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Woodshed | By PEtER ERSKInE<br />
Don’t Be A ‘Jerk’—Play<br />
the Comping game<br />
The knee jerk is a common diagnostic tool used<br />
in medicine, that reflex tested by the doctor<br />
tapping just below the knee, which causes the<br />
lower leg to suddenly jerk forward. This has become<br />
such a common procedure that it has given<br />
rise to the adjective “knee-jerk,” as in a knee-jerk<br />
reaction. Knee-jerk in this figurative sense means<br />
“readily predictable to the point of being automatic.”<br />
It often carries a negative connotation and conveys<br />
an overly hasty, impulsive, irrational response<br />
based on a preset idea.<br />
This concept could easily be applied to the<br />
musician who reacts automatically or even without<br />
thinking when playing in an ensemble setting,<br />
more specifically a drummer who comps or otherwise<br />
embellishes the act of timekeeping with<br />
rhythmic choices that are not so carefully chosen<br />
as much as played out of habit. Muscle habit is<br />
deadly to the creative enterprise, yet so easy to put<br />
into play time and time again. And the drummers<br />
who do this are the same ones who complain or<br />
admit that they’ve reached a creative wall.<br />
I’ve encountered this in my own playing, and I<br />
see and hear it in the playing of my students at<br />
University of Southern California and wherever I<br />
travel. I decided to combat this malady with a bit<br />
of creative fun/play: Welcome to “The Comping<br />
Game.”<br />
Rules Of The Game<br />
The rules of The Comping Game are simple but<br />
very important to follow:<br />
• The ride cymbal may not change from its ride<br />
pattern (see Example #1).<br />
• The hi-hat may not change from sounding<br />
on beats 2 and 4 as played by the foot (see<br />
Example #2).<br />
• Dynamics must be varied.<br />
• Tempos must be varied.<br />
• Song choices must also change.<br />
• A “sameness”-detector algorithm should be<br />
activated in your brain—the goal is to compose<br />
and be creative.<br />
• Each Level of Play (levels 1–10) has its own<br />
rules that must be adhered to. Here is a complete<br />
list of the sequential note-choice menu:<br />
Level 1 – one snare, one kick.<br />
Level 2 – two snare, one kick.<br />
Level 3 – one snare, two kick.<br />
Level 4 – two snare, two kick.<br />
Level 5 – three snare, one kick.<br />
Level 6 – one snare, three kick.<br />
Level 7 – three snare, two kick.<br />
Level 8 – two snare, three kick.<br />
Level 9 – three snare, three kick.<br />
Level 10 – play what you’d like to hear!<br />
74 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2010<br />
master Class<br />
Example 1 & 2<br />
Example 3<br />
Example 4
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