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.
Music As A Game
In his book Effortless Mastery, jazz pianist, composer, and author Kenny Werner wrote, “Don’t forget: Music is something we just made up. It doesn’t actually exist as anything but a game for us.”
“Golden Measures” and Fibonacci Rhythms
The Fibonacci sequence has fascinated cultures for centuries. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN
16th-Note Triplets On Double Bass
In one bar of 4/4, a 16th-note triplet takes up one-half of a beat, which is the same amount of space as one 8th note or two 16th notes.
Applying The Paradiddle-diddle
As a student, I always try to seek out new ways to use rudiments on the drumset, and as a teacher, I encourage my students to do the same.
Paradille Funk
There seems to be a lot of controversy today concerning the usefulness and importance of drum rudiments. This column is not an attempt to justify all of the 26 American Drum Rudiments but, rather, to demonstrate how we can take…
Study In 8th-Note Triplets
This month’s Rock Perspectives examines some time feels involving the use of the 8th-note triplet. When practicing these examples, remember to concentrate on the two sound levels (dynamics): Accented notes should be played forte (f), and unaccented notes pianissimo (pp).…
The Five-Note Fill/Solo Concept
Here is an idea for use in either fills or soloing. The study is based on the following five-note pattern: The five-note pattern, when played as consecutive triplets or 16th notes in 4/4 time, comes back to where it began…
Hiding in Plain Sight - Musically Applying Odd Rhythms
Unless you’re playing in a technical prog-metal band, you may find it difficult to apply odd rhythmic ideas to songs without getting deathly glares from your bandmates. Although I wouldn’t suggest that you start cramming polyrhythms and septuplets into pop…
Multilayered Polyrhythms - Rhythmic Puzzles for Your Mind and Body
Last month we concluded our two-part introduction to polyrhythms with an example that combined multiple polyrhythms within one phrase. In this lesson, we’ll continue layering multiple polyrhythms to take the previous ideas to an even deeper level. These exercises will…
