Chris Lesso
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.
Stop Skipping Steps!
Many people never realize their life through rhythm by unknowingly skipping steps. I get it, this is how I started too! I was eager to get right to bashing out the joyful roar I was hearing from my drumming heroes.…
The 4 Practice Pockets: #4. Celebrate the Wins
“Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.”-May Sarton CELEBRATE, THE FUN PRACTICE To celebrate is to refill your well of enthusiasm,…
The 4 Practice Pockets: #3. Push the EDGES: The Blue Ocean (Great Unknown) of Practice.
Venture into the blue ocean (great unknown,) by doing something you don’t know how to do… YET! I’ve never met a drummer that didn’t want to learn in the “Matrix style.” In the hero’s journey movie The Matrix, Neo plugs…
The 4 Practice Pockets: #2: Stack the Reps, The 10,000 Reps Mindset
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”–Bruce Lee Back in the early days of recording, bands had to be grittier to get a magical…
The Four Practice Pockets #1 Release Your INTUITION
“Good practice is fluid and adaptable, it mirrors nature.” The IREC practice model (Modern Drummer Dec. ’22) is when we use the four practice pockets of Intuition, Reps, Edges, and Celebration to get more out of the time we have…
How To Practice When You Have No Time: The 3 Minute Rule
“Don’t break the chain. Your only job is to not to break the chain!” These are not the words of a drummer, but of comedian Jerry Seinfeld. When asked how he works on his craft, he says that he writes…
The Rhythm Of Practice
Beats are something you do; drumming is something you live. The drums don’t want you to be good at them. The world will throw every excuse at you not to practice or play drums. We have all heard the excuses,…
Open Handed Drumming is to play ‘Open Hearted’
The ‘Open Handed’ Mindset You might have seen me play and noticed I do things a little differently. By now you know ‘different is good’, because there are no rules! The way I play is called OPEN HANDED DRUMMING, which…
CHRIS LESSO Life Through Rhythm
Chris Lesso is a renaissance drummer: bandleader, sideman, clinician, teacher… His studies with the great Dom Famularo and the legendary Jim Blackley have helped him form a great foundation for his drumming and his teaching. Chris’ playing with his band…