Progressive Independence: Rock Revisited

A Step-by-Step Method for Building Creative Coordination

by Miguel Monroy

Fifteen years ago, the founder of Modern Drummer, Ron Spagnardi, published a book devoted to developing independence for rock and funk drumming. This book, Progressive Independence: Rock, has served as a great resource for me over the years, as both a student and an educator of drums and percussion. In the article I’ll walk you through some of the ways that I’ve used the book, including ideas for expanding on some of the written exercises.

The exercises should be practiced in sequential order. Once you master the first one, proceed to the next, and so on. As you work through the patterns, think about how you can apply these same practice methods to other grooves as well.

For the complete article, check out the March 2015 issue of Modern Drummer, available here.