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.
Beats and Fills
A Smattering of Favorites from a Few Top Pros This month we’ve gathered a collection of favorite beats and fills from some of the top drummers in the world.Each of these transcriptions was pulled from a Modern Drummer exclusive video…
Odd Groupings on the Offbeats
Alternative Rhythmic Placements for More Adventurous Options If you’ve been working through my articles over the past few years, you’ve been exposed to a good number of odd subdivisions, particularly quintuplets. We almost exclusively start those advanced rhythms on the…
Remembering Neil Peart
Part 1: “Malignant Narcissism” When it comes to breaking down the drum parts on the instrumental song “Malignant Narcissism” from Rush’s 2007 studio album, Snakes & Arrows, there’s no better place to go than the man who played it, Neil…
Thomas Lang’s Coordination and Counting Concepts
A Few Ways to Practice With or Without Drums “Independence, four-way coordination, and ambidexterity are such huge subjects,” says Thomas Lang in a recent video lesson filmed for Modern Drummer by DrumChannel.com. “One way of getting into this is just…
Louie Bellson
Drummer, Composer, Bandleader, and Double-Bass Pioneer Last month we talked about the father of modern jazz drumming, Papa Jo Jones. This time we’re featuring one of Papa Jo’s disciples, the great jazz artist and drumset innovator Louie Bellson.Bellson was the…
Stick Technique Revisited
Part 2: The Free Stroke The free stroke, which is also commonly referred to as the full stroke, rebound stroke, or legato stroke, is the most important technique you should learn, as it’s the foundation for almost every other stroke…
The Jon Christensen Approach
Developing a Modern Straight-8th Concept In this article we’re going to explore the broken, straight-8th feel that the late, great Norwegian drummer Jon Christensen utilized to majestic effect on many classic albums for German jazz label ECM. The exercises included…
Modern-Jazz/Rock/Fusion Powerhouse Ronald Bruner Jr..
Grammy-winning drummer, producer, singer, and songwriter Ronald Bruner Jr. is one of today’s most electrifying performers. His exciting “no holds barred” approach has gained the respect of some of the industry’s top artists, and his genre-busting style is a combination…
Papa Jo Jones
The Father of Modern Jazz Drumming Papa Jo Jones was the epitome of swing, from his very early days with the Count Basie band in the ’30s until he passed away in 1985. His style, grace, and incredibly musical approach…
Neil Peart
“La Villa Strangiato” from Hemispheres We transcribed a ton of classic Neil Peart parts in our May 2020 tribute issue to Rush’s legendary drummer. One song we left out, however, was the instrumental tour de force “La Villa Strangiato” from…
Stick Technique Revisited
Part 1: Matched Grip Matched grip simply means that the hands hold the sticks in a mirror image of one another. There are important variations within matched grip, however, both in terms of the hand angles and fulcrums (pivot points)…
Displaced Paradiddles
A Progressive, Grid-Based Approach to Developing Modern Licks from an Ancient Rudiment One of the most common ways to practice displacing rhythms so that they start on different partials of the beat is by applying them to the grid, which…
Making Simple Ideas Extraordinary
Modern Pop/R&B Great Aaron Spears on How to Milk the Most from Basic Quarter Notes “Drums are an extension of who you are,” says modern pop/R&B great Aaron Spears in a recent video lesson for DrumChannel.com. “The way you play…
Dirk Verbeuren
An In-Depth Look at Extreme Metal’s Master Blaster. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN
