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.
Grooving in Form with Mike Johnston
Rock ‘N’ Jazz Clinic Grooving in Form Part 1: AABA Beats by Mike Johnstonb One of the first things you learn when you begin to play in bands is song form, and one of the most popular forms is AABA.…
Elvin Jones-Style Triplet Fills
Jazz Drummer’s Workshop Elvin Jones-Style Triplet Fills Part 3: More Two-Bar Patterns by John Xepoleas Welcome to the third and final lesson in our series on creating Elvin Jones–style triplet fills. This time we’re creating high-energy two-bar fills. Let’s begin…
Progressive Drumming Essentials, Part 1: Understanding Odd Time Signatures
Rock Perspectives Progressive Drumming Essentials Part 1: Understanding Odd Time Signatures by Aaron Edgar Before we start playing sick proggy grooves in 17/16, let’s start at the beginning and define time signatures. Time signatures tell us the length of a…
Beware of the Chi-Ga-Da!
Basics Beware of the Chi-Ga-Da! Exercises for Harnessing a Powerful Funk/Fusion Sticking by Rich Redmond The main sticking used in the exercises in this article, RLL, is very popular in funk/fusion playing styles. The hands are split between the snare…
Antonio Sanchez - The Meridian Suite
by Terry Branam Contemporary drumming giant Antonio Sanchez’s The Meridian Suite takes the listener on a spectacular journey through a nearly hour-long composition that’s divided into five parts. This epic long-form piece features some of Sanchez’s most refined yet most…
Progressive Drumming Essentials, Part 2: Demystifying Polyrhythms
Rock Perspectives Progressive Drumming Essentials Part 2: Demystifying Polyrhythms by Aaron Edgar Polyrhythms, which are two contrasting subdivisions played simultaneously, can create beautifully hypnotic, entrancing patterns that dance around the pulse. They can also weave themselves into complete and utter…
Traditional Percussion on Drumset, Part 4: Cajon
Around The World Traditional Percussion on Drumset Part 4: Cajon by Arturo Stble Living in New York City can be quite a rewarding experience for any artist. One of the things I love the most is the fact that I…
Basics - More Cowbell!
The phrase “more cowbell” has seeped into the public consciousness with good reason—cowbell rocks! Classic rock songs like “Mississippi Queen,” “Honky Tonk Women,” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” inspired this month’s lesson. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO…
ROCK 'N' JAZZ CLINIC - Hidden Rhythms Part 1 Cookin With 16th
The concept of discovering hidden rhythms within common subdivisions reminds me of the first time I removed the back of my boom box when I was about twelve years old. I knew that this simple device must have something fascinating…
AROUND THE WORLD - Diddling the Baiaó
Over the years, Chick Corea’s bands have featured a lot of great drumming talent. Steve Gadd, Dave Weckl, Roy Haynes, Jeff Ballard—all of these players brought exciting rhythms to the drumming world. We’re going to focus on a song from…
JAZZ DRUMMER'S WORKSHOP - Triplet Fill Concepts Part 3
Welcome to the third and final lesson in our series on jazz-style triplet fills. This lesson continues with the three-over-four triplet concept and incorporates buzz rolls, double strokes, and paradiddles. In our first example, we’ll play the accents using the…
ROCK PERSPECTIVES - Progressive Drumming Essentials
Has a song ever caught your ear in just the right kind of wrong way, leaving the music feeling twisted? You knew the musicians were playing together correctly, and you might have even been familiar with the song, but what…
Pataflafla Hemiolas
Strictly Technique Pataflafla Hemiolas Straight and Alternating Versions Over Half-Note Triplets by Bill Bachman This month we’re going to add the pataflafla (a rudiment consisting of two adjacent flams) to some two-accent hemiola patterns to give us a rhythmic and…
CONCEPTS - Your Library
American author and clergyman Harry Emerson Fosdick makes a very important point about the acquisition of knowledge in any field. We must look back, stay current, and use inspirations to build our future. For us drummers, spending time gaining knowledge…
