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.
The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Groove Etude and Hi-hat Substitutions
This month Modern Drummer will continue to include excerpts from Michael Packer’s essential book on bass drum control and technique The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Applying the Moeller Technique to the Bass Drum. As you have seen in previous months,…
The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming: Skiplets
In the new and revised edition of the Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming, Bobby includes nine new double bass drumming chapters. The new and expanded edition covers contemporary techniques such as bass drum double strokes, feet-only exercises, binary and ternary…
Fill-In Studies Groups of Four Fill-ins
Joe Morello advanced the idea of endurance exercises with his Fill-In Studies included in his book Master Studies. These are not “drum fills,” instead they are endurance exercises built on the idea of filling in between the primary rhythm of…
Be Undeniable
“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” –Steve Martin Whether you want to be a rising star on stages around the world or simply cultivate a daily drumming meditation in your practice room, be undeniable in all you do. It’s…
Understanding the Language of Music, Chord Inversions
Modern Drummer founder Ron Spagnardi wrote an excellent book called Understanding the Language of Music, a Drummer’s Guide to Theory and Harmony. This book spells out the basics of theory and harmony in a very easy to…
Fill-In Studies
In previous issues of Modern Drummer, we have printed the first three parts of the “Stone Killer.” Joe advanced the idea of those endurance exercises with his Fill-In Studies These are not “drum fills,” instead they are endurance exercises built…
The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Applying the Ankle, Leg, and Down Stroke to Consecutive Doubles and Grooves with Triplets
In past month’s we have detailed Michael Packer’s techniques of ankle, leg, and down strokes with the hi-hat and the bass drum feet. This month we will look at the applications of these strokes to playing consecutive doubles and…
The Teacher Learns Twice
“One heart, one mind, one groove.” –Rick Lazar, Samba Squad Drummers around the world have something no other instrumentalists have, we’re one big tribe, one that supports and shares like no other. As soon as you meet another drummer, the…
The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Applying the Heel Up Technique to Grooves
This month Modern Drummer will continue to include excerpts from Michael Packer’s essential book on bass drum control and technique The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Applying the Moeller Technique to the Bass Drum. As you will see, this is a…
The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming: Feet Only—Triplets
In the new and revised edition of the Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming, Bobby Rondinelli includes nine new double bass drumming chapters. The new and expanded edition covers contemporary techniques such as bass drum double strokes, feet-only exercises, binary and…
Step Up and Raise Your Standards!
Getting to your next level of excellence comes in evolutions, not revolutions. We all share the battle of fighting self-sabotage from our “shadow selves.” This lesser part of us survives by running to the light of ease and safety. Fighting…
African and American Combinations
The next step in our African-American journey is to combine the long-three polyrhythm in bikutsi with mangambe and shuffle-funk elements. Let’s begin by playing the mangambe right-hand pattern on the cymbal and the six over four polyrhythm with the foot…
“Chapinism” to Jazz Solos: Solo applications from Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol 1 Coordinated Independence
I had the chance to study with the great Jim Chapin during the last four years of his life. Jim passed away at 90 years of age on Independence Day (July 4, 2009). Ironically, he has been referred to as…
Snare Drum Duets: Duet 3
Ron Spagnardi wrote a terrific book called Snare Drum Duets: 25 Duets For Two Snare Drummers. It offers a selection of 25 challenging duets that range in difficulty from relatively simple to more complex. A wide assortment of time signatures…
