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 talking about a subject that drummers might not think is very important, Roman Numerals and the Circle of 5ths.. Last month we introduced and discussed form and structure. It is essential for drummers to know what the form and structure is for any song or music they are playing. However, the form and structure are only templates that contain important information. The information that is contained within those templates […]

April 2024 Issue