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.
Twelve Essential Shuffles - Some of Drumming's Most Influential Feels
While simple in concept, the shuffle, which features prominently in early jazz, blues, Motown, soul, funk, rock ’n’ roll, and hip-hop, among other styles, can be difficult to execute even for skilled drummers. In this article we’ll cover the essential…
Progressive Drumming Essentials
Part 6: Syncopated Double Bass...the Easy Way. When I began working on double bass, I was inspired by drummers like Gene Hoglan, Raymond Herrera, and Thomas Lang, all of whom seemed to have a never-ending supply of creative parts. I’d…
World Groove Independence Mash-Up
When I began writing my latest book, Groove Freedom, the goal was to gain flexibility both within my students’ grooves and my own. As I practiced the book’s systems, I realized they helped with independence as well as with groove.…
Endorsements Part 2: Are You Really Ready?
by Russ Miller Last month we started our discussion of product endorsements with the equipment manufacturers. I encourage you to read through that article again to familiarize yourself with some of the terms we’re using this month. We’ve been joined…
Triplet Fill Concepts Part 2: More Three-Over-Four Fills
Welcome to the second lesson in our series on jazz-style triplet fills. This month we’ll continue with the three-over-four triplet concept. For this version of the fill, you’ll play the first three notes of the phrase on the snare and…
Quintuplets Part 2: Polyrhythms With Fives
Last month we got acquainted with quintuplets by using accent patterns and transitions with familiar rhythms. In this lesson we’ll superimpose quintuplets across two beats using a five-over-two polyrhythm and across three beats using a five-over-three polyrhythm. TO READ THE…
Flam It Up: Add Some Meat to Your Fills
Flams are fun! A flam is defined as a soft stroke, or grace note, and a louder main stroke played closely together to sound like one. Flams can be closed (less space between strokes) or open (more space between strokes).…
How to Practice: Get the Most Out of Whatever Time You Have
Enthusiasm is your fuel to improve your drumming. You probably spend time working on grooves and fills, playing along to recordings, searching YouTube for videos, attending concerts, practicing from method books, and jamming with other musicians. These are all key…
