Here's a great groove by drummer, Zach Danziger, as performed on "A Little Croaking Sound" from the Wayne Krantz CD, Long To Be Loose.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A SAMPLE CUT OF THIS TUNE

The first thing you'll need to develop in order to play this brisk groove is the ability to take double strokes, that is RRLLRRLL, and invert them so the sticking looks like this:

Once you are comfortable and can play this on one surface, try moving it to two surfaces by placing one hand on the HiHat or Ride cymbal and the other hand on the Snare drum ... like this:

We're building this groove from the top down, so now we need to get the feet happening, so let's add the HiHat foot. Practice the following figure over and over until you feel comfortable with it.

See how this fits in with the final groove? Now take the same exercise and substitute the HiHat (foot) with Kick drum.

I recommend that you take various sections of this groove and play it over and over again, making an exercise out of them. This is a great way to develop technique and learn new coordination patterns. Another approach would be to start at the beginning of the groove, on beat 1, and slowly build the rhythm adding one sixteenth-note at a time. Use the method that works best for you!

When you put it all together, you should have a nice half-time groove with a quasi-samba feel to it. Be sure to keep it light and bouncy, like an uptempo Samba in 2/2. Notice the odd phrasing (3+5) outlined by the Kick drum? Try changing up the groove by adding/subtracting Kick and HiHat.

Remember ... speed will come over time, and you must stay relaxed. Start slow, building control, coordination and finese as you go. Gradually work towards faster tempos, but always stay relaxed and in control.

Zach Danziger has been the name to drop in both East and West Coast musician's circles for some time. His drumming and programming skills have been featured in numerous publications including Modern Drummer, Musician, The New York Times, and CNN.

Danziger's musical expertise has led to work with a wide range of artists including Primal Scream, Busta Rhymes, David Holmes, Mary J. Blige, Rod Stewart, Fabolous, The Brecker Brothers, Sinead OConnor, Silk the Shocker, Jadakiss, Natalie Imbruglia, Chaka Khan, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Sarai, O Town, and Les McCann.

You can hear his drumming in the scores to the movies Oceans Eleven, Analyze That!, Stander, Code 46, and Buffalo Soldiers. Zach has also composed music for such movies as Mr. And Mrs. Smith, Daredevil, Big Fat Liar, Fantastic Four, Mad Hot Ballroom, Johnson Family Vacation, Garfield, The Punisher, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, Taxi, Without a Paddle, and Blade2.

He is currently involved in an innovative multimedia music/variety project entitled Boomish.