Washboards... where to start!
First, I know we are a country blues site site, but washboard playing is so closely tied to the early jazz drumming that escape is not an option! This magnum opus started as as an earlier post in this thread expressed suprise that washboard playing was linked to drumming - we then meandered off on a tangent into a liking of NewOrleans and in a rash moment I said I would find an example or two.. which has in turn led to this mammoth post! But as promised, here it is - as usual, these are only my views etc etc and pigs can fly, splat..damn! Read on...
This could easily turn into a thesis, but I have tried to keep it contained and have attached some examples of both drum and washboard to try to make the various points clear - it's not mandatory to listen to the jazz\drum stuff but it might help you see where I am coming from!
Now, unlike the bass player whose life revolves around the 'on-beat' ie beats 1 and 3 in 4/4 time, the drummer's (washboard-ist's) life revolves around the 'off-beat' (or "back-beat" in the US?) being beats 2 and 4 - usually, if the drummer and the bass player don't get on musically then the rhythm section will swing like a lead ballon! If you have ever played in a band and the drummer has 'gone onto the on-beat' by mistake you will realise how important the off-beat is - a good example is when the audience (if you are lucky enough to have one !) decides to join in and clap... eek.... half will clap on 1 and 3 and the other two-thirds on 2 and 4 which will shred any chance the number ever had of remotely swinging.
So, just like playing an alternating bass on the guitar, the first thing you have to do is train yourself to get that 2 and 4 every time without thinking about it.
Now, none of what follows is set in stone and every drummer will play in his own way. But, as guide these are the (very) basics of New Orleans snare work which run (sort of) parallel with the washboard and remember what you can do on a snare drum you can just about do on washboard, except the long roll.
The basic (or at least, a safe generic) type of New Orleans snare drum beat is simply 4 beats with one hand and a press or crush roll on beats 2 and 4 with the other. Now, I have no desire to bore you to death with all the drum stuff, so I have recorded a few very short examples of this type of drumming to give the basic idea, which you can then compare to the equivalent washboard examples.
Another example shows that for slower numbers, the basic idea is to roll between beats 2 to 3 and then 4 to1 or on very slow stuff roll all the way through from 2 to 4 and that small fills, say a triplet or the odd quaver can be incoporated to give it a joined up feeling - there's a track by Washboard Sam to illustrate this. Now, since long rolls are more than difficult (ha ha) on the washboard you will have to be inventive and cobble up something to give it that joined up effect (that's bit like my guitar playing really!) and there are two examples, one of Floyd Casey playing without 'rolls' and another of Washboard Sam combining rolls and beats into rhythmic patterns.
So far so good, and I have take things a step further by playing first a drum and then a washboard with some nasty nylon brushes, to illustrate the rhythm that jazz folks just call "time", there are other examples as well.
Whats next, dunno really! Although maybe I should add that you will really have to "listen" to the tracks of say Washboard Sam to find out what he doing.
I think the next part is up to you as we are heading down the road towards the world of "traps" ie cowbells, blocks and all that stuff. Beware of the minefield on your way there, as playing all those add-on goodies, without losing youyr place and sounding as though you are simply thrashing away without a musical clue, is down to listening and practice.... always remember that where effects are concerned, less is more!
With that in mind I have picked the Washboard Sam, Floyd Casey tracks because they were not a "flashy" players and did not use anything much, other than the washboard itself - in fact an awful lot of washboard playing is based on playing a solid rhythm which simply swings. I heartily recommend any budding players to do their "time" (bit of joke there, haha) first and only when they can lay down a really solid rhythm do they start adding toys which may otherwise distract from keeping that rhythm - the moral of this is based on experience, have you ever taken a break on a fast tune, used every toy in the shop and then rejoined the band, in panic thinking where the **** is the off beat... eek!!!! Don't get me wrong, I love Spike Jones and his City Slickers but in moderation!!
In the following examples I have used nasty nylon brushes on the washboard as I can't find any thimbles and it's been years since I last played one properly anyway!
The examples, I make no excuses that the last 2 tracks are out and out jazz based - well, you don't have to listen to them. Although, the last track, as the strange English saying goes, proves that I have put my money where my mouth is!
1. Snare basics, solid 4, accented off-beats2 and 4, the New Orleans beats
1a. Dreadful washboard demo of above beats!
1b. Jazz Gillum
1c. Washboard Sam
2. Snare, slow numbers
2a Dreadful washboard demo of slow beats!
2b Floyd Casey
2c Washboard Sam
3. Playing "time" on snare
3a. Dreadful washboard demo of "time"
3b. Washboard Sam
3c Floyd Casey
4. The Tuxedo Brass Band - New Orleans c1952
8. The Bootblacks !
I have had to split the various mp3 examples onto several posts to get all this on the original post and it's driven me nuts... so I hope it all works.. I can't bear to look
!!
Keep going it's all here somewhere!!
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