DRUM GEEK

DOUBLE BASS DRUM HAND/FOOT PATTERN

This is a nice, simple, basic double-bass pattern. This pattern can lead to many things in the future (fills, grooves, etc.) and there are numerous ways to apply this pattern around the drum set. It is…
ACCENTED QUINTUPLET OR FIVELET ROLLS

In a past lesson I showed you quintuplet or fivelet rolls. If you haven’t seen that lesson yet, follow this link > Chicken In a Fivlet Roll. We will continue with a quintuplet roll drum lesson…
CHICKEN IN A FIVELET ROLL

This is a great way to learn how to play fivelet rolls based on the classic Chicken in a Roll exercise. If you haven’t seen that lesson yet, follow this link > Chicken in a Roll.…
CHICKEN IN A ROLL

Hello again! This is a classic drumcorp/marching band exercise, Chicken in a Roll. This is a great exercise for working on your single to double stroke rolls. It’s a basic roll using 8th to 16th notes and the…
BUYING YOUR DREAM DRUM KIT

Like it or not, the drumming industry accounts for a very small percentage of the human population. In fact, stats show that musicians in general only account for a tiny part of internet traffic and of…
METRONOME – FRIEND OR FOE?

There are many ways to go about using the metronome to develop our musical skills. I want to share my own thoughts on working with it, and how we can maximize our practice time. I also…
BE HERE NOW

We each want many things and for us drummers it could simply be learning that new hot lick or perhaps for the majority of us it’s landing that big gig. Regardless of whatever it is, we…
DOUBLE BASS BUILDING BLOCKS – PART 2

I hope everyone’s legs are feeling good after Part 1 of this lesson Double Bass Building Blocks – Part 1. If you are practicing this stuff you should be noticing some great results by now. Here…
DOUBLE BASS BUILDING BLOCKS – PART 1

Here is an exercise I have been shedding a lot lately. This is designed to help build speed, control and endurance. Start by playing each line twice. Then progress to playing each line 4 and 8…
POLY-RUDIMENTS

This lesson is actually a warm up I do before a show, but it can also be a very effective practice routine during those days where you know you won’t get a ton of time to…
BASIC BRUSHES

Brushes are fun to play and it’s a good idea to learn how to play them. You never know when you’ll need to dredge ‘em out of your stick bag. They’re fun to play and give…
MAMBO

The Mambo is a very complex rhythm of Afro Cuban decent. We will try to comp four different percussionists parts; the Bass drum is our Surdo, the Hi-hat foot is our Shaker, the bell of the…
CHACARERA OVER HI-HAT

The Chacarera is a groove from northeast Argentina, especially Santiago del Estero. It was originally played with an instrument called the Bombo leguero that is made of wood and leather and is between 13 to 18…
BEMBE

The Bembe is an Afro-Cuban groove with a 6/8 feel that can also be interpreted in 4/4 with triplets. The style originates from the word “Bembes” which is an African term for religious gatherings that involved…
THE PORT HOLE DELIBERATION

The kick drum port hole is a modern invention that came about in the ‘60s when multi- track recording and close micing techniques became commonplace. Mass market appeal materialized when the studio technique of cutting a…
EMOTIONS GONE OVERBOARD

This article is written for all of us (and we have all had these moments; it is human nature), who ever thought that we were more important than the music we are playing. Ego is a…
DEVELOPING THE DOUBLE STROKE ROLL WITH YOUR FEET PART 3

“Repetition is the mother of learning” therefore yet again, I still don’t think we, as drummers, take practicing our feet as seriously as we should. I hope you’ve had enough time to practice all the exercises…
ACCENT TO PARADIDDLE

This exercise is focusing on accent to taps to accented paradiddles. It’s a simple 1/8– 1/16 note piece, but we are using odd groupings of 5,7, and 9 and then filling in the gaps with single paradiddles…
8TH NOTES MAKE THE GROOVE GO ROUND

If this exercise appears to be something you’d learn in your first drum lesson, that’s because it is. It’s a simple three-bar exercise that is repeated. The main point I want to get across is, as…
DEVELOPING THE DOUBLE STROKE ROLL WITH YOUR FEET – PART 2

As drummers, we usually don’t take practicing our feet as seriously as we should. Having said that I hope you’ve had enough time to practice all the exercises from Part 1. If you haven’t, click here to get…