Grooves
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.
Hi-Hat Accents - Adding Melody to Your Grooves
In this lesson we’ll embellish 16th-note grooves with hi-hat accents. In Exercises 1–4, accents are placed on the main hi-hat in the first measure, and in the second measure the right-handed accents are moved to the ride or an auxiliary…
Groove Construction - Part 13: Left-Handed Split Grooves
In this workshop we’re expanding a groove concept that I introduced in the January 2017 issue, in which we split the right hand between two voices in various places throughout a phrase. This time we’ll focus on grooves that split…
Necessary Ruffness - Make Your Grooves Percolate With Subtle Doubles
Basics Necessary Ruffness Make Your Grooves Percolate With Subtle Doubles by Rich Redmond The ruff is an essential rudiment that’s directly related to the double-stroke roll, or buzz roll. The ruff can be played open, as we have it here,…
Progressive Drumming Essentials - Part 5: Incorporating Odd Groups Into Grooves and Fills
One of my favorite things to do with quintuplets and septuplets is to create syncopated, angular-sounding grooves. Exploring this unusual territory can lend itself to establishing unique feels with a lot of rhythmic tension. TO READ THE FULL STORY: LOG…
Falling Rocks - A Primer on One of Drumming's Most Powerful Fills
The term “falling rocks” refers to a very powerful fill concept made famous by legendary rockers like Carmine and Vinny Appice, John Bonham, Cozy Powell, and Tommy Aldridge, and it’s often used by contemporary metal, prog, and fusion drummers. TO…
"The Brain Dance" - Matt Garstka's Quintuplet Groove
Few drummers generate the sheer amount of excitement and enthusiasm within the drum community as Matt Garstka. Whether it’s through his incredible display of solo chops or his mind-bending compositions with Animals as Leaders, Garstka continues to push the edge…
Groove Construction, Part 10: Exploring a Killer Cowbell Pattern
In this lesson we’ll examine a pattern that I get asked about often. I recorded this groove on the song “Rave Against the Machine” with Jan Delay and Disko No. 1 in Germany some time ago... TO READ THE FULL…
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…
Stickings That Rock, Part 1: From A Hand Pattern to a Groove
This month we’ll look at a sticking that can be found in the first few pages of George Lawrence Stones’ book Stick Control and apply it to patterns on the drumset. The sticking, RLRR LRRL, is a staple of my…
