PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

• Creating Accent Chains
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How It Works

Modern drum solos usually feature what should be clean, crisp drum accents layered over a rhythm. If this is a live drum solo, the drummer should be presenting an accent series, then repeating it 2 or 4 times with minimal variation, which makes live solos more predictable when trying to improvise.

Note: If this is a recorded drum solo, it might not repeat the way live drummers do, but the chaining technique is still extremely valuable.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Michael Baxter, Santa Clara, California.

If you can anticipate the accent series (for example, you just heard it once and you expect three more), it is very easy to make creative and interesting accent series that do not confound your audience. Overlay your pop, lock and drop techniques onto a simple isolation.* The simple isolation could be hip figure 8, circle, slide, belly roll, undulation, arm move, chest move, or anything else you like. Just use a simple isolation.

Stopping neatly along the line of an isolation gives a visibly clean chain of locks, pops, or drops. You could think of these as "stop accents". The location of the actual stops along the line can vary tremendously so this is an inexhaustible supply of chained accent moves.

The only limit to how many stops you can place on a single line is what you are able to do with body control. The audience is already looking at the correct part, so the moves do not have to be large, just visible and clean.

It is very easy to chain without much prior planning.

*A separate installment in these these drum solo tips explores pops, locks, and drops in more detail, along with tips on how to determine when you should and should not be popping and locking like crazy.

Example

Example: Music goes: "Boom, Boom — Boom, Boom, Boom". You have 5 accents in the music that you can use.

Starting with a simple horizontal forward hip figure 8 and some lock technique, you can do an infinite number of different things. Here are a couple of possibilities to help you start thinking about it:

Idea #1

Hip back right corner of the 8
Hip fwd right corner of the 8
Stomach lock in
Hip back left corner of the 8
Hip fwd left corner of the 8

Idea #2

Hip back right corner of the 8
Hip to center of right side of the 8
Hip fwd right corner of the 8
Hips centered beneath you
Hip back left corner of the 8

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Michael Baxter, Santa Clara, California.

This technique keeps you from just flinging one of these and one of those confusing accent series at your audience, and keeps you from being completely dependent on combinations you have memorized.

Old style teachers: stop wincing. In another of my drum solo tips I talk about when accents are appropriate. I started in 1977 so I was trained in traditional style and I know there are a lot of older instructors that despair over Pop/Lock/Drop. I swear it can be used well, and I'll explain it!!

• Drum Solo Builds. How to build the energy in a drum solo, by Saqra.
• Drum Solo Accent Chains. How to build sequences of accents that make sense together, by Saqra.
• The 70% Rule. How to use restraint to keep your audience captivated, by Saqra.
• Alternatives to Shimmies in Drum Solos. Saqra offers suggestions for ways to make your drum solo dancing more interesting, by suggesting alternatives to shimmying.

• Pop, Drop, & Lock Technique in Drum Solos. How to use accents in ways that enhance your dance, by Saqra.
• Holding Accents. Advice on what to do next after making an accent, by Saqra.
• Belly Dancing to Fast Drum Solos. Musical interpretation for drum solos, by Saqra.