When I wrote this post in 2016, a friend had recently sent this link: http://youtu.be/-lzkHFIFrMk
This is a 35-minute video of Warne Marsh leading a seminar with young jazz musicians in Norway, recorded in 1984. The video very much captures what it was like for me study with Warne during that time period.
It also prompted a memory of an exercise in rhythm: there is a part where Warne is tapping rhythms with his hands and feet, and this was something I went through with him, he said that Lennie Tristano taught it to him.
The goal was to feel and then perform or 'play' polyrhythms with different appendages. We started with very easy rhythmic patterns: 2 against 1, 3 against 1, and 4 against 1. The exercises were done with combinations of hands and feet, in this sequence:
1· Right hand-left hand and then switch hands (example: tap 2 with the right hand, and 1 with the left hand (think of the right hand as eighth notes and the left as a quarter note), and then reverse hands)
2· Right foot-left foot and then switch feet
3· Right hand-right foot and then switch
4· Left hand-left foot and switch
5· Right hand-left foot and switch
6· Left hand-right foot and switch
7· Both hands-both feet and switch (hands together and feet together)
8· Both sides and switch (right hand/right foot, left hand/left foot)
9· Right hand-left foot and left hand-right foot and switch (both diagonals)
It is advisable to use a metronome when practicing, at least when getting started, and to do this slowly. For the first six combinations two appendages play the downbeat and one then continues, for the last three combinations all four appendages play the downbeat and then two continue for the rest of the measure. YouTube video coming!
When I initially practiced this the sequence revealed a weakness in my coordination with one or two combinations that then improved with practice. The goal was to get comfortable with the simple sequences and then add 3 against 2, 4 against 3, and 5 against 4. Warne said an ultimate goal was to be able to tap 2, 3, 4 and 5 simultaneously with two hands and feet. I asked him if he could do it and he gave a quiet chuckle and said "I did it once." A final element is to add counting out loud. Warne said that when doing the polyrhythms and counting out loud you should be aware of which rhythm is primary and which is secondary and switch them around. For example, if tapping 3 against 2, you can count the "3" out loud, or the "2".