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.
Open-Handed Playing
Discovering Rhythms Inside the Paradiddle Besides being one of the most popular rudiments, the single paradiddle is a good example to illustrate the overlap between linear and rudimental drumming, and it’s great for working on an open-handed approach (right hand…
Rhythm And Timing Part 3: Single 16ths
This month we’re going to focus on the four different single 16th notes, which are “1,” “e,” “&,” and “a.” Playing just one note may seem simple, but it can be quite a challenge to isolate “e” and “a” and…
Shifting Sands
Rhythmic Transition Examples Transitioning from one time signature, tempo, or musical style to another is a very common technique in modern jazz. These shifts are often referred to as metric modulations, where a specific note value from the current tempo…
Dubstep Drumming Part 1: The Basics
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music known for its head-nodding beats, dark atmosphere, and ear-shaking bass. It draws on many other genres, including Jamaican dub, hip-hop, jungle, drum ’n’ bass, and 2-step, while fusing them into a unique…
Drums Don't Lie
The former Kyuss and Fu Manchu drummer, who’s currently with Vista Chino, tells it like it is, was, and always will be. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN
A 5-Step Workout for Building Coordination Over a Pulse
Complete independence is something that we all strive for, but it can be very confusing and frustrating to practice. This workout/challenge will focus on what I would consider to be “practical independence.” In other words, it’s designed to build the…
Rhythm And Timing Part 2: Two-Note 16th Groupings
This month we’re going to focus on the six different two-note 16th-note groupings. We’ll begin with “1-e,” and then we’ll move it to “e-&,” then “&-a,” and finally “1-a.” After those first four variations, we’ll do a separate exercise for…
Mickey Roker Style and Analysis
Mickey Roker was born in Miami in 1932, and at age ten he moved to Philadelphia, where he still resides today. Throughout the 1940s and ’50s, Philadelphia was an epicenter for aspiring musicians, including John Coltrane, Stan Levey, the Heath…
Beyond "Funky Drummer"
Great Drum Breaks of the ’60s and Early ’70s Much has been written about Clyde Stubblefield’s legendary drum break on James Brown’s 1969 song “Funky Drummer.” Those few bars laid the groundwork for dozens of hip-hop tracks, and Stubblefield’s playing…
Give The Audience Some
Grounding Odd-Time Grooves With a Quarter-Note Pulse Playing songs in odd times can be challenging to you as a drummer, but one thing that doesn’t get much attention is how tough odd times can be on the audience. It’s called…
Stick Control Revisited Part 4
Part 4: Up-Tempo Studies Welcome to the fourth and final installment in our series on Stick Control drumset applications. This month we’ll explore ways of interpreting author George Lawrence Stone’s exercises while playing up-tempo swing rhythms. As you practice the…
Rhythm And Timing, Part 1
Part 1: Three-Note 16th Groupings In this five-part series we’re going to develop not only timing and rhythmic accuracy with triplets and 16th notes, but also accent/tap control using the four basic strokes (full, down, tap, and up). To some,…
