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.
Up-Tempo Jazz Ride Playing
I use a kind of circular motion to achieve my desired sound, as was taught to me by Sam Woodyard. The quarter note is being accented slightly, yet consistently, creating a driving and danceable feel. Digging in is what we…
In The Moment, the Art of Active Listening
In The Moment! This is where the magic is. One very important quality every musician requires to really be totally involved in musical expression…is the art of listening. This is a developed skill needed to be inside any song. To…
Carmine Appice Ultimate Realistic Rock Sixteenth Note Rhythms
In honor of the 50th Anniversary of Carmine Appice Ultimate Realistic Rock, Modern Drummer is reprinting this classic section of Carmine’s book. In this section Carmine introduces two essential rhythms to rock drumming, and teaches us how to play and…
Maysun, Everything is Everything.
I view “creative percussion controllers” as three separate categories. Category 1 is a completely self-contained set of electronic drums that are designed by instrument manufacturers that create all the drum and cymbal samples. We simply plug in great headphones and…
“How To Get What You Want” Breakdown
We were in the studio one day trying to get different drum sounds and I was playing this minimalistic beat to hear what was going on in the recording. When we were listening back to it, I said, ‘We should…
Jordan West
Jordan West is a talented musician who is harnessing the power of creative midi controllers and electronic drums to help elevate and support the artists she tours and records with. Her videos that showcase live looping and hybrid drumming are…
Double Bass Drumming
Today, many drummers are playing complex rhythms with their feet that some drummers struggle to play with their hands. The speed of the extreme double bass drumming heard in modern (speed, black, and death) metal bands is astounding. Many younger…
Touring Life and Lessons
For this month’s article, I’m going to share some of my experiences from over the years while on tour with various artists. I’ve been fortunate enough to have done many different “levels” of tours, everything from stadiums to smaller 200-300…
Recording from Home and Wearing Three Hats
Last month we talked about the challenges of picking up the drumsticks for the first time, studying, and the process of learning to become a good drummer. This month we take a big jump forward in your drumming journey. My…
Bob Moses Drum Wisdom: The Eight Points
In last month’s Modern Drummer, we reintroduced Bob Moses’ fabulous notion that he calls “The 8/8 Concept” from his book Drum Wisdom. Bob’s concept of feeling music in 8/8 leads naturally into another concept that Bob calls “The Eight Points.”…
Carmine and Taylor
Taylor Hawkins has mentioned in several interviews, that along with playing along to songs off of the radio, some of the first beats that he learned, came from his next-door neighbor showing him the first page of the Carmine Appice…
Radical Hybrid Drumming “Behind the Scenes” with the Essential Rudiments
There is a range of percussion midi functionality essential to all electronic percussion controllers. In this month’s column, I am going to use several of my custom hybrid drum kits (and a new song) to demonstrate the key features that…
Taylor Hawkins In His Own Words…
I wasn’t good at sports and I was having a hard time finding girlfriends. It was 1982. I was ten years old, and just getting into the music of the day, new wave, the Police, and stuff. My older brother…
Concepts for Beginners
This month’s article will focus on some monumental ideas that will help you quicken your growth as a drummer when first starting out. Some of these concepts were taught to me by my drum instructors when I was younger, and…
Bob Moses Drum Wisdom: The 8/8 Concept
This month we will be begin exploring Bob Moses’ classic book called Drum Wisdom. In this book Bob explores the organic side of drumming with wonderful explanations of some of the most important ideas in playing music. We will begin…
