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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.

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Basics: Master Time

When I was a college student in Madison, Wisconsin, in the ’80s, I encountered the funk drumming legend Clyde Stubblefield. At that time, Stubblefield himself was not as well known as the classic grooves he played with James Brown, and…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

Strictly Technique: Top 10 Rudiments

The drag is the tenth and final rudiment in our series. If you’ve been practicing these rudiments and exercises correctly, at a wide variety of tempos, then your hands are now trained with all of the necessary motions required to…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

Rock Perspectives: Polyrhythms

In the third part of this series (November ’09), we applied a four-against-three polyrhythm to either the ride cymbal or the bass drum, while the snare drum played the backbeats on 2 and 4. Now let’s take things a step…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

Off The Record: LIFEHOUSE’S Rick Woolstenhulme Jr.

Rick Woolstenhulme Jr. has been the drummer for Lifehouse since 2000. In the ’90s, after high school, he moved to California from his home state of Arizona and attended the Los Angeles Music Academy, where he spent most of his…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

Concepts: When To Lead And When To Follow

There are three ways to keep time when you play with an ensemble. One is to lead, another to follow, and the third is something often referred to as “band time.??? Let’s take a look at each of these and…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017
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It's Questionable: E-Drums and Apartment Dwellers

E-Drums and Apartment Dwellers I live in a very old three-story apartment building with hardwood floors. I bought a Roland TD-20 drumkit for my son, but apparently the impact from the pads is finding its way into the apartment below,…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

Strictly Technique: Triplet Gear-Shifter

This month we’re going to apply two alternate stickings to the triplet gear-shifter exercise. To review, 12th notes are 8th-note triplets (twelve notes to a bar of 4/4). In the exercise, a bar of 12th notes is followed by a…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

In The Pocket: Funk Drumming Training Camp

In part one of this series (May 2013 MD), we talked about the importance of developing a tight, solid, feel-good groove. Things you can work on to tighten up your playing include gaining an intimate knowledge of the feel of…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

Rock 'N' Jazz Clinic: Double Bass Fills

The purpose of this lesson is to show you how to overlap bass drum notes at the end of a phrase into a crash at the beginning of the next phrase, in order to maintain a continuous flow of ideas…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

Jazz Drummer's Workshop: Focus On Brushes

Practicing brushes is excellent for building strength in your wrists and fingers. It can help develop muscles and reflexes and also improves your control with sticks. With the exception of the closed roll, any pattern that you play with sticks…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

In The Studio: Seeing Sounds

All of us appreciate a signature and stylistically appropriate drum sound. This can range from the perfect overall kit tone on your favorite CD to a uniquely recorded snare tuning. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

In Memoriam - Herb Brochstein

Irvin “Herb” Brochstein, the founder of Pro-Mark Drumsticks, passed away this past January at the age of eighty-five. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017
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Strictly Technique - The Missing Stickings

The inspiration for this article came from years of studying out of George Lawrence Stone’s Stick Control for the Snare Drummer. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

In The Pocket - Funk Drumming Training Camp

In the previous two lessons (May and June 2013), we discussed the importance of groove and feel, and we covered ways to develop those concepts. This includes practicing things that are more complex than what you’ll play on the gig,…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017
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