52 Progressive Jazz Comping Rhythms (PDF)

“52 Progressive Jazz Comping Rhythms” was designed for the drummer who is just beginning their jazz drumming coordination studies. 

These 52 two-bar rhythms are clearly notated, and work on the drummer’s ability to keep a steady swing rhythm with the ride cymbal and hi hat while comping freely with the snare drum and bass drum. It works on quarter note, 8th note, and triplet vocabulary.

When I was first learning jazz comping, I remember using classic books like “Syncopation” and “The Art of Bop Drumming”. Both of these are excellent resources, however both require the student to visualize the ride cymbal pattern written on top of the comping rhythm rather than writing the whole pattern literally. Through years of teaching, I’ve found that MANY students struggle with this visualization, and it’s much more helpful at the beginning to SEE how the ride cymbal interacts with the comping on different beats.

Other resources like Jim Chapin’s “Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer” do write out the ride cymbal and the comping together, but the layout of the book is rather daunting and difficult to work through, especially for young and beginning jazz drummers.

“52 Progressive Jazz Comping Rhythms” was written specifically for this need. The rhythms get progressively more difficult, addressing many of the coordination hurdles that a drummer needs to take care of in their practice, and it does so in a format that is straight-forward and clear.

I hope you enjoy it!