mangini grid

Mike Mangini: The Grid

Copyright © 2013 Hudson Music LLCAll Rights Reserved

www.hudsonmusic.comModern Drummer is a registered trademark of Modern Drummer Publications, Inc.

Modern Drummer Festival is a trademark of Modern Drummer Publications, Inc.

Hudson Music® presents

Mike Mangini

The GridA System for Creative

Drumming and Improvisation

Written by Mike Mangini

Edited by Joe Bergamini

Design and layout by Willie Rose and Joe Bergamini

Transcriptions and engraving by Willie Rose

Cover Design by Mike Hoff

DVD Produced by Rob Wallis

Co-Produced by Joe Bergamini

Directed and Edited by Gregory McKean

Associate Producer: Alfonse Giordano

Audio mixed by Zak Rizvi


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Table of ContentsPart One: Introduction to the Grid....................................................................................................................................................5

1: Example 1 - 12/8 Blues Groove ..........................................................................................................................................62. Time Signature Discussion...................................................................................................................................................73. Dynamics Discussion ............................................................................................................................................................74. Example 2 - Rudimental Snare Pattern .............................................................................................................................85. Example 3 - 2/4 Quintuplet Groove ....................................................................................................................................96. Example 4 - Jazz/Swing Time............................................................................................................................................117. Filling in the Grid: Examples ..............................................................................................................................................12

Part Two: Categories of the Grid ....................................................................................................................................................158. Musicality .............................................................................................................................................................................169. Time Signature ....................................................................................................................................................................1710. Subdivision Example 1.....................................................................................................................................................1911. Subdivision Example 2.....................................................................................................................................................1912. Dynamics Example 1 .......................................................................................................................................................2113. Instrument Sounds Example 1: Toms............................................................................................................................2214. Instrument Sounds Example 2: Snares.........................................................................................................................2315. Instrument Sounds Example 3: Bass Drums................................................................................................................2316. Instrument Sounds Example 4: Hi-Hats ........................................................................................................................2417. Instrument Sounds Example 5: China Cymbals ...........................................................................................................2418. Instrument Sounds Example 6: Ride Cymbals.............................................................................................................2519. Instrument Sounds Example 7: Smaller Cymbals .......................................................................................................2520. Instrument Sounds Example 8: Crash Cymbals...........................................................................................................2521. Musical Styles Example 1................................................................................................................................................2722. Phrases Example 1...........................................................................................................................................................2923. Phrases Example 2...........................................................................................................................................................3024. Phrases Example 3...........................................................................................................................................................3025. Phrases Example 4...........................................................................................................................................................31

Part Three: Improvisation: Thought Process While Improvising...............................................................................................3226. Thought Process Example 1: Constant Tempo.............................................................................................................3327. Transitions ..........................................................................................................................................................................3428. Dynamics Example...........................................................................................................................................................35

Part Four: Style Protocols ...............................................................................................................................................................3829. Protocol 1: Jazz - Stepped Hi-Hat....................................................................................................................................3830. Protocol 2: Rock - Flams..................................................................................................................................................3931. Protocol 3: Afro-Cuban Sounds.......................................................................................................................................3932. Protocol 4: Funk................................................................................................................................................................40

Part Six: Interactive Improvisation Exercises...............................................................................................................................4133. Exercise 1: Snare Drum ...................................................................................................................................................4134. Demo: Afro-Cuban Phrase with Fill ................................................................................................................................4235. Demo: Funk Phrase with Fill ...........................................................................................................................................43

Part Seven: Human Attributes .......................................................................................................................................................4436. Flam Tap Ostinato.............................................................................................................................................................4537. Speed Demo 1 ...................................................................................................................................................................4738. Speed Demo 2 ..................................................................................................................................................................4939. Subdivision Demo - 5 .......................................................................................................................................................4940. Subdivision Demo - 17 .....................................................................................................................................................4941. Subdivision Demo - Pyramid...........................................................................................................................................5042. Subdivision Solo................................................................................................................................................................5143. Polyrhythm Solo Using 6 & 17 ........................................................................................................................................5144. Polyrhythm Solo Sample Using 14 ................................................................................................................................52

Part Eight: Playing the Large Kit - Balance ..................................................................................................................................5345. Odd-Time Based Solo .......................................................................................................................................................53

Part Nine: Ostinato Patterns ..........................................................................................................................................................5446. Example 1 - One-Limb Ostinato......................................................................................................................................5447. Example 2 - Two-Limb Ostinato: Baiao...........................................................................................................................5448. Example 3 - Weaker-Limb Ostinato ...............................................................................................................................5449. Flam Paradiddle-diddle....................................................................................................................................................5550. Flam Paradiddle-diddle with Right Side........................................................................................................................5551. Three-Limb Ostinato with 19 Superimposed................................................................................................................56


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The exercise numbers in this PDF correspond to the numbered PDF icons that appear on your screenduring the program. Some of the performances on the DVD continue beyond what is shown in thetranscriptions in this eBook. Check out the DVD for more ideas on these concepts.

Drum Key: Dream Theater Kit

Drum Key: Kit 2


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Introduction to The Grid


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1: Example 1 - 12/8 Blues Groove

Introduction to The Grid

improvise |ˈimprəˌvīz|verb [ with obj. ]

create and perform (music, drama, or verse) spontaneously or without preparation: the ability to improvise

operatic arias in any given style | [ no obj. ] : he was improvising to a backing of guitar chords.

• produce or make (something) from whatever is available: I improvised a costume for myself out of

an old blue dress.

Not to be too picky, but I believe that the first part of the definition is insufficient in that a drum-mer's skill is an extension of preparation. I know that the Grid is also a form of preparation.

The Grid outlines anything and everything that could ever be played by a musician. Having a one-pageview of that gives a musician something simple to visualize or look at. Seeing an almost-infiniteamount of possibilities in simpler categories, along with the human attributes to carry them out,has a massive effect on a musician. Seeing all these things while knowing oneself dramatically in-creases the success rate of the improviser. Knowing oneself is a key factor in not trying to play some-thing that is either too difficult or too unknown at the time.


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2: Time Signature Discussion

3: Dynamics Discussion

Time signatures are best understood in terms of mathematics and tempo. The top number reflectshow many notes are in a bar and the bottom reflects the kinds of notes. The kinds of notes are alwayspowers of two. Powers of two are 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and so on. A bar of music that sounds like ithas 4 beats and 12 total (main) notes is usually referred to as 12/8 so that no brackets are requiredanywhere. A composer could call that same bar 4/4 and bracket each 3 of the 12 main notes.

There are no tempo rules written anywhere that dictate what a sixteenth or any kind of note is. How-ever, there is common sense to what most people would call a sixteenth note. The look of the musicnotation has a lot to do with it and the more horizontal beams or flags that are needed for notes, themore difficult it is to quickly read.

Music notation uses symbols, like dots (a multiple of 1.5 times the note it follows) and ties (which connectnotes) to show distance in time. Notes can have multiple dots. Many notes can be tied together too.

Adding note beams (or flags) to notes occurs when a time signature-related note value is doubled.For example, three notes in a time signature of 3/8 makes them eighth notes by definition (of thetime signature). Five notes fit in the same place of those three notes are also eighth notes becausethe three notes were not yet doubled. Once there are six notes in the place of the three eighth notes,the six notes are called sixteenth notes. However, five notes fit in the space of three eighth noteTRIPLETS are not eighth notes, they are sixteenth notes, because five is more than four, which is thedouble of the two eighth notes that the three triplet notes fit within.

Dynamic markings should be as consistent as possible from composer to composer and song to song.Drumming dynamics are usually learned in terms of stick tip height on a snare drum. Differences in in-terpreting dynamics can be the result of hearing loss, room acoustics, or background noise.


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4: Example 2 - Rudimental Snare Pattern


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5: Example 3 - 2/4 Quintuplet GrooveOn the DVD, Mike explains this as a 2/4 pattern using quintuplets, but we have transcribed it here in10/8. It could be written out in other ways as well. This five-note ostinato is used throughout the DVD.


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6: Example 4 - Jazz/Swing Time


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7: Filling in the Grid: Examples


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Categories of the Grid


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Categories of The GridThe seven categories used in the Grid sufficiently outline all that can be played in an organized way.Also, they are designed for use in a quick-thinking manner. The truth is that some elements canstretch to infinity. Therefore, just seeing the term "time signatures" can give a musician a quick ideato improvise based on time signatures, without seeing the whole list of possibilities. Seeing the sub-categories of "phrases" can give a drummer a quick idea to improvise based on a sticking that comesto mind, without having to see a list of rudiments or hundreds of pages of sticking possibilities. Hav-ing a Grid outline of sorts almost forces one to study more deeply such that the Grid expands in theirminds. This relieves them of having to look at a piece of paper while improvising and forces them todevelop inner imagery and dialog.

8: Musicalitymusical |ˈmyü-zi-kəl|adjective

1: of or relating to music: they shared similar musical tastes.

• set to or accompanied by music: an evening of musical entertainment.

• fond of or skilled in music: Henry was very musical, but his wife was tone-deaf.

2: having a pleasant sound; melodious; tuneful: they burst out into rich, musical laughter.

noun

a play or movie in which singing and dancing play an essential part. Musicals developed from light opera

in the early 20th century.

Musicality is relative on some levels and depends on what a person can process. If a person cannotprocess information, then they cannot process it to determine “musicality,” but almost always usethe term rather than using “like” or “dislike,” without knowing why. To understand the difference be-tween something that is “uncomfortable” to listen to (or “not enjoyable”), one should invest time inresearching the Broadmann area of the human brain (BA47) and other studies done showing thathuman beings need to “wire up,” or earn the privilege of processing and then perhaps enjoyingpolyrhythms or any meters that we have not yet become familiar with. After this, a matter of musi-cal taste is a relative issue, since a musical expression can always be "musical" because it is madeof music. Being melodious, likable, followable, understandable—or not—are different issues.


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Categories of the Grid: Time Signature

9: Time Signature


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Categories of the Grid: Subdivision


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11: Subdivison Example 2

10: Subdivision Example 1


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Categories of the Grid: Dynamics


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12: Dynamics Example 1


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13: Instrument Sounds Example 1: Toms

Categories of the Grid: Instrument Sounds


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14: Instrument Sounds Example 2: Snares

15: Instrument Sounds Example 3: Bass Drums


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16: Instrument Sounds Example 4: Hi-Hats

17: Instrument Sounds Example 5: China Cymbals


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18: Instrument Sounds Example 6: Ride Cymbals

19: Instrument Sounds Example 7: Smaller Cymbals

20: Instrument Sounds Example 8: Crash Cymbals


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Categories of the Grid: Limbs


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Categories of the Grid: Musical Styles

21: Musical Styles Example 1


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Categories of the Grid: Phrases


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22: Phrases Ex. 1 (Motif)


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23: Phrases Ex. 2 (Rudiments)

24: Phrases Ex. 3 (Polyrhythm)


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25: Phrases Ex. 4 (Polyrhythm)

Improvisation: Thought Process


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random |ˈrandəm|adjective

1: made, done, happening, or chosen without method or conscious decision: a random sample of 100 house-

holds.

• Statistics governed by or involving equal chances for each item.

• (of masonry) with stones of irregular size and shape.

2: informal odd, unusual, or unexpected: I find it impossible to not laugh at such a random guy.

PHRASES

at random without method or conscious decision: he opened the book at random.

I have a huge problem with the existence and use of the word “random.” This word is used when nobodycan find an answer to where something comes from or why it happens the way it does. It is a total copoutas a description to anything in existence. The right thing to say is” “We just don’t know how some thingswork,” “We do not have the means to find an answer to what we seek,” “We just don’t feel like putting inthe work to figure out every detail of finding out how something works,” or “We do not want to know thetruth of how or why something happens the way it does.”

I do have common sense with understanding why the word is used. However, a random lottery is notrandom at all because the air pressure, exact starting locations of the balls and subsequent motionsof them that yield 6 balls being spit out as a lottery number are all measurable and fall into causation.There is a reason for every detail of why the balls that spill out as a final lottery number spill out.

Improvisation is utterly, absolutely not “random” because it is a result of preexisting priori in a person’sability level, musical taste and talent that can be accounted for. We do not know exactly how it works, butthe Grid will help anyone and everyone improvise more proficiently because it is based on the componentsthat do make up a musical expression, including a human person.

The issue with the thought process of improvising is in what to think about. It is not an attempt to “notthink at all.” Not thinking at all while playing an instrument never was, is not, or will ever be possible.

During the thought process of improvisation, it is very helpful to only think of one category name, orone element name. This would reduce the amount of thoughts, while giving a musician a startingpoint to base their improvisations on. It is usually the starting point that seizes up a musician. Whathappens after the starting point is a very delicate and somewhat unknown cognitive process. Whatcan be known is that we are capable of things like seeing the shapes of the drum configuration, see-ing images, hearing our inner dialogs and noises from our environment, watching things like othermusicians, notes or music notation.


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26: Thought Process Example 1: Constant Tempo


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27: Transitions


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28: Dynamics Example


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Style Protocols


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29: Protocol 1: Jazz - Stepped Hi-Hat

The main thing while trying to sound like one is playing in a desired style is to play sounds that fitthat style. Most major musical styles utilize different-sounding drum kits and percussion instruments.Since a lot of popular Latin songs contain sounds like timbales, bongos and blocks, then hittingthose instruments or striking drums to emulate these sounds does help to “sound'” Latin a lot of thetime. Picking just one hitting style on a drum kit provides a great starting point for a drummer thatwants to sound like a Latin player even though they are not. Physical skills and knowledge are best,of course, but when one does not have a lot of time, at least knowing how to play drums with thesound of a given style will yield more success than playing in a way that does not fit that desired style.


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30: Protocol 2: Rock - Flams

31: Protocol 3: Afro-Cuban Sounds


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32: Protocol 4: Funk

Interactive Improvisation Exercises


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33: Exercise 1: Snare Drum

In order to improvise with the greatest degree of success, one's inner dialog needs to work well. Thebrain's attention functions can do many things, especially once we know what they're capable of. Myrole during the interactive process is to do the initial thinking for the viewer. As we delve further intothe depths of improvisation, we find that we need to keep track of bars, physical and mental balance,how we sound, and what we create. We also have to process a lot of information coming to usthrough our eyes, ears, and sense of touch. The key to improvising is managing our thoughts.

Right before example 33 on the DVD, I mention the idea of playing “randomly.” Please refer to page32 and the discussion of this concept.


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34: Demo: Afro-Cuban Phrase with Fill


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35: Demo: Funk Phrase with Fill

Human Attributes


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The elements of the Grid are things that all of us can learn about in many, many ways. Human at-tributes are ultimately responsible for allowing us to either be able to play something, or not. If adrummer does not possess the coordination necessary to execute a particular beat, then they can-not play that beat. Thinking of human attributes as a means to an end can be something that forcesus to acknowledge and embrace them, whether or not we try very hard at many of them. The morewe have, the more we can play, as a matter of fact. Choice in what we play, or are asked to play, isa different matter.


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36: Flam Tap Ostinato


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37: Speed Demo 1


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38: Speed Demo 2


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39: Subdivision Demo - 5

40: Subdivison Demo - 17


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41: Subdivison Demo - Pyramid


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42: Subdivision Solo

43: Polyrhythm Solo Using 6 & 17


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44: Polyrhythm Solo Sample Using 14

Playing the Large Kit: Balance


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45: Odd-Time Based Solo

A drummer's timing can go "off" very easily with balance shifts. Playing a very large drum kit thatspans a full turn of the trunk yields millions of milliseconds of potential balance shift changes in anaverage performance or a full day in the studio. It is infinitely more work to keep on a larger kit thana smaller kit and physics rules can prove it. Playing a kit that requires body turning is a risky business,so being mindful of every body movement is the only way to truly manage the motions. In addition tomanaging the movements of the human body, the musicianship of the drumming is also somethingto be aware of at all times. Musicianship is such a deep and unique thing to each person. I think ofmy large drum kit in modules: toms, octos, snares, kicks, electronics and cymbals—which I breakdown into subcategories. This prevents me from being overwhelmed by the amount of things to hitand makes me feel complete such that I can choose instruments based on frequency and the feel-ing one drum versus another one provides. Given the span of sound textures and notes on guitarsand keyboards, my kit allows me to more accurately orchestrate a drum part such that the essenceof a song's melodies, time, dynamic, phrasing, style and key changes can be heard in the drums.

Ostinato Patterns


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Ostinato patterns on the drums allow for two or more simultaneous patterns to occur. This sectionon ostinato soloing and constructing is best understood by identifying the base time of the main os-tinato I play, then by seeing how I coordinate the remaining limbs within that base time before play-ing multi-simultaneous patterns and/or rates. Starting out with two-limb pairs playing differentpatterns at the same rate will take infinitely longer to coordinate than starting with one limb pair act-ing as the subdivision rate and the leftover pair acting as the pulse, like a quarter note to sixteenthnotes, for example.

46: Example 1 - One-Limb Ostinato

47: Example 2 - Two-Limb Ostinato: Baiao

48: Example 3 - Weaker-Limb Ostinato


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49: Flam Paradiddle-diddle

50: Flam Paradiddle-diddle with Right Side


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51: Three-Limb Ostinato with 19 Superimposed

mangini grid

Documents

dynamics example

subdivision example

instrument sounds example

modern drummer festival

commodern drummer

time signature discussion

joe bergaminitranscriptions

joe bergaminidesign