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.
Master Studies II: Paradiddles with Fill-Ins Using Multiple-Rebound Strokes
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: Understanding Odd Time Signatures
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, represents a great deal of…
Press Play & MOVE
“The real knowing is in the playing. Drums give up their true secrets only to players, not PhDs.” Mickey Hart I once heard a health expert ask, if you could do just one thing for your overall well-being that would…
Earth, Wind & Fire's "Getaway" from the recording Spirit, Fred White, Drummer
This month’s transcription is a tribute to the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire. The track “Getaway” appears on the band’s seventh studio album “Spirit,” released in 1976. Among the group’s lineup was drummer Fred White—one of three brothers in the…
Rhythm Vocabulary Development Series Part 2: Filling in the Spaces in 7/4
Rhythm as Space: Unlocking Your Creative Flow in 7/4 In our last installment, we explored how rhythmic vocabulary can be expanded by understanding rhythm not just as notes, but as space—a concept that becomes even more powerful in odd time…
The New Breed
This month, Modern Drummer will start excerpting sections of Gary Chester’s groundbreaking book The New Breed. This book, and Gary’s teaching methods are deeply intertwined, it is a lifelong commitment of dedication, study, and development. Before we start reprinting Gary…
Master Studies II: Paradiddles with Fill-Ins Using Double Strokes
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,…
Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming: The Ladder
For the last several months, we have been excerpting chapters from the new and revised edition of the Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming by Bobby Rondinelli. The new and expanded edition of his book includes nine new double bass drumming…
SIMPLICITY WINS: The Go-Round Grooves
What is groove? Think of it as an empty cup that you pour your own meaning into. A name is like this. How many Chris’ do you know? The name is the same, but every time you think of that…
Primus "Eleven" from Sailing the Seas of Cheese, drummer Tim Alexander
This month’s transcription honors Primus and their “old” drummer Tim Alexander, with the Primus track “Eleven” from their album Sailing the Seas of Cheese. As the title implies, the song is based in an 11-beat groove. To make the rhythm easier to read…
Rhythm Vocabulary Development: Filling in the Spaces in 5/4
A useful way to conceptualize rhythm is to think of it as space. In the context of drumming, each note fills a specific space within the time signature. For instance, a quarter note in 4/4 fills the space of one…
Putting It All Together
Modern Drummer founder Ron Spagnardi wrote an excellent book called Understanding the Language of Music, a Drummer’s Guide to Theory and Harmony. This book spells out the basics of theory and harmony in a very easy to understand way. It…
Master Studies II: Paradiddles with Fill-Ins Using Single Strokes
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,…
Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming: Double-Stroke Hands, Single Stroke Feet
In the new and revised edition of the Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming, Bobby includes nine new double bass drumming chapters. The new and expanded edition covers contemporary techniques such as bass drum double strokes, feet-only exercises, binary and ternary…
