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.
Artistry Versus Commerce Balance Is Everything
For this month’s column I’ve chosen to discuss the most-asked question I receive at shows, at clinics, and on the Web: “How do you balance finance and drumming?” The quote by the great Irish playwright Oscar Wilde sums up the…
Syncopation Revisited Part 5: Afro-Cuban Applications
Welcome to part five in our continuing series on ways to interpret the classic Ted Reed book Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer. This time we’ll apply Afro-Cuban ideas to the written manuscript. The following applications can be…
Groove Freedom Part 3: 32nd-Note Patterns
Welcome to the third and final installment of my “Groove Freedom” series. For those of you who missed the first two lessons, these articles are based on exercises from my latest book, Groove Freedom. The book is built from the…
Duple/Triple Single-Diddle Gear Shifters Part 1: 8th-Note Triplets and 16ths
In part one of this two-part series, we’re going to isolate our timing and sticking “gear shifts” between 8th-note triplets (twelve notes per measure) and 16th notes (sixteen notes per measure). Not only will these exercises be great for your…
The Paradiddle Pyramid
A Quick and Effective Warm-Up Routine for the Hands and Feet The following exercise routine is great for drummers who have limited practice time. It also makes for a killer warm-up before gigs, sessions, or rehearsals. The routine is…
Volume Independence and Musicality
More About “How” Than “What” There are many different concepts and methods for developing independence. Most of us spend countless hours working on independence the traditional way, by playing a rhythm with one hand (e.g., a jazz swing ride pattern)…
Syncopation Revisited Part 4: Brazilian Applications
We continue our series on ways to interpret the classic Ted Reed book Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer by applying Brazilian rhythms and phrasing ideas to the written manuscript. The following applications can be used with any…
“Nothing Endures but Change” — An Introduction
When the editors of Modern Drummer invited me to write a few Concepts pieces, my first reaction was, “Me? That’s Roy Burns and Billy Ward’s column, right?” I always loved reading Roy’s articles. He was the first drum clinician I…
Upbeat Triplets Breaking Free From the Downbeat
This month we’re going to look at quarter- and 8th-note-triplet rhythms that are offset to the upbeats. When we talk about upbeats, we’re usually referring to the “&” counts between the quarter notes in a straight 8th or swung context.…
Groove Freedom Part 2: “Funky Drummer” Permutations
Welcome to the second installment of articles based on my new book, Groove Freedom. I wrote this book for myself as much as I did for my students. There is nothing quite like the feeling of having one hundred percent…
Syncopation Revisited Part 3: 5/4 Applications
We continue this month with more ways to interpret Ted Reed’s classic book Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer. This time we’ll be converting the written manuscript from its original 4/4 form to 5/4 time. The following applications…
Rhythm and Timing Part 5: Single 8th-Note-Triplet Partials and Bonus Exercises
In this final segment we’re going to focus on the three different parts of 8th-note triplets (“one-trip-let”). Playing on the downbeats is pretty simple, and the third partial isn’t too strange, since we hear it all the time in swing…
Syncopation Revisited Part 2: 3/4 Applications
We continue this month with more of my favorite ways of interpreting the classic Ted Reed book Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer. This time we explore ways of converting the written manuscript from its original form to…
