Jonnie Brown

I recently played an "acoustic" service with just a kick, snare, hi hat and occasional shaker. With this very simple set up, I had to rearrange the drum parts to fit my context. In other words, I can't play the tom groove that's supposed to happen if I don't have any toms, so I had to come up with different solutions to many parts. It was a fun challenge, especially, not having a crash cymbal. I want to share with you how I came up with the parts that I did or, at least, my thought process. I basically asked myself a lot of questions, and I categorized those questions into 3 basic steps. The first step is to be acquainted with the song. How does the song go?   What is the general vibe?   How do the drum parts normally go?  What rhythms are being played?  What's the primary subdivision? When changing the drum parts to any song, it is important you know what it is you are changing. I wanted to stay true to the original drum parts within reason. I