Foundation

Singing as a Practice Tool

Sing one part to free the limbs to play another

Duration · 20 min Focus · Independence / Practice Method
Prerequisites

Most coordination problems are mental, not physical. The limbs already can do four different things; what they can't do is hold four different things in conscious working memory simultaneously. The trick is to outsource one of the parts to a place that's not your hands or feet — your voice.

This is the heart of Gary Chester's The New Breed system: sing an ostinato (a fixed repeating figure) while your limbs play other parts. Once a sung melody is automatic, it stops competing with the limbs for attention; the limbs are free to read, improvise, or comp. Chester built an entire 200-page book around eleven sung melodies — but the technique is older, and you can use it on day one.

What follows are three exercises in escalating singing-vs-playing difficulty. The notation in each shows two voices: the upper line (snare-line note positions) is the SUNG part — it's not played; it's vocalized aloud. The lower line is the kit part. Sing comfortably, on any pitch; pitch isn't the point, rhythm is. Hum, scat, "doo-bah," whatever lets you hold a steady line without thinking about it.

Important: the upper voice is what you SING, not what you play with your hands. Your hands play whatever is in the lower voice (along with whatever the kit pattern requires). Read each exercise's tip to be sure which is which.

1 — Sing Quarter Notes Over a Basic Backbeat
4/4 · ♩ = 85
SUNG part (upper): four steady quarter notes — the basic pulse. Vocalize as "one, two, three, four" or "da, da, da, da." PLAYED part: a basic backbeat — hi-hat 8ths in your hand (not notated above; play them), kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4. The sung quarters land WITH every kick and snare, so this is the easiest version. The point is to wire the singing-and-playing pathway.
2 — Sing a Syncopated 8th-Note Figure
4/4 · ♩ = 80
SUNG part (upper): a syncopated 8th figure — 1, & of 2, 3, & of 3, & of 4. PLAYED part: the basic backbeat (kick 1 and 3, snare 2 and 4, hi-hat 8ths). The voice no longer lines up with the snare hand — if you catch yourself playing what you sing, it hasn't separated yet.
3 — Sing a 3/4 Waltz Over a 4/4 Groove
4/4 · ♩ = 75
SUNG part (upper): triplet 8ths accented every third note — "ONE-two-three" four times per bar; sing just the ONEs if that helps. PLAYED part: kick on 1 and 3 only, hands free. Voice in 3, foot in 4, meeting only on beat 1 — your first taste of cross-meter.
4 — Sing Quarters, Play a Snare Pattern Underneath
4/4 · ♩ = 80
SUNG part (upper): steady quarters, as in Ex 1. PLAYED part: a syncopated kick on 1, & of 2, 3, & of 4 — lining up with the voice only on 1 and 3. The roles flip here: the voice holds the pulse while the limbs do the syncopation.
Move on when
  • Quarter-note pulse sung over a backbeat groove for one minute, no drift between voice and limbs
  • A syncopated 8th-note figure sung over a basic backbeat — voice independent of the snare
  • 3/4 waltz texture sung against a 4/4 hand-and-foot pattern (cross-meter sung pulse)
  • You can stop singing mid-bar and the limbs do not change
Listening 3 records

Listen for it

  1. 01

    Gary Chester The New Breed (book)

    The whole book is built on this technique. Try Reading I-A while singing Melody 1.

  2. 02

    Mike Mangini Various clinics on YouTube

    Often demonstrates singing one rhythm while playing another at extreme tempo.

  3. 03

    Marcus Gilmore Vijay Iyer Trio — Accelerando

    You can hear the sung internal pulse in his playing — limbs roam, but a felt center holds.