This month Modern Drummer is glad to welcome Marc Atkinson. Marc’s transcription of Vinnie Colaiuta’s drumming on Frank Zappa’s “The Deathless Horsie” will astound you and leave you laughing and bewildered. Marc’s precision, attention to detail, and his ability to recognize and notate Vinnie’s rhythmic vocabulary is amazing. But don’t just shake your head in sheer amazement of Vinnie’s audacious playing and just turn the page.  Reading a transcription is only “part” of the learning process. Fortunately, in the case of “The Deathless Horsie” Marc has already done that first part for us. After your amazement has subsided, use your ears, your eyes, and your limbs to start playing what you just read and heard. Start slow, maybe just conquer one bar or one phrase a day. Before you know it, those phrases will become pages, and those pages will become solos. And they ALL become ideas and vocabulary. We […]

November 2023 Issue