Education
Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
The New Breed: Composite Systems Part 2
Gary Chester’s groundbreaking book The New Breed is legendary. The book, and Gary’s teaching methods are deeply intertwined, it is a lifelong commitment of dedication, study, and development. Gary Chester’s Systems, Reading Exercises, Advanced Systems, Advanced Reading Exercises, Composite Systems,…
Master Studies II: Adventures in Time in ¾
As a follow-up to Joe Morello’s legendary Master Studies book, he released Master Studies II in 2006. Joe was a masterful teacher and helped many great drummers with their musicality, technique, and touch. Joe was also masterful at creating exercises,…
Progressive Drumming Essentials: Polyrhythms, Demystifying the Process
Progressive Drumming Essentials is a collection of articles originally written for Modern Drummer magazine. They are exactly what the title says, PROGRESSIVE drumming essentials. This series of articles, and the book that contains them all, represent a great deal of…
Renew-Refuel-Move to DRUM!
For our drumming to come alive, it starts way before we make it to the kit. If we don’t have peak health first, none of this matters! Start thinking of yourself as an athlete, because you are. Let’s start with…
Godsmack “I Stand Alone,” drummer Tommy Stewart and “When Legends Rise,” drummer Shannon Larkin
This month, we feature two great tracks, three drummers, and one band—Godsmack! Our first transcription is “I Stand Alone” from Godsmack’s 2003 album, Faceless. The drum track was written by drummer and frontman Sully Erna and recorded by Godsmack’s original drummer,…
The New Breed: Composite Systems Part 1
Gary Chester’s groundbreaking book The New Breed is legendary. The book, and Gary’s teaching methods are deeply intertwined, it is a lifelong commitment of dedication, study, and development. Gary Chester’s Systems, Reading Exercises, Advanced Systems, Advanced Reading Exercises, Composite Systems,…
Master Studies II: More Adventures in Time
As a follow-up to Joe Morello’s legendary Master Studies book, he released Master Studies II in 2006. Joe was a masterful teacher and helped many great drummers with their musicality, technique, and touch. Joe was also masterful at creating exercises,…
Progressive Drumming Essentials: Herta My Brain
Progressive Drumming Essentials is a collection of articles originally written for Modern Drummer magazine. They are exactly what the title says, PROGRESSIVE drumming essentials. This series of articles, and the book that contains them all, represent a great deal of…
Life Practicing: The Six Baselines
“When jarred, unavoidably, by circumstances, revert at once to yourself, and don’t lose the rhythm more than you can help. You’ll have a better grasp of the harmony if you keep going back to it.” Marcus Aurelius Practicing isn’t just…
SILENT DRUM PRACTICE - Episode 6
Welcome to Episode 6 of my workshop series on practicing drums without a drum set! This episode is all about hand patterns. Hand Placement Matters When it comes to playing a sequence of notes and rests, it usually makes sense…
Rush, “The Spirit of Radio” from Permanent Waves, and “Subdivisions” from Signals Drummer Neil Peart
This month, we are focusing on Neil Peart—pronounced “Peert”—and diving into not one, but two classic Rush songs: “The Spirit of Radio” and “Subdivisions.” The two tracks are very close in tempo, yet they could not be more different. One,…
The New Breed: Concepts
Gary Chester’s groundbreaking book The New Breed is legendary. The book, and Gary’s teaching methods are deeply intertwined, it is a lifelong commitment of dedication, study, and development. Gary Chester’s Systems, Reading Exercises, Advanced Systems, Advanced Reading Exercises, Composite Systems,…
Master Studies II: Adventure in Time
As a follow-up to Joe Morello’s legendary Master Studies book, he released Master Studies II in 2006. Joe was a masterful teacher and helped many great drummers with their musicality, technique, and touch. Joe was also masterful at creating exercises,…
The Art of Transcribing Jazz Drums, The Myth of the “Correct” Transcription
Ask ten experienced drummers to transcribe the same 16 bars from a jazz recording made in the 1940s, ‘50s, or early ‘60s, and chances are you won’t get ten identical results. It’s not because nine of them are wrong, or…
