The Dip is a horn–backed R&B/funk band from Seattle, apparently formed by a group of then jazz students at UW. I was introduced to these guys by my own bandmates — we would use a Dip tune called “Working Man” to open some of our gigs because opening a concert with a cover can be fun.

The Dip recently released an album called Sticking With It, and the closer “Forget About It” not only lyricizes an acerbic message of class conflict... but lo and behold, it has a drum solo as well!

While it’s always fun to look at something more contemporary, there’s another reason I wanted to take a look at this track: I actually saw these guys play in Denver this past Sunday. I wanted to post this the day of, but I decided to hold off until after the actual show. It’s just as well since something pretty funny happened a few hours beforehand.

My friends and I were getting some dinner at a barbecue place right down the street from the theater when out of the corner of my eye I noticed that a group of ironic Caucasian males had walked in. It’s Denver, so I didn’t think much of it at first, until my girlfriend says, “Holy shit, I think that’s the band…”.

On the off chance that any of you guys are reading this, I hope you enjoyed your dinner at Moe’s. Oh, and the show was great fun btw.

Anyhoo, the solo is a short little 8–bar break played around some ensemble hits. Many drummers use 12/8 as an opportunity to play something a bit more spartan compared to what they would normally play in 4/4. However, the drumming here is pretty dense, with a lot of 16th notes. My favorite moment overall is this 16th note triplet lick:

I suspect the sticking used is a combination of a six–stroke triplet and a reverse puh–duh–duh (RLL RRL RRL). Very similar to a paradiddle puh–duh–duh pattern I’ve always called the jazz–a–diddle (RLR RLL RLL).

There’s also the occasional double/buzz stroke played on the snare. Since the cymbal plays steady 16ths for much of the solos, these doubles and buzzes are played in unison with a right–hand single, which can take a bit of practice to get down.

Sorry for stretching single measures of 12/8 across the page, but two bars to a system just looked too squashed. And the 16th note triplets were a real hassle. I’m not sure there’s a great way to deal with crowded measures of 12/8…

Download PDF.

“Forget About It” on Songwhip.