Expanding Your Brush Vocabulary
Let’s be honest, picking up a pair of brushes can be pretty intimidating for many drummers, whether you are a beginner or a seasoned veteran behind the kit. Our first instinct is to play the brushes like we would a pair of sticks. Not to mention, there’s not a lot of material out there to help you incorporate brush vocabulary into your every day playing. I’m here to help you move way beyond that. My method will teach you the basic brush strokes as well as how to incorporate them into your playing using Charley Wilcoxon’s Modern Rudimental Swing Solos for the Adavanced Drummer. This will give you the tools you need to confidently approach any musical situation. Here’s an example of me adapting ‘Swinging Accents’ from page 18 of ‘Modern Rudimental Swing Solos’ to the brushes.
Swinging Accents
Max is a great teacher with lots of knowledge in the art of drumming. His unique
approach to practicing brushes explores many different textures one can make on a
snare drum using the brushes. Max is also very professional, friendly, and all around a
great guy to spend time with. I would recommend his lessons to anyone who is looking to
expand their knowledge in jazz drumming and playing brushes.
Paul Jung
Drummer, Washington, DC
TESTIMONIALS
Drummer Max Popp was a drum set student of mine at the North Central College Jazz Studies
Program from 2007 to 2011. From the very beginning of our relationship, he displayed a rare
natural ability, affinity and passion for the drum set and the art of jazz. He has spent countless
hours studying the history of the art form and honing his craft. Another great aptitude is his
insatiable curiosity, not just about music, but about everything – a characteristic, in my opinion,
of many great artists.
Max has evolved into one of the United Kingdom’s most in-demand drummers, performing and
recording with an array of outstanding artists and playing at prestigious venues and festivals in
that part of the world, including the iconic Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London.
One of his most endearing qualities is his effort to create his own identifiable playing style
rather than attempting to imitate any of the great drummers of the past. Another quality is his
understanding of the role of the rhythm section player as an accompanist and striving to make
his fellow bandmates sound better than they are. Just check out his playing on the many
recorded examples of his playing on the internet.
I’m also very impressed by his innovative processes, particularly his well-produced video
“Expanding Your Brush Vocabulary” on YouTube.
Finally, I believe the arts are like a family: concepts and processes passed on from one player to
the next, entrusting younger players to protect the nobility of their musical bloodline. I am
extremely proud to call Max Popp one of my finest musical sons.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jack Mouse
Playing brushes on the drums is an incredibly personal art. All of the masters through the last century and therefore the
inception of the drumset, like Papa Jo Jones, Philly Joe Jones, and Ed Thigpen in the traditional sense, and moving through
modern masters like Jeff Hamilton and Clayton Cameron and even JoJo Mayer…all have demonstrated mastery and yet their
own style and technique with the brushes. Personally, being rather detail-oriented and frustratingly immune to more esoteric
terms like “feel” and “touch”…well, I’m always looking for an APPROACH. I scream and cry and wheedle “But WHY won’t you
tell me???!!!!” and sometimes I feel like some of these secrets are only accessible to those on a higher artistic plane than
myself.
Well…here in his videos Max Popp has not only added his own vocabulary to the pantheon of the greats, but devised an
APPROACH. A METHOD. Within his originality he offers inclusivity. Now you, too, can access the methods of legends.
I will be recommending this to all of my students, and frankly any drummer who has the wisdom to listen. Never mind the
hours of work I have to do myself.
Kherson Amell
Drummer, Toronto, CA