Rock Perspectives

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.

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Progressive Drumming Essentials, Part 3: Polyrhythmic Patterns

Rock Perspectives Progressive Drumming Essentials Part 3: Polyrhythmic Patterns by Aaron Edgar Last month we learned some of the theory behind polyrhythms, along with how to play these patterns in their most basic form. The next step is to learn…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

Progressive Drumming Essentials, Part 4: How to Feel Odd Subdivisions

Rock Perspectives Progressive Drumming Essentials Part 4: How to Feel Odd Subdivisions by Aaron Edgar When I was first learning quintuplets and septuplets, I would mentally cut them into smaller groups of two and three. So quintuplets would be felt…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

Rock Perspectives - Groove Contraction

Groove contraction can create rhythmic tension and release. Similar to how, with implied metric modulation, we can use new subdivisions to trick listeners into feeling like the quarter-note pulse has shifted, we can use the concept of contraction to make…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

Rock Perspectives - The Notes We Don't Play

Adding rests to complicated subdivisions can be an intimidating endeavor. But just like when you’re learning how to play a 16th-note rest on beat 1, or an accent on the middle partial of a triplet, it’s only tricky at first.…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

A New Perspective - Part 2: Three-Over-Two Linear Polyrhythms

The three-over-two polyrhythm is made up of two contrasting rhythms (three equally spaced notes over two equally spaced notes) that are played simultaneously. We can build this polyrhythm by choosing one subdivision to act as a common denominator between the…

Aaron Edgar
Feb 23, 2017
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Odd Subdivision Offbeats - Ten- and Fourteen-Note Groupings

When examining 32nd notes, we see that they’re twice as fast as 16th notes. Similarly, we can take this idea of doubling subdivisions and apply it to any grouping. In this lesson we’re going to explore ten- and fourteen-note subdivisions,…

Aaron Edgar
Feb 23, 2017

A New Perspective - Displacing Two-Over-Three Polyrhythms

This month we’re going to vary the basic phrasing of polyrhythms. Typically, both sides of a polyrhythm begin together on the first note of the rhythm. We can vary this by displacing one or both sides of the rhythm. We’ll…

Aaron Edgar
Feb 23, 2017

Rock Perspectives - A New Realm of Groove

It might initially seem strange using the term “groove” in conversations about patterns based in odd subdivisions. But examples of these phrases being used in popular music are abundant. A perfect song to demonstrate this concept is Snoop Dogg’s track…

Modern Drummer
Feb 23, 2017

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…

Modern Drummer
Nov 19, 2015
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