Concepts
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.
Drummers and Put-Downs
The drummer, more than any other musician, is routinely subjected to dumb, uninformed put-downs. It seems to start very early in life. For example, very young drummers-to-be might hear their parents say, “Oh no, not the drums. They are so…
Technique And Equipment
One of my students complained to me that he had a weak foot. “I have no strength or control of my bass pedal,” he said. I gave him some exercises to practice on the bass drum. At the next lesson,…
How Many Drums Do I Really Need?
I have heard drummers say, “You don’t need a big kit. If you play on a smaller kit, you will be more creative and more musical.” Several famous drummers have been quoted as saying, “I can do everything I need…
Tuning And Muffling
In order to tune or tension your drums for the best possible sound, start out with no muffling. The exception to this rule would be the bass drum where virtually all drummers use some muffling to achieve either a low,…
Drumming And Information
I met a young man at a clinic recently who told me that he had just purchased a $3,000 drumset, and he had only taken two lessons. I commented, “You sound like you are proud of the fact that you…
Drummers And Auditions
I recently had the pleasure of spending an afternoon talking with Allen Carter. Allen is a top professional drummer whose credits include the Les Brown Orchestra, The Captain & Tenille and The Kansas City Philharmonic. Currently he plays professionally in…
Developing Speed Naturally
Almost all young drummers attempt to see how fast they can play at some point. This is a natural stage of development. It is sort of like flexing your muscles just to see how strong you are. Technique is needed…
Practicing With Records
When I was a young drummer, practicing with records was very difficult. Headphones and stereo sets were not available. I would turn up the volume on my small record player to the point where I could hear it over the…
The CRASH Course to Success — Part 5: Hunger
This article focuses on the fifth and final portion of my CRASH concept. CRASH is an acronym that stands for “commitment, relationships, attitude, skill, and hunger.” These five global topics can be used by anyone to attract success to his…
The CRASH Course to Success Part 4: Skill
This month we focus on the fourth part of our CRASH concept for success. For those of you who have not been following this series, CRASH is an acronym that stands for “commitment, relationships, attitude, skill, and hunger.” These are…
Maximize Your Practicing — Get the Most From Whatever Time You Have
It seems that now more than ever we live in a world where it’s a challenge to find the time to do anything outside our daily responsibilities. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN
Inner Drumming — Listening With All Limbs, Part 3
In parts one and two of this series (April and June 2012), we worked with one, two, and three limbs. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN
The CRASH Course to Success Part 3: Attitude
This article focuses on the third portion of my CRASH concept (“commitment, relationships, attitude, skill, hunger”) for attracting success to your drumming career—and that’s attitude. Attitude is everything in life. It will make or break just about anyone on any…
Inner Drumming Listening With All Four Limbs, Part 2
In my previous article (April 2012), I explained the concept of listening—or sounding—with each individual limb and the importance of practicing increased internal awareness of the energy flow from limb to limb. The exercises started by focusing on one limb…
