can be...odd, though.

[some jive turkey]

I haven't got anywhere close to finishing this book. it seems like it will take forever.

Has anyone actually worked completely through the entire book again and again to be trying out all these "new" ways to work through it.

[Det_Nosnip]

Several have. I've worked through all of the first melodies/systems, probably going to move on to the Advanced in a bit. To be perfectly honest, though, I think that some of these ideas would help out more than just trying to burn through the entire book. Gary intended the book to be pretty open-ended in that sense.

[Carn]

the fill at the 4th bar works for every exercise in general, not just new breed

[Josiah]

Indeed... it's really a never ending book. At the end, Gary talks about making your own systems and own melodies. Wich basically leaves a massive gaping blackhole.

[flyguy]

It really would of been great to take lessons from him. From what I hear everyone has been saying great things from him. What a great book. Plus, he's a studio ace.

[sdmfinada]

Wow! from what I'm hearing I can't wait to get this book!

[Det_Nosnip]

It's great, that's for sure. :) I find it ridiculously addicting, personally. I can easily sit down for a couple of hours just working systems.

[drumass04]

Just ordered it of Amazon!! Can't wait for it to get here.

It seems that a lot of the greatest drumming books are very open ended. You're all saying New Breed is, and Stick Control is the same. Modern Reading Texts in 4/4 (I think that's what it's called, it's by Louis Bellson) is also pretty open ended.

Timmy P

[GhostGrooveMike]

i just got that book you guys have given me great ideas. That book is amazing

[DrumNUt]

It takes me a long time to get through each system, but good book lol

[Det_Nosnip]

Just ordered it of Amazon!! Can't wait for it to get here.

It seems that a lot of the greatest drumming books are very open ended. You're all saying New Breed is, and Stick Control is the same. Modern Reading Texts in 4/4 (I think that's what it's called, it's by Louis Bellson) is also pretty open ended.

Timmy P

Oh, yeah. The more open-ended they are, the further you can take them, and the more you can interject your own needs/ideas. Syncopation is another fantastic book. :)

[drumass04]

I'll take a look next time I'm in the music shop. :)

Timmy P

[Josiah]

Syncopation and NewBreed can be combined as Syncopation has a grip of "melodies" that can be used from it.

[AT-OD]

has anyone got the second New Breed book?
is it supposed to be an advanced follow on, or be supplementary?
the thought of ever mastering everything in the first book seems years off!

[Jezen]

I have it. Haven't attempted it yet though.

[Det_Nosnip]

From what I've heard, the 2nd book is a little out there.