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.
Swing Interpretations - Modern Groove Applications
There's an interesting relationship between two-note (binary) and three-note (ternary) subdivisions that can help you develop better vocabulary and feel on the drumset. To understand this relationship, play an 8th-note triplet with your right hand while playing a straight 8th-note…
Triplet Fills - Swinging Your Phrases
Younger drummers sometimes struggle with triplet phrases, as there are few styles of popular music today that employ triplets as a basis for the feel. However, we have to be ready for these musical situations when they arise. Older rock,…
Rock Perspectives - "Playing Rock Music Is Not Dumb"
The following material is similar to the Rock Perspectives column regarding Swiss Army Triplets (July 1981). It's different enough to present additional technical challenges. These particular exercises can be of special benefit to the right foot (bass drum) because of…
Drum Soloist - Jo Jones -"Adlib"
This solo was transcribed from the album entitled, The Main Man—Jo Jones, recorded in November 1976, and released on the Pablo label. The solo is heard toward the end of "Adlib" which appears on side 1, cut 3. TO READ…
Teacher's Forum - Drumset Applications of The Reed Syncopation
This article is a compilation of exercises by Mr. Breithaupt and two of his advanced students, Karl Ott and Peter Retzlaff.
Concepts - Developing Good Time
Many drummers are capable of playing good time even though they may not know exactly how they developed this ability.
Strictly Technique - Bass Drum Control
When I wrote Bass Drum Control in 1964, it was at the request of drummers who wanted exercises to practice for hands and bass drum.
Show And Studio - Charles Collins: Up Close
Things really started happening for Charles Collins when Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson pulled him out of Dionne Warwick's road band in 1971.
Jazz Drummer's Workshop - The Music of the Drums - Part 3
This article will cover two related ideas: How to make the study of drum method books musically more useful, and some technical exercises that can he used to aid this development.
Rock Perspectives - Modular Rock
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Hone Your Human GPS - Setting Goals, Defining Problems, and Devising Solutions
I’ve researched how people define GPS as it relates to the human condition, and I think best-selling author Jim Samuels’ philosophy is the simplest and most effective take. Samuels’ formula involves goals, problems, and solutions. We set goals and then…
Septuplet Permutations - Diving Deep Into an Odd Subdivision
I find that the best way to become proficient with a new subdivision is to isolate each partial within the grouping and then combine the partial with all of the other available notes in the subdivision. Using triplets as an…
Playing Melodically - Part 1: “Billie’s Bounce”
In this new series I hope to present my thoughts and pass along some experience and insights on playing jazz. These lessons will largely deal with the symbiotic relationship between playing what the mind hears versus what the hands and…
