May 2021 – Volume 45 • Number 5

Brooke Colucci - The Drumming Prodigy Powers Plus

Who cares? That’s my attitude about Plush. Who cares that it’s an all-female band? Who cares that none of the band members are even 21 years old yet? Who cares that they have become social-media darlings, and who cares the…

Corey Coverstone - Dirty Honey Beats the Odds

So-called media pundits can blather on and on about rock music being dead, but all a true believer needs to do to put the lie to such talk is bring up Dirty Honey. This is a rock band that didn’t…

May 2021 - Volume 45 • Number 5

Denny Seiwell - Revisiting a Classic

Denny Seiwell became Paul McCartney’s first post-Beatles choice as his drummer when he was brought into the sessions for Paul and Linda McCartney’s Ram album in 1970 and ‘71. Soon thereafter, Seiwell was invited to join the McCartney’s new project,…

Fanny Hill, Fanny 1972

Fanny became the first all-female rock band to release an album on a major label when mega-producer Richard Perry signed the act to Reprise in 1969. Often missed is the other culture-changing element of Fanny—that, with Philippines-born sisters June (guitar)…

Doc Sweeney Drums - Legend Series M22 Drumset

A divine steam-bent beech setup that’ll make you want to retire your vintage kit for good. In case you haven’t been paying attention, Doc Sweeney Drums is straight killing it with its creative, innovative, and inspiring approach to the solid-shell…

Endurance Exercises

Balance Your Left and Right Hands! The purpose of this exercise is to strengthen each hand individually in order to achieve a balance between the two. For the right-handed drummer, the left hand is the weaker hand, and vice versa.…

Who Is Your Favorite Post-Beatles Drummer on Any Former Beatle’s Solo Albums?

Apparently, the Modern Drummer community loves their post-Beatles drummers. When we reached out on our Facebook page to query you about your favorite drummers on the solo albums of Paul, John, George, and Ringo, we received quite a flurry of…

How a Dave Weckl Performance Changed My Life

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Dave Weckl play the drums. At the time, I had heard Dave on records, but had never seen him play live or on TV. One fateful day, I happened to have the…

The Importance of Writing Notation

We have all heard that it’s very beneficial for drummers to learn how to read music. I completely agree. For me, it was one of the many game changers for my drumming. Learning to understand basic notation gave me the…

Donn Bennett’s Drum Vault

The Paul “Jamo” Jamieson Collection The Rolling Stones rented this vintage Gretsch set for its 1997 “Saint of Me” video shoot. It’s almost impossible to talk about drums in Los Angeles without Paul Jamieson’s name coming up. “Jamo”—as he is…

Developing Speed Naturally

Almost all young drummers attempt to see how fast they can play at some point. This is a natural stage of development. It is sort of like flexing your muscles just to see how strong you are. Technique is needed…

Realistic Reggae Rock, Part II

Awesome Drum Fill Ideas for Irie Playing In the April issue, we kicked off your journey through Carmine Appice’s Realistic Reggae Rock with a session on hi-hat patterns. This month, Carmine unveils some cool and authentic reggae fills. Dig in!…

Yamaha - DTX6K3-X Electronic Drumset

A simple, powerful, and compact solution to keep you playingwhen acoustic drums aren’t an option. Yamaha makes great gear. Period. When it comes to drums—specifically electronics—the company always succeeds in delivering high-quality products to keep you inspired to practice and…

Thommy Price

Rock and Roll Hitmaker Brooklyn, New York’s Thommy Price has spent the large majority of his career playing and touring with a diverse array of iconic bands and artists. His four-decade career spans countless gigs and recordings from Mink DeVille…

Foundational Brush Technique

When I first started playing brushes, I copied what I heard on recordings, and what people like Joe Morello were doing. When Joe came to town, I would get as close as I could to watch how he played brushes.…

Rogers Drums, January 1977

It seems fitting that two far-reaching events were marked by the inaugural January 1977 issue of Modern Drummer: the beginning of MD’s now 45-year reign as the foremost publication for drums and drummers, and an advertisement—our only full-page advertiser at…

10 Pieces of Wisdom from the MD Archives

In its 45 years of publication, Modern Drummer has collected essential data from thousands of remarkable drummers, percussionists, and educators. Throughout our 45th anniversary in 2021, we will offer some features that celebrate the musicians, editors, writers, and photographers who…

Sly Dunbar

Modern Drummer, April 1985 Certain people expect me to shine all the time, but artists can’t be at their best every day. No one is perfect. If a song is a good song, it’s much easier for me to play…

True Colors

Kenny Kuzniar Designs Kit to Celebrate His 30th Anniversary of Drumming Kenny Kuzniar did a bit more than throw a party to mark his 30th year of playing drums. Instead, the Saskatchewan, Canada, drummer worked with Dustin Drummond of Drummond…