A Four-Step Process to Discovering New Grooves In this article I’ll show you how sticking patterns can be applied to the drumset to create various grooves. Each groove is built from the ground up, progressing through four easy-to-understand steps. The first step is to learn the basic sticking pattern by itself. This is the building block for the final groove. The second step is to apply accents to the sticking pattern. (I recommend practicing the first two steps on a practice pad.) Don’t concern yourself with playing these patterns at lightning speeds. Try to play them at tempos that feel comfortable, and focus on making them groove. Once you’ve mastered the first two steps, you can move on to the third, which incorporates the bass drum. The final step is to apply the accented sticking pattern and the bass drum part to the drumset. Our first groove is based on […]

January 2012 Issue