Modern Drummer founder Ron Spagnardi wrote an excellent book called Understanding the Language of Music, a Drummer’s Guide to Theory and Harmony. This book spells out the basics of theory and harmony in a very easy to understand way. It is a fantastic book for drummers looking to learn about the language of music beyond drumming. We are honored to reprint the parts of Ron’s book here in Modern Drummer for everyone to read and learn. This month we will be learning about Chord Alterations. This is what it is called when we slightly alter or change (sharp or flat) some of the notes within the chord to create more (or different) musical color and tonal variations within the chord patterns and progressions within the music.

December 2024 Issue