Lessons
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.
Rock & Jazz Clinic: Brush Workshop, Part 1
October 2011 Rock & Jazz Clinic Brush Workshop Part 1: Circular Motions by Florian Alexandru-Zorn A goal of mine has been to play with brushes and think not in terms of patterns but in a more musical way, transferring all…
Open-Handed Playing, Part 1: Unlocking the Hidden Potential
September 2011 Rock 'N' Jazz Clinic Open-Handed Playing Part 1: Unlocking the Hidden Potential by Claus Hessler One of the biggest advantages to playing open-handed is that you no longer have to deal with the obstructed movement of crossing your…
Advanced Blues: Syncopated and Polyrhythmic Feels
September 2011 In The Pocket Advanced Blues Syncopated and Polyrhythmic Feels by Jim Payne Here are the demo videos that accompany my article on advanced blues drumming.
Ostinato Studies, Part 1: The Building Blocks
September 2011 Drum Soloist Ostinato Studies Part 1: The Building Blocks by Jason Gianni Here is the video that we are using as the basis for the concepts we’re exploring in our Ostinato Studies article series. Check out the first…
Write Creative Drum Parts, Part 3: Interpreting Threes
August 2011 Rock 'N' Jazz Clinic Write Creative Drum Parts Part 3: Interpreting Threes by Chris Prescott For the third installment of this series, I thought it would be appropriate to examine the various ways to interpret music based in…
Relative Tempo: Click-Shifting Exercises to Improve Your Sense of Time
August 2011 Jazz Drummer’s Workshop Relative Tempo: Click-Shifting Exercises to Improve Your Sense of Time by Steve Fidyk This article discusses ways to improve your sense of timing by shifting a quarter-note click to each 8th-note-triplet or 16th-note subdivision. Here’s…
Write Creative Drum Parts, Part 2: Anticipated Rhythms
Original article from the June 2011 issue of Modern Drummer Magazine June 2011 Rock 'N' Jazz Clinic Write Creative Drum Parts Part 2: Anticipated Rhythms by Chris Prescott In part one of this series (April 2011), we discussed various ways…
Double Bass Substitute, Part 3: Opening the Hi-Hat
July 2011 Rock ’n’ Jazz Clinic Double Bass Substitute Part 3 : Opening the Hi-Hat by Mike Johnston Watch Mike Johnston demonstrate exercises from part 3 of his Double Bass Substitute article.
Write Creative Drum Parts, Part 1: Direct Connection
April 2011 Rock 'N' Jazz Clinic Write Creative Drum Parts Part 1: Direct Connection by Chris Prescott Over the years I’ve had many students ask for help in writing drum parts for their bands’ songs. This article is designed to…
Steve Fidyk’s Tribute to Joe Morello
May 2011 Jazz Drummer’s Workshop Rudimental Jazz Revisited by Steve Fidyk Army Blues drummer and MD contributor Steve Fidyk plays a 5/4 drum solo dedicated to his longtime teacher, Joe Morello. See Fidyk’s two-part educational column based on Morello’s recently…
Playing With Drum Loops (Revisited)
Original article from the April 2011 Issue of Modern Drummer Magazine February 2011 Electronic Insights Playing With Drum Loops Choosing Tones And Tunings by Donny Gruendler Many drummers are trained to have metronomic time, solid technique and reading skills, and…
Double Bass Substitute, Part 1: 16th Notes
March 2010 Rock ’n’ Jazz Clinic Double Bass Substitute Part 1: 16th Notes by Mike Johnston Watch Mike Johnston demonstrate exercises from part 1 of his Double Bass Substitute article.
Linear Fills, Part 3
November 2010 Rock ’n’ Jazz Clinic Linear Fills, Part 3 by Mike Johnson In this video, MD columnist Mike Johnston addresses linear fills using 32nd notes. See the lesson on pages 64 and 65 in the November 2010 issue of…
Linear Fills, Part 2
October 2010 Rock ’N’ Jazz Clinic Linear Fills, Part 2 by Mike Johnston In this video, MD columnist Mike Johnston explains some of the 16th-note-triplet linear fills he wrote about in the October 2010 issue of Modern Drummer. In…
