Drum Channel Archives - Modern Drummer Magazine

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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.

Pat Petrillo Groove Breakdowns

Pat Petrillo breaks down some important Roots Grooves that every drummer drummer know. EARL PALMER GROOVE: The great Earl Palmer is one of my favorite drummers. He influenced an entire generation of drummers from Ringo all the way up to…

By Pat Petrillo
Jan 31, 2023

Chad Smith’s Red Hot Chili Peppers Audition

I grew up in Detroit and moved out to California in August of 1988. Through a friend of a friend, I got the audition with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. My friend knew a girl who was dating John Frusciante.…

By Chad Smith
Mar 31, 2022

Breaking Down “Lightning in a Bottle”

When I start the Summer Set’s “Lightning in a Bottle,” I like using the rim. In the recording, it sounds like there’s a hi-hat, but when I play it live, I change it up. I like to add ghost notes…

By Jess Bowen
Feb 1, 2022

Creating Hooks

How should drums fit into a song, and how can you make the drums become another hook within a song? When you think about the word “hook,” it’s something you get hooked on that you want to have over and…

By Stephen Perkins
Dec 17, 2021

Chad and Charlie

In 2018, Charlie Watts made an appearance on Drum Channel’s The Chad Smith Show. To celebrate Watt’s imprint and impact on drumming, we are currently offering the complete interview for free at drumchannel.com, but here are a few tidbits from…

Oct 29, 2021

Authentic Latin Rhythms

Listening implants music in a person at a very early age. Listening is accepting all different genres of music—from ethnic to jazz, rock, classical, Latin, African, and everything else. This is when we really begin to understand the different essences…

By Alex Acuña
Sep 30, 2021

Funky Shuffles

Music has changed a lot, but it’s important to see where the shuffle evolved from, because it really has a lot to do with all of the other rhythms that you play. For example, when I was playing “Kissing my…

By James Gadson
Aug 31, 2021

Introduction to Jazz

Here are a couple of exercises from my Drum Channel course, Introduction to Jazz. There are many different ways to play jazz, just as there are for playing rock, Dixieland, songo, samba, or reggae. One of the things I built…

By Gregg Bissonette
Jul 20, 2021

Six-Way Independence

In my “Six-Way Independence” master class on Drum Channel, I wanted to give my students the opportunity to learn the way I learned, and how I came up with my concepts. I started thinking about all of the combinations I…

By Marco Minnemann, Presented by Drum Channel
Jun 18, 2021

Applying Musical Concepts to the Drumset

In order to take what you are practicing and apply it musically to the drumset, you have to develop facility, technique, and independence first. Then, you can transition to playing more freely—almost like a stream-of-consciousness, “beatnik” approach. You have to…

Mar 26, 2021