When you are starting out with jazz drumming one of the most important things you need to do is listen a lot. In fact this is true whether you are a beginner or not. In order to understand the rhythms, the feeling, the swing, you have to listen widely and historically. Time spent listening to the music and what the drummers do, is as valuable as practicing, and not listening enough was a mistake I certainly made when I was starting out. In fact, I still need to listen more which is part of the reason I wrote this post.
