Is it true that jazz drumming is difficult? We approached the truth!

Jazz drumming is difficult! Have you ever heard that? In fact, jazz drumming in itself is not that difficult. You may have that feeling when you hit the drums, and you may get frustrated.
So why is it said that jazz drumming is difficult? In fact, jazz drumming has three characteristics that make it very different from other music.

Drum kit used

From the left, the drum set is generally composed of hi-hat, crash, ride, drum system, snare, high tom, low tom, floor tom, and the bass drum at your feet.
Depending on the person, the number of cymbals and toms may be increased, the double bass may be set up with two bass drums, or the low tom may be removed to make it more compact.
In rock, pop, popular songs and funk, the rhythm is mainly chopped with the hi-hat, snare and bass drum, and breaks are made by adding crashes and rides for texture and accents.

On the other hand, when it comes to jazz drumming, this is completely different.
The basics of jazz drumming are the ride cymbal and the hi-hat. While keeping 2 and 4 beats (in short, the back) with a hi-hat, jazz drummers will keep legato with the ride.In short, this alone is enough to make jazz, but it's too lonely, so I sometimes line it with a snare drum or in between with a bass drum to season it.
In summary, the drum system is dominant in rock and pop, while the cymbal system is the dominant in jazz. In other words, the sound creation of the drums is very different.

This is the basic structure of the drums. For jazz drumming, the low tom is often removed for faster movement.

How to make the rhythm

When hitting the drums, beat with the left foot placed on the hi-hat pedal to stabilize the rhythm.
Again, there is a big difference between non-jazz drumming and jazz drumming.
For non-jazz music, keep at the beginning of the beat or eight beats. For up-tempo rock and roll, use the quarter note, and for mid and slow, use an eight beat rhythm for stability.

On the other hand, in the case of jazz drumming, the beat of the song is not particularly important, and the beats used are often 2 and 4 beats. Moreover, a jazz sound is made by firmly stepping on the hi-hat. This movement is one of the basics of jazz drums, and it wouldn't be possible without it. People with other instruments say that the hi-hat sound is the most reliable.
There are many drummers who take a lot of time to learn this when turning from rock or funk. It's a pattern that rock and pop rarely use to start from the back beat without ringing the head beat.
This principle also applies in 8-beat increments. Bossa nova and Latin beats, which commonly contain jazz drumming, should only play the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth notes. At first glance it's the same 8 or 16 beats, but as soon as you hit the hi-hat on the first beat, a Latin rhythm is ruined.

A hi-hat is required for jazz drums, so let's step on it firmly!

Degree of freedom

If you concentrate on listening to the drums in all the music, you will find that the rhythm of non-jazz and non-Latin music is surprisingly stable (?).
Especially, music with roots in Afro-American pop such as funk and soul is very strict in rhythm. In that kind of music, the drums firmly support the rhythm under the stringed and wind instruments that appear in front.
However, in jazz rhythm, a high degree of freedom is permissible. Of course, rhythm keeping is the first priority in jazz and other music. As a plus alpha, jazz requires ad-lib power.
At the extreme, jazz drumming itself is made up of the legato and hi-hat beats of the ride cymbal. However, that alone will make both the performer and the listener uncomfortable.

As you can see from the score for each song, the score of the so-called hit song is very polite, and even the drum fills are marked exactly. When it comes to jazz music, it's really sloppy.
In most cases, jazz music is only one or two A4 size sheets, and only the minimum chord progression, repeat, and rubato (playing at any tempo of the song) are described. In the unfriendly musical score, solos are played between the instruments to create a showcase while communicating. It's not uncommon that a tune is over 8 minutes in length even though it's only one sheet of music.
What are you doing in the meantime? Yes, you can play freely in the parts that are not written on the score.
Ad-lib is a must for jazz players on any instrument.
To summarize the above, in non-jazz music, it is important to play and solo in a fixed manner, and in jazz, it is important to swim freely even though there is a certain framework. (Of course, there are many tunes that are not jazz, but include ad-lib elements.)

The reason why jazz drumming is different from other music is the type of instrument used, the way the rhythm is carved out, and the degree of freedom.
It sounds very difficult to write like this, but it's not really the case. Anyway, if you can hit a jazz-like rhythm, that’s a beginning. If that alone makes you feel unsatisfied, be sure to add a lot of fills and breaks!