January 2015 Issue – Volume 40 • Number 1

Basics - Radio Beats by Rich Redmond

Basics Radio Beats 7 Real-World Applications of Essential, Time-Honored Grooves by Rich Redmond In this month’s article we’ll take a look at some popular grooves on country radio right now. All of them are variations of what I call “money…

The Commandments of the Half-Time Shuffle by Zoro

In The Pocket The Commandments of the Half-Time Shuffle Part 3: 10 Classic Tracks Welcome to the final installment of my three-part series on the half-time shuffle. I thought it would be fitting to end with some transcriptions of a…

Catching Up With... Godsmack's Shannon Larkin

The massive success of Godsmack’s 2010 comeback album, The Oracle, kept the band on the road for nearly two years and produced the tour document Live & Inspired, which includes a four-song bonus disc of classic-rock covers. The band members…

Strictly Technique - Consecutive Flams

Strictly Technique Consecutive Flams Part 2: Adjacent In part two of this series, we’re going to take out the taps between the flams so that the flams are adjacent. When you do that, the challenge becomes playing the consecutive flams…

Encore: Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Encore Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road No matter how far out the pianist/singer takes things on this classic double album bursting with fresh ideas, drummer Nigel Olsson adds just the right touch. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)Funeral for a…

On The Cover - Dave Weckl

Photo taken at the Catalina Bar and Grill in Hollywood on 08/19/14. Dave Weckl For more than thirty years, his drumming has been put under a microscope so often that it might as well be given its own genus and…

Samba Songo

Around The World Samba Songo Hybrid Grooves Blending Classic Brazilian and Afro-Cuban Patterns The Afro-Cuban songo rhythm was created in the 1970s by the Cuban band Los Van Van and its drummer/percussionist José Luis Quintana, aka Changuito. After many years…

Catching Up With... Lady Antebellum's Chris Tyrrell

After twenty years as a pro drummer, Lady Antebellum’s Chris Tyrrell has developed a certain worldview. “My strengths revolve around my desire for each song to feel good,” he says, “so my philosophy is that I want to be felt,…

Solid Soloing, Part 2: Changing Note Rates

Drum Soloist Solid Soloing Part 2: Changing Note Rates In this miniseries we’re utilizing my “glue” method to gain freedom and flow while soloing. In the first installment we discussed how to connect two ideas without hesitation, using a specific…

Devin Townsend's Ryan Van Poederooyrn

No one’s ever going to accuse Devin Townsend of being a slacker, and you can be damn sure the metal icon’s collaborators work their fingers to the bone just trying to keep up. That goes double for DT’s go-to drummer,…

January 2015 Issue – Volume 40 • Number 1

Up & Coming: Bryan Carter

He’s been tearing it up in New York and well beyond with some bona fide legends of jazz. But he knows as much as anyone that the learning never stops. It can be frustrating for gigging musicians to hear of…

Concepts - Where's the Art?

Thoughts on the Current State of Affairs Photo by Miguel Monroy I thought I would throw myself right into the fire for the New Year with a heated topic. I’ve experienced a lot of discussion regarding the artistry in music…

Sebastien Grainger

Feature Sebastien Grainger Death From Above 1979 made a bold statement with its 2004 debut full-length, You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine. Drummer Sebastien Grainger and bassist Jesse Keeler created a unique sound together that was bigger than most would…

Bebop Pioneer Stan Levey

Jazz Drummer's Workshop Bebop Pioneer Stan Levey Style and Analysis The great bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie affectionately referred to Stan Levey as the “original original.” The two met in Philadelphia in the early 1940s, a time when many jazz musicians…