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.
Falling Rocks - A Primer on One of Drumming's Most Powerful Fills
The term “falling rocks” refers to a very powerful fill concept made famous by legendary rockers like Carmine and Vinny Appice, John Bonham, Cozy Powell, and Tommy Aldridge, and it’s often used by contemporary metal, prog, and fusion drummers. TO…
Closed Roll Studies - Exercises for Developing Control of Multiple Rebounds
The closed roll, aka buzz roll, is a mystery to many drummers, and for good reason. This type of roll attempts to imitate the long tone that other instruments, like trumpet or violin, create by sustaining a single pitch. TO…
Bass Drum Development - 4 Focused Exercises for Building Raw Speed
One of the most common questions I get asked in clinics is, “How did you develop your foot speed?” And that is often followed by, “What pedal do you use?” I can promise you this: Bass drum speed has almost…
TEACHER’S FORUM - Teaching Young Children
Nothing is more exciting than watching new students enter my teaching studio for the first time and seeing them react to all the drums, cymbals, percussion, and posters. It’s like a candy store for them—they want to indulge and eat…
BASICS - Advanced Disco
BASICS Advanced Disco Beyond Four on the Floor by Rich Redmond Disco, a style of music popularized in the 1970s, launched dance crazes, drove up record sales, and sometimes caused a lot of frustration among the era’s working drummers. (Some…
Endorsements - Part 1: Let's Get Real
Endorsement contracts with instrument companies is a hot topic. Covering the subject has been requested so much, and I’ve been asked about it so often, that I decided to do a two-part column. To get the truth out, I enlisted…
BASICS - Fundamental Fills
The abundant amount of educational material on the market can overwhelm many students and aspiring professional drummers. Due to limited practice schedules or performance opportunities, some drummers fail to see how to implement new or practical material into their daily…
Jazz Drummer’s Workshop - Rhythmic Conversions
In this lesson, we’ll focus on variations of the converted triplet phrases from Part 1 . When practicing new material, I find it beneficial to explore as many different combinations as possible. By doing so, I’m more apt to apply…
Triplet Fill Concepts - Part 1: Three Over Four
Welcome to the first of three lessons in our “Triplet Fill Concepts” series. In this part, I’m going to show you how to play some simple three-over-four ideas using accents over triplets. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS…
The Reeducation of Drumming Education by Ben Sesar
I’ve made it my mission to carve a straighter path to greatness, not only for myself but also for those willing to learn. In doing so, however, I’ve had to question the current standards regarding the way we educate ourselves…
Practi-Patterns - A Dozen of the Most Common Kick/Snare Figures
One of the best things you can do in your drumming study is work on practical techniques, stickings, grooves, and fills that can be applied in real-life situations on the bandstand and in the studio. After playing a wide variety…
Quintuplets, Part 1: The Basics
Some may think of quintuplets—groups of five notes in the space of a quarter note—as an unusual rhythm reserved for the technical folks playing math music. But quintuplets aren’t that different from triplets (which weren’t always commonplace), and it’s possible…
Raw Speed Bass Drum Workout with Mike Johnston
This bass drum workout is all about developing your raw speed. Raw speed is very different from pattern speed. Pattern speed requires your brain to keep track of a specific sequence of rights, lefts, and kicks, and you have to…
Ghost Notes 101 with Jim Riley
One thing that separates the novice drummer from the professional is the ability to play grooves that have dimension. Ghost notes are a great way to achieve this, but first you need to understand, on an elemental level, how to…
