How to Play Elvin Jones “Acknowledgement” Groove

I believe that playing with recordings (or better yet, other musicians!) is the best a quickest way for us as musicians to get better. With complicated grooves and styles, sometimes we get stuck in learning the coordination of a groove and it either takes a LONG time to get the tempo where it needs to be or frustration takes over and we don’t get it at all. In this post, I break down Elvin Jones’s groove form “Acknowledgement” into 3 variations. Basically simplifying the groove so the coordination is easier - thus getting you to play along with the recording quicker. So lets dive right in!

Learn each variation and get it up to the tempo of the song, then play along with the recording. When you can comfortably play with the whole track, move on a learn the next variation.

Notice your Hands play 8th notes. The RH plays ride cymbal only, and LH alternates between Snare, Rack tom, snare, and floor tom.

Here is your 2nd variation. Most of this is the same as the first variation except for the LH on the floor tom. We are going to play 16th notes instead using a double stroke (LL). Again, practice slow - make sure you can play relaxed and keep a consistent tempo. When you get the the song speed, play along with the whole track. After that, move on to your last vationtion

And finally the 3rd variation! This transcription looks a lot busier, but its not that complicated. The foot pattern is the exact some as the first and second variations. The LEFT HAND is only changing where we hit the snare and rack tom notes. Instead of the “and” of each beat, we are going to play those notes on the “a”. So the Snare, Rack Tom, Snare parts move a 16th note later. The Floor Tom notes stays the same. The RIGHT HAND is changing to a different bell pattern - practice this by itself to begin, and then add in the Left Hand and Foot pattern.

This is a great starting point to studying this groove/style. It is designed to give you simplified versions to help get you playing with the recording quicker. But even by the 3rd variation, it is not exactly what Elvin plays during the whole recording. Make sure you spend some of your practice time listening without playing your instrument! You will hear Elvin play this groove to start, but quickly he changes it up by improvising. Use this 3rd variation as a “home base” that you can come back to - experiment by moving the LEFT HAND to different parts of the drum set. Listen to what Elvin plays and try some of his ideas!

Hope this helps - Happy Practicing!