Working on the “VFjams Live” project with Vic Firth has been such an honor. I’ve gotten to transcribe and work with some of my favorite drummers on planet Earth. Each transcription has been so challenging, fun, and rewarding. But…this Benny Greb transcription in particular…might be my favorite.

Benny Greb has been one of my favorite drummers for over 10 years. I first saw him on drummerworld.com and his playing was so fresh. So groovy. So aggressive but, at the same time, sensitive and musical. I hadn’t really heard anything like it. 12 years ago I was only focused on drummers that were flashy, and only wanted to watch drum solos. Benny Greb was the first drummer to capture my attention regardless of whether he was playing a groove or a solo.

Here we are, over 10 years later, and I’m working with Vic Firth on transcribing the magic of Benny’s playing. And let me tell you, the stuff Benny plays in this performance is MAGIC. I think a huge takeaway from studying this transcription is pacing. If you’ll watch during his solo (midway through the 7th page) – Benny starts the solo by stripping EVERYTHING away. The whole song has been nearly constant 16th notes, and right when the solo hits, he drops to only playing 2 notes in the entire first measure of the solo.

He follows the first measure with only playing 3 notes in the second measure. Moves into playing some 16th note based ideas and throwing in a 32nd note figure or 16th triplet figure here-and-there. Then he moves into 16th triplets as the main subdivision, then 32nd notes. Then ramps it down to bring the band back in and play the rest of the song.

The arc of that solo is just so beautiful. Even if you don’t learn the figures note-for-note, you can still learn so much from studying how Benny paces himself through the solo. He could start his solo (as many of us often do) by going right to 32nd note chops and licks. But then where would the solo go? Benny uses space and time perfectly to craft a musical solo, while still managing to blow your mind with chops, speed, and muscular playing.

Watch the video to get your mind blown, and then grab the sheet music for the transcription below to start learning some of Benny’s playing for yourself!