Gary Chester

For information on drummer and teacher, Gary Chester (author of The New Breed drum book), and to meet the ever-growing family of drummers influenced, come hang on: https://www.facebook.com/LegendaryDrummerGaryChester/

https://soundcloud.com/gary-chester-760897044

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzktFLboaZCOR0Jo04Q0yPA

to purchase The New Breed by Gary Chester - http://www.amazon.com/New-Breed-Systems-Development-Creativity/dp/1423418123/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461637202&sr=1-1

Dave Weckl - "...I have to say that still to this day, the things I learned and skills I developed through Gary’s studies are applied all the time. He taught the student how to CONCENTRATE. For me it wasn’t that I would USE his exact systems but the abilities I gained by doing the systems, served as the foundation for solid time, even subdivisions and the ability to be complex if desired from a coordination standpoint. His teaching and of course my countless hours of practice and playing, (need that part too!), set the real groundwork for the beginning of my career as a successful drummer in a very difficult business.”

(unknown writer)

Gary Chester was one of the 20th century's busiest studio drummers. Gary is counted as one of the greats when it comes to studio session musicians. His work appears on thousands of tracks, including hundreds of hit records from the '50s, '60s and '70s. He logged over 15,000 studio sessions over three decades. He is on the short list of 20th Century Drummers' Hall of Fame.

Chester occupied the same position of studio prominence on the east coast recording scene that Hal Blaine did on the west, and had the musical abilities and creative spirit to roll with all the changes in popular music flow that happened during his lifetime. Beginning with doo-wop and rhythm and blues recordings, Chester also showed a great knack for rock, folk rock, rockabilly, and pop. In 1970-1, Chester was the Musical Contractor for the Broadway musical production of Purlie. In 1964, Gary formed a group, Gary Chester and the Beatle Beat which released its only album entitled "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!" consisting of a dozen Beatles' cover songs.

Chester's first successful recording session was to replace a studio drummer. He repeated his success with artists on songs that are considered hits. Several musical scholars who have devoted their lifetimes to the work of studio drummers have advocated the renaming of the "oldies" radio station format to "Gary Chester radio.

As a result of Chester's work and instruction, a pro studio drummer can play well in any requested musical genres. In the studio, a drummer will often be given a sheet of music to read with one or two words describing the style. From this basic information, an accomplished drummer will understand the groove and feel of the song. Some of today's most famous studio drummers are renowned for their ability to adapt to any style of music.

As his reputation grew, Gary became a respected teacher, with drummers searching out his expertise and demanding techniques. His drumming systems have been used and endorsed by drummers such as Kenny Aronoff, Danny Gottlieb, Max Weinberg, Chris Adams, Tico Torres, Lindy Morrison, and Dave Weckl, each having studied under Gary.

Chester focused on teaching skills like creativity, improvisation, four-limb independence and ambidexterity, cross-dominance, playing solid time, alignment of limbs, and making an independent contribution to the song while playing to match the song rather than playing to show off. For example, his instructional techniques included learning to overcome their natural handedness (or laterality) by playing both right-handed and left-handed. This offered the studio pro greater flexibility, smoother groove transition, and a more complex, unbroken riff or fill. This ambidexterity also permitted the drummer to switch the ostinato from right-to-left or vice versa, thereby letting the free hand (or foot) develop a richer drum melody. One additional benefit was more open-handed drumming which increases hand mobility around the set as the drummer does not need to cross and uncross his or her arms as often.

The core concept of Chester's New Breed instruction style was five-way independence. The student was given a system (three parts of a rhythm) and was required to play a written melody with the bass drum. Chester also taught his students to "sing" each part that each limb played (rhythmic vocalization) while drumming to "train your ears to accept and understand what you’re doing." While coordinating and reading, the student would also be required to sing the quarter note, back beat, up beat and the melody for each system. Once the student performed each two-page written melody and sang four different parts, he/she was required to play the same exercise with a left-hand lead. Here, countless new rhythms were played, read, coordinated in time to a metronome, while singing. As a result of Chester's instructional techniques, the student would: (a) Develop independent four-way coordination; (b)Master sight reading ability and note recognition (c) Left hand would now be able to play ride patterns (d) Control time keeping through metronome and singing (by singing the quarter note, one could always play in time) (e) By gaining the ability to play and sing the melodies written, the student enhanced creativity and musicianship. If one could play what he/she sang, all playing situations became a breeze.