“Tears of Joy” Tod Sucherman Drum Chart (Jerry Goodman)
Background
Back during my college years at SUNY Oneonta, a friend and I decided to stay up late one night and watch Todd Sucherman’s Methods and Mechanics DVD. Having already been turned on to Todd’s playing, I was immediately drawn to his performance of Tears of Joy, an instrumental piece originally composed by Jerry Goodman from his live album from 1987 called It’s Alive. Years later, Todd asked Jerry to record the piece for him and thus this version featuring Todd’s performance was created. For me, the piece represents the ultimate display of musical expression as well as competency on the instrument. It was that night in college that I promised myself that one day I would learn the piece, note for note, and record it professionally, just like Todd. I’m so proud and excited to finally share the video performance.
Todd’s Original video performance
Learning the Piece
In order to perform this piece and learn Todd’s parts, I needed a transcription, and luckily the digital version of Todd’s DVD included a full transcription by professional drummer and educator Brad Schlueter. In terms of the process, this was the most daunting and time-consuming piece I have ever attempted to learn. In reality, I have been working with this on and off ever since college, so over 7 years. What worked for me was breaking the piece into sections, learning the piece one measure at a time, and then adding on, until eventually, I had larger chunks of music learned and then could connect each section until I had the full piece in my hands.
Time Signature
The entire piece is in 13/8 time, making any performance of the track extremely challenging, let alone learning Todd’s complex passages and phrases. As he explains, when Jerry sent Todd the finished track, there were many bars where the bass resolution was actually placed on the anticipation: beat 13, which changes the rhythmic shape tremendously. As with any odd time meter, it’s important to internalize the different ways to subdivide by breaking down each bar into groups of 3s and 2s. For Tears of Joy, there are 3 main subdivision feels: 2-2-3-3-3 / 2-2-3-2-2-2 / 3-3-3-4.
The Setup
Any drummer can instantly recognize Todd Sucherman’s setup, as he usually features a large gong drum to the right of his kit. For this piece, he uses 5 rack toms, 2 floor toms, 1 gong drum, and an array of crash cymbals and splashes. I utilized a stripped-down version of his setup, still incorporating the gong drum alongside 2 rack toms and 2 floor toms.
Gear-wise, I am using my Pearl Session Studio Select which features a hybrid Birch and African Mahogany shell. I’m using a custom Pearl Drums 14″ x 6.5″ Walnut Music City Custom Snare drum made proudly in Nashville, TN. Cymbals are all Zildjian K-Sweet series. I’m also using the new R2 Air Tom Suspension system from Pearl.
A few of my favorite parts…
1. Verse Groove (1:16 – 1:47)
I love how this 2nd verse really compliments the beautiful melody, while adding some intricate accents and ghost notes.
2. Tom Groove (2:24 – 2:50)
This took me a good bit of time to learn the coordination between the toms and the open accent on the hat.
3. Interlude (3:29 – 4:00)
Absolutely one of my favorite sections of the entire piece! This quieter breakdown is just beautiful and really highlights the intricacies of the snare, hat, and left foot. This was recorded without a click, so this section definitely took a while to get the feel down – balancing both a laid-back feel and a rhythmically accurate performance.
4. Solo Fills (4:40 – 5:02)
Which fill is your favorite? Another brilliant section here from Todd. Each fill is totally different and has its own challenges. I’d say they get progressively more complex from Fill #1 to Fill #3. The first fill is the most open and simplest to play, and really just needs to be practiced to nail down the timing. Fill #2 features an awesome triplet-based pattern of 24:13, while Fill #3 is just pedal to the metal, featuring an insane 30:13 pattern of 16th notes felt in 5 and cascading down the toms all the way to the gong drum and kick drum. This is actually harder to play with only 1 kick drum!
5. Outro Fill (6:20 – 6:24)
Just when you thought you had the piece under your belt, Todd throws in 1 more mind-boggling fill to close out the piece. It’s comprised of 16th-note patterns connected with accents and tricky combinations between the hands and feet. When you slow it down it’s not too bad, but the speed here is definitely the biggest hurdle to tackle.