WORKSHOP Inside “Cissy Strut”… And Beyond By Todd Bishop ANTICIPATING THE BROKEN, linear playing of the ’70s and ’80s in an incredibly loose, earthy way, The Meters’ “Cissy Strut,” per- formed by the venerable funk master Zigaboo Modeliste, would make anyone’s short list of history’s funkiest drumming pieces. Galactic drummer Stanton Moore’s new DVD and book, Groove Alchemy, offers a valuable new insight into the “Cissy Strut” groove. With information he gained through interactions with the master himself, Moore reveals the unusual, frequently misinter- preted stickings behind the its deep feel. e following lesson expands on where Moore leaves off . It is a method for beginning to explore and improvise based on Model- iste’s approach in this song, and using Ted Reed’s defi nitive Pro- gressive Steps To Syncopation book as a rhythm source. In the original groove, Modeliste plays a lin- Zig strutting his stuff ear pattern largely using “natural” sticking, in which the right hand lands on the eighth- notes (on the downbeat and on the &’s), and the left hand on the following sixteenth- notes (the e’s and ahs). Here’s an example Ex. 1 of this from the A section of “Cissy Strut,” stickings courtesy of Stanton Moore. Ex. 1 Ex. 1 L R R R L L R To begin, let’s do a little warm-up from pages 10–11 of Syncopation, played in cut Ex. 2 L R R R L L R time on the hi-hat. e right hand plays quarter-notes, and the left hand plays Ex. 2 L R R R L L R any written &’s. Here’s an example of Ex. 2 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L using the fi rst four measures of the 20 Bar Ex. 1 Exercise (Reed, p. 11). Ex. 3 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L Ex. 3 en make a basic half-time-feel funk R L LR RR R R RR L R RR L L R R RL L RR L R L R L R R L groove out of this by moving the right hand Ex. 32 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L to the snare drum on beat 3, and adding Ex. 4 the bass drum on beat 1. R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L Ex. 4 Once this feels comfortable, apply the R RL LRR RR RR RR RRLLRR RR LL RR RR RR LL R L RR LL RR LL RR R L same concept to the one-measure synco- Ex. 34 pated patterns (Reed, pp. 30–31, 33–37), then to two- and four-measure excerpts Ex. 5 from the eight long exercises (pp. 38–45), Ex. 5 and fi nally to the complete long exercises. R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L To help illustrate the concepts involved, Ex. 45 R L L R R R R R L L R R R L L R L R L R L L our fi rst source phrase will be a modifi ed Ex. 6 version of a well-known passage. R L L R R R R R L L R R R L L R L R L R L L Ex. 6 R L L R R R R R L L R R R L L R L R L R L L Ex. 56 R L L R R R R R L L R R R L L R L R L R L L 86 DRUM! November 2010 drummagazine.com Ex. 7 R L L R R R R R L L R R R L L R L R L R L L Ex. 7 R L L R R R R R L L R R R L L R L R L R L L D173_86_88_Workshop_v2.indd 86 9/10/10 11:36:46 AM Ex. 67 R L L R R R R R L L R R R L L R L R L R L L Ex. 7 Ex. 8 Ex. 8 Ex. 8 R L L R R R L L R R R R R L L R L R L R L L Ex. 9 R L L R R R L L R R R R R L L R L R L R L L Ex. 9 R L L R R R L L R R R R R L L R L R L R L L Ex. 89 R L L R R R L L R L R R R L L R L R L R L L Ex. 10R L L R R R L L R L R R R L L R L R L R L L Ex. 10 R L L R RR R RL L L LR RL R RR R R L L RRLLRRL LRRL L L L Ex. 910 Ex. 11 Ex. 11 R L L R R R L L R L R R R L L R L R L R L L Ex. 1011R L L R R L R R R L L R L R L R L L R L R L R Ex. 12R L L R R L R R R L L R L R L R L L R L R L R Ex. 12R L L R R L R R R L L R L R L R L L R L R L R Ex. 1112R L L R R L R R R L L R L R L R L L R L R L R R L L R R L R R R L L R L R L R L L R L R L R R L L R R L R R R L L R L R L R L L R L R L R Ex. 12 R L L R R L R R R L L R L R L R L L R L R L R Ex. 1 Ex. 1 Ex. 1 Ex. 1 Ex. 1 L R R R L L R L R R R L L R Ex. 2 L R R R L L R Ex. 21 L R R R L L R Ex. 2 L R R R L L R Ex. 2 L R R R L L R Ex. 21 Ex. 2 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L R L LR RR R R RR L R RR L L R R RL L RR L R L R L R R L Ex. 3 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L Ex.Ex. 321 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L Ex. 3 R L LR RR R R RR L R RR L L R R RL L RR L R L R L R R L Ex. 3 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L Ex. 32 Ex. 3 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L R RL LRLR RRRRR RR RRLLRR RRR LL LRR RR RRL LL RR L RR LL RR LL RR R L Ex. 4 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L Ex. 432 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L Ex. 4 R RL LRR RR RR RR RRLLRR RR LL RR RR RR LL R L RR LL RR LL RR R L First, play the pattern on the hi-hat with Ex. 4 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L both hands, again using natural sticking: Ex. 43 Ex. 4 The right hand plays on the beat while the R RL LRR RR RR RR RRLLRR RR LL RR RR RR LL R L RR LL RR LL RR R L left plays the &’s. Play the snare drum on Ex. 5 beat 3 with the right hand. If the pattern Ex. 534 Ex. 5 R L R R R R R L R R L R R R L R L R L R L R R L contains a rest or tied note on beat 3, in- Ex. 5 Ex. 5 sert a snare hit as in the second measure Ex. 54 Ex.