Phrasing

We’ve all at some stage learned a lick, groove or fill from our favourite drummers but unfortunately that’s often where it ends. However with a little work it can be possible to extract more from these ideas to make them your own and ultimately enable you to phrase with them. Next time you pick up a new idea try writing it out, perhaps change the order of the notes, see if you can play it in different parts of the bar or using a different subdivision. You should find that eventually these new ideas become more flexible allowing you to adapt them to the different situations you find yourself playing in.