Alright, so today I decided to spend some time digging into Scott Corbin’s playing. I’d heard his name tossed around and seen a few clips, but never really sat down to figure out what makes his style tick. It felt like a good way to shake up my usual routine.
Getting Started
First things first, I pulled up a bunch of videos. You know how it is, just watching and listening for a bit, trying to catch the vibe. Didn’t go for anything too crazy complex right away, just wanted to find a groove that sounded interesting, something signature maybe. Found this one performance, can’t remember the exact track, but the feel was just undeniable.
So, I grabbed my sticks and sat down at the pad. Didn’t even bother with the full kit yet. Just wanted to get the hand patterns down. My thinking was, if I can get the hands sorted, the feet can follow later. Easier said than done, right?
The Actual Grind
I started trying to mimic the main beat. Listened really close, looping the section over and over. It sounded simple enough when he played it, but translating that? Whole different story.
- Listening Phase: Just soaking it in. Trying to pick apart the ghost notes, the accents. He puts stuff in weird places sometimes, throws you off balance.
- First Attempts: Pretty sloppy, gotta be honest. Timing was off, the feel wasn’t there. It sounded stiff, mechanical. Not like him at all.
- Slowing Down: Had to take the tempo way down. Like, painfully slow. Just focusing on getting each hit clean, getting the dynamics right. It’s always the ghost notes that trip me up. His are subtle but crucial.
- Repetition: Then it was just repetition. Play it slow, mess up, fix it, play it again. Over and over. Muscle memory, you know? It’s boring sometimes, but it’s the only way.
There was this one little fill he did. Looked easy on camera, just a quick burst. But man, trying to get the speed and the clarity? That took a good chunk of time. Lots of failed attempts, lots of frustration. Had to put the sticks down for a minute and just breathe.
What I Noticed
His playing isn’t just about technique, though he clearly has chops. It’s more about the feel. It’s relaxed but precise. He sits way back on the beat sometimes, other times he pushes it. It’s dynamic. That’s the hard part to copy, that natural swing he has.
It’s not flashy in a ‘look-at-me’ kind of way. It just serves the music perfectly. That’s something I really respect and wanted to capture, even just a little bit.
Wrapping Up
So, did I nail it? Nah, not even close. But I feel like I got a slightly better understanding of his approach. I managed to get the basic groove feeling a bit more comfortable by the end, and that tricky fill is starting to make sense, even if it’s still not clean.
It was a good session, though. Humbling, definitely. Reminds you there’s always more to learn. I’ll probably come back to this specific groove again tomorrow, maybe try it on the full kit. For now, though, I’ve got a better appreciation for what Scott Corbin does behind the drums. Solid day of practice.
