DRUM GEEK

Becoming A Drum Jedi: The Collective

Every musician has the dream of one day attending and graduating from a highly acclaimed music school or institution. While it is always easy to dream big and aspire to be a drumming Jedi, implementation is…
HI-HAT ACCENT DISPLACEMENT PART 3

This exercise is a fun one. You can use the displacements of accents to imply a modulated time. You will start out by accenting the downbeat. Then you will start to accent every third hi-hat. Eventually…
HI-HAT ACCENT DISPLACEMENT PART 2

When you are comfortable playing all the accents of part one, you can combine them to make phrases in your grooves. Try to use the accents to emphasize a rhythm or melody. Use a metronome and…
HI-HAT ACCENT DISPLACEMENT PART 1

This series deals with the ability to move the accents around in a 1/16 note hi-hat groove. Being able to move accents can be a great way to alter feels or imply modulation. These four examples…
WARMING UP AND THE 90 DEGREE BOUNCE

The importance of warming up cannot be overstressed. I always warm up at the start of my practice ritual. Without dedicating several minutes to warming up, your hands and arms will be tightening up in no…
MOZAMBIQUE

The Mozambique drum set groove is perfect for drummers of all skill levels. Entry-level drummers should take this opportunity to work on independence and feel, while more advanced players can start to add variations to the bass…
BACK TO BASICS – PART 3

In this visit back to basics, I took the grooves from Part 1 and now play them as a shuffle. Personally I feel shuffles aren’t understood enough by younger generations and are very important in developing…
ADVERSITY IN DRUMMING

As drummers we need to be diverse, in our knowledge of music, our technique, and our practice habits. This is a given if we want to have a long and rewarding career as a musician, but…
The Hunt For The Perfect Sound

Something all working drummers struggle with everyday is the hunt for the perfect snare drum and cymbals. My personal hunt has spanned quite a few years (and pieces of gear) and still continues to this day.…
Eating The Elephant

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. – Dom Famularo I am notorious for being many things, but patient, I am not. As I entered my 30’s I began the self improvement…
DRUM KIT MAINTENANCE

Every so often, as I peruse the drum forums for ideas and gems of drumming wisdom, I come across a thread that is about the upkeep and maintenance of drum kits. And while there is a…
DCI – THE BASICS

As a percussionist, you may have heard about drum corps, but what exactly is DCI? And how can it help you as a drummer? For those of you between the ages of 13-22, marching with a…
GOOD TIMES ON THE BASS DRUM

This lesson is inspired by Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times.” John Bonham’s right foot on this song always blows me away every time. He plays a 1/16 note triplet lick as in example A. John…
BOSSA NOVA

The Bossa Nova—or “new beat”—originated in Rio de Janeiro, primarily in upscale beachfront neighborhoods. The Bossa Nova was established in Brazil in the 1850s, about 100 years before it was introduced to the jazz culture in…
TRAIN

The basic sticking pattern of this exercise is a Flam followed by 3 strokes on the alternate hand. This exercise also lends itself to the drum set when you substitute a foot (or two) for all…
ALICIA WARRINGTON

I know that things happen for a reason and that I have to make the most out of every situation. I try to step back and find the positive. Originally published in The Black Page –…
AARON COMESS

“To me, music is music and as long as you play honestly you can really do anything you like.“ Originally published in The Black Page – May 2013. His famed drum intro on “Two Princes” is…
DOUBLE BASS KILLERS

Here is a page from my double bass book, Ultimate Double Bass. This example is from the workout portion of the book. Here you will be going from 1/16 notes to 1/16 note triplets using various foot…
DOUBLE BASS FILL IDEAS – PART 2

This is the second installment of Double Bass Fill Ideas. If you haven’t gone through Part 1 of this series, visit this link > Double Bass Fill Ideas Part 1. Remember to take one basic pattern…
DOUBLE BASS FILL IDEAS – PART 1

This is a “simple” exercise to expand your double bass vocabulary. I like to take one basic pattern and play it as many ways as possible. We will start with a basic pattern, then I wrote…