Education Team Members
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.
Jim Payne
Jim Payne has performed with Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, Michael Brecker, and Dave Liebman, as well as with his own group, the Jim Payne Band. A respected historian of funk and R&B drumming, Payne has authored several…
Bill Bachman
Bill Bachman is a world-renowned specialist in hand technique with a heavy background in rudimental drumming and its application to the drumset. Bachman is a regular contributing columnist for Modern Drummer magazine, author of the book Stick Technique: An Essential…
Claus Hessler
Claus Hessler currently teaches at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt, Germany, and he is a professor at Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea. He’s an active clinician in Europe, Asia, and the United State, having appeared…
David Stanoch
David Stanoch has performed with jazz greats Doc Severinsen, Richard Davis, Herb Ellis, Jack McDuff, Stanley Jordan, and Ben Sidran; pop and R&B artists Sheryl Crow, George Clinton, Freedy Johnston, Bonnie Raitt, Butch Vig, New Kids on the Block, and Mary Wilson; the…
Florian Alexandru-Zorn
Florian Alexandru-Zorn’s book The Complete Guide to Playing Brushes, published by Alfred, received a five-star review from Modern Drummer. As a clinician, Florian has presented at various events across Europe and the United States, including a master class at PASIC…
Joe Bergamini
Joe Bergamini is currently the senior drum editor for Hudson Music, where he oversees book projects and acts as an associate producer on various DVD productions. He is the co-author of Pedal Control and It’s Your Move with Dom Famularo,…
Jeff Salem
Jeff Salem is an internationally recognized drummer/educator based in Toronto, Canada. He has performed and recorded with the rock bands Fist, Sword, and Saints & Sinners; solo acts Lee Aaron, Randy Bachman, Robben Ford, and 2004 Canadian Idol winner Kalan…
Jason Gianni
Jason Gianni is a full-time faculty member at Drummers Collective in New York City. He co-authored The Drummer’s Bible with Mick Berry, which is a guide to mastering various drumming styles, and he has recorded television and radio commercials for Toyota, Discover, McDonald’s, Showtime, and…
Donny Gruendler
Donny Gruendler has played behind such artists as Kenny Burrell, John Medeski, D.J. Logic, the Funk Brothers, and Rhett Frazier Inc. He has composed and/or played on jingles for Axe Body Spray, RE/MAX on the Boulevard, and NPR. His film/TV…
Mike Johnston
Online educator and clinician Mike Johnston began playing drums at the age of five, and he studied privately with some of the greatest educators of our time, including Peter Magadini and Steve Ferrone. At the age of twenty-one, Mike received…
George Marsh
George Marsh is a San Francisco-based jazz drummer/composer currently playing with the David Grisman Sextet. He’s recorded with John Abercrombie, Terry Riley, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Pauline Oliveros, Denny Zeitlin, Maria Muldaur, and others. Marsh teaches at the University of…
Mike Sorrentino
Mike Sorrentino has performed with Joe Lynn Turner, Zebra, Ritchie Blackmore, Allan Toussaint, Mary Wilson, and James Fox, and in Broadway productions of Movin’ Out, Grease, and In the Heights. Sorrentino also played on the Movin’ Out international tour, and…
Chuck Silverman
Chuck Silverman is one of the world’s leading exponents of Cuban and Brazilian drumming, and he recently produced an e-Book and video documenting the snare drum techniques of legendary teachers Murray Spivack and Richard Wilson. Silverman also released the instructional…
Jim Riley
Jim is the drummer and bandleader for multi-platinum group Rascal Flatts. His recording credits include Rascal Flatts’ multi-platinum disc Me and My Gang, EA Sports’ Madden NFL 11, Brian McKnight’s Ten, and a track on the soundtrack to Hannah Montana:…
