DRUM INSTRUCTION DVD & BOOK REVIEWS

[NUTHA JASON]

the idea is that we professionally review the dvds or videos in our collections. like on Amazon.com. So please use the following headings and rating system.

headings:

NAME:
(full name of the DVD/Video)
STAR RATING:
(see below)
WORDED RATING:
(a verbal description to back yuor feelings of the pieces's worth)
TARGET AUDIENCE:
(who is it intended for? beginners? advanced? jazz muso's only? etc)
PUBLISHED BY:
(so that the rest of us can track it down and buy it)
DESCRIPTION:
(please be precise and detailed here. what is covered? how does the artist carry off as a teacher? highlights? etc.


star rating system:

# # # # # #
exceptional (deserves to be called one of the top 20 instructional works of all time)

# # # # #
excellent (instructive and well put together. thoughtful and thorough)

# # # #
good

# # #
average (has an equal number of good and bad points)

# #
below average (could have been done better)

#
poor (don't spend time or money on it)


i will post up an example of this in a while.
j

[NUTHA JASON]

NAME:
CHAD SMITH: RED HOT RHYTHM METHOD
STAR RATING:
# # # #
WORDED RATING:
Hilarious and visually educating.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
funk drummers of all levels. inspirational for beginners and very informative for intermediate players.
PUBLISHED BY:
Warner Bros
DESCRIPTION:
a different instruction DVD. not serious until the actual playing starts. then its very hard driven and musical punk. Chad is a larger then life character and flea sits in and shows that he is a top bass guitarist. nice descriptions of grace notes and the half time shuffle here. chad has a great single bass drum technique but he doesn't really explain it. though there is a foot camera so if you watch carefully you can learn a lot. he clearly is a big bonzo fan. he does a nice bit on his tom tuning technique ... which is as unscientific as they come but still cool. this guy knows how to groove. his beats are huge and exciting. actually i have discovered a kindred spirit in this DVD. Chad is a slightly more advanced version of me. his approach, tools and jamming technique are similar to mine.

so its a DVD with some of the top chilli peppers songs and some joking but over all very inspirational.

[lowender]

This is a great idea...

NAME:
BRAIN'S LESSONS - Shredding Repi's on the Gnar Gnar Rad
STAR RATING:
# # # #
WORDED RATING:
Alternative instruction from an excellent drummer. Highly Recommended.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
drummers of all levels - particularly funk style
PUBLISHED BY:
Warner Bros
DESCRIPTION:
Ex Primus Drummer Brain (Brian Mantia) breaks down Go-Go and funk beats, covers 13 different ostinato patterns for the right hand (as well as some independence ideas over them) and covers the up/down stick technique. Also featured is Brain taking a solo using baguette's instead of drumsticks (and still showing everyone who's boss), roof top drumming sporting nothing more than a pair of underpants and a cigar and some first class funk work.
I've watched this DVD about 10 times since I bought it a few months back and am inspired everytime I watch it. Its a bit quirky in the way its shot and there is a heavy fun element throughout as opposed to a lot of the 'straighter' DVD's out there but I would recommend this dvd to anyone with even a slight interest in funky style drumming. Brain is an excellent technician also, just check out the section on the double stroke role if you need this confirming!
The only reason I haven't given it the full 5 is because the dude who posted the thread seems to be reserving full scores for "top 20" DVD's (which is fair enough) and although this would definitely be in mine not everyone may fully appreciate a quirky hour or so of funk drumming and general tomfoolery (which I definitely do), over say Steve Smith's 2 discs of 5 and a half hours of technique and history, I say both have there places (and both are in my DVD collection).
Extra bits are some clinic footage with some Q&A, the inclusion of a small book/manual describing the up/down technique further and written versions of the ostinatos and Brain's interactive drumkit.
Overall an excellent DVD that I would highly recommend.

[cpdrumming]

NAME:
Drumming Technique/History of the U.S. Beat
STAR RATING:
#####
WORDED RATING
The most comprehensive compalation on the drumset and the way has been played and has evolved since it's inception.
TARGET AUDIENCE
All levels and styles.
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Music
DESCRIPTION:
History of the U.S. Beat: Disc One.
We all need the lessons that are taught by Steve on this ultra informative DVD.
I have never seen such a great tutorial on how the drumset and all it's variations came about. Steve has done his homework on this one, from early Neworleans jazz, to gospel, the Beatles, Bonham and More modern applications such as Jazz/Rock. All displayed by Vital Information in a great set of music at the end of disc two. If your a serious student of the instrument you need this DVD set.

Drumset Technique: Disc Two
Practical application of many techniques on the drumset for all styles of music. Detailed breakdown of Moeller hand technique and practice methods. Also great foot technique lesson taught to Steve by Freddie Gruber. Superb audio and video quality thruout all exampels and performance footage. I have watched this DVD countless times since my wife bought it for me two years ago and I always learn something.

Put into words Steve Smith is a modern master on the Drums set and is here to encourage you to practice, practice, practice and reap the rewards.

[jangus]

^^^^
I've been looking for this one.

How about some Joe Morello DVDs?

[Stu_Strib]

Steve Smith's video is more of a documentary than an instructional dvd. He explains a lot of stuff, but there are no excercizes or play alongs or anything like that. I own it simply to watch one of the three best drummers alive play the kit. I also like Vital Information a lot, so you get to see Frank and Baron and the guys a bit too.

[liquidrhythm]

I've been on an instructional drumming video binge ever since I found out you can rent some of these through Netflix.....I'll review a few that I've seen in the last couple weeks.

NAME:
Dave Weckl: Back to Basics

STAR RATING:
# # # # #

WORDED RATING:
This DVD is great. He can really explain things in a simple way.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Great DVD for beginners and intermediate players who need to refresh their techniques.

PUBLISHED BY:
Warner Bros

DESCRIPTION:
Great DVD that shows where Weckl was at 15 years ago. He covers his tuning techniques and kit positioning, hand technique and foot technique, rudiments, and many other things. He also discusses how having a positive attidtude is just as important as how well you play in a working situation. I would highly reccomend this one.

[liquidrhythm]

NAME:
Marco Minnemann: Extreme Drumming

STAR RATING:
# # # # #

WORDED RATING:
Intermediate to Advanced. (5.1 Surround Sound) Great camera work.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Intermediate to Advanced players. This one is going to frustrate you if you don't already have a strong foundation to work from. Rock/Fusion/Jazz/Electronic

PUBLISHED BY:
Warner Bros

DESCRIPTION:
Over 4 hours! Ok....this DVD is mostly Minnemann performing about a dozen of his songs, and then breaking them down so that the viewer can get an idea what he's doing, but does get to some technique instruction. He covers finger control/Moeller technique, foot technique (exeptional coverage of multiple instruments using left foot/multiple footboards), phrasing ideas, complete independence (each limb playing completely different time signatures), pratice tips, song structure and the list goes on. Also includes mp3 downloads and a 15 page PDF booklet with exercises and drumcharts.

[liquidrhythm]

NAME:
Steve Gadd: In Session

STAR RATING:
# #

WORDED RATING:
Boring, lame and a waste of $$$$$

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Beginner players may (and I stress MAY) get something from this DVD, but definately NOT for seasoned drummers.

PUBLISHED BY:
Warner Bros

DESCRIPTION:
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.......................... .................................................. ............Gadd playing/jamming in the studio with some buddies, and some occasional voice-overs. The dude literally looks like he's totally stoned on some smack or something. Not reccomended. He may be a really great drummer to many, but this DVD suxass!

[NUTHA JASON]

i also have this DVD and completely agree. i was soooooo disappointed. just glad that i got it second hand and cheap.

j

[groovesticks]

Wow thank you! I just thought about buying this one yesterday.
Maybe someone saw the "Dennis chambers in the pocket" dvd and can tell if it's worth buying?

[Sticktrick]

NAME: Thomas Lang: Creative Control


STAR RATING: # # # or # # # # or # # # # # depending on what you expect


WORDED RATING: Very well done, interesting topics, but overall too many things that are not interesting for 90% of all drummers (Multi Pedal Orchestrations, Twin Effect...).


TARGET AUDIENCE: Everybody who wants to get really frustrated or likes LONG Drumsolos. Seriously: VERY far advanced drummers who need to get some new ideas or everybody else who wants to see "how its done".


PUBLISHED BY: Hudson Music


DESCRIPTION: This double DVD by drumming super hero Thomas Lang comes along with many usefull PDF Files and even some Files that can be Looped in order to play along with them. It is not his first DVD and therefore wasn´t made for beginners - everything that is coverd is pretty far advanced and takes a long time to practise. For people who want to get a detailed description of what Thomas does, this DVD is perfect. Sadly, there is also a lot of stuff that is completely nonsense since it only displays, what Thomas is capabale of doing on the set. I find this pretty pointless, also because drummers who are on a level on which they are able to perform this kind of stuff, they actually don´t need this DVD any more. I saw a clinic with Thomas on which he didn´t solo and only talked about timing and groove. That was absoultely brilliant - maybe that was what I expected from ths DVD and sadly it doesn´t deliver this.
I also don´t like the songs he plays and neither do I like his solo in the end. It is just very much showing off (and i guess everybody knows allready what a great player Thomas is...)

On the positive side, there is a wonderfull chapter on Sticktricks and Showmanship - the best I have ever seen. It is amazing and helpfull, since this stuff is pretty basic and can be applied by many drummers in their own way. Also Thomas is a very charismatic and nice person and it is fun to listen to him talk with that funny accent like Schwarzenegger.

A nice DVD, very well produced with a little too much unnecassary showing off stuff.

[sabian_aax]

NAME:
john blackwell (grooving,technique,showmanship)
STAR RATING:
# # # #
WORDED RATING:
its funky! :)
TARGET AUDIENCE:
beginners and intermediate level
PUBLISHED BY:
hudson music
DESCRIPTION:
he shows and describes his hand and foot technique(single)he has an amazing speed with single peds,he describes what he practice, and he also talks about his influences and heroes from funk,jazz etc, he also demonstrate some rnb grooves, lots of funky stuff :), and he also talks about grooving with a bass guitar,t heres also a performance here where he have a duet with his father :D, and he also talks about his soloing ideas, twirling technique, shuffles etc etc, sorry im not that good in describing or reviewing dvds, and excuse me if my grammar is not perfect :P.

[Anduin]

NAME: Thomas Lang: Creative Control


STAR RATING: # # # # #

Sure, Lang goes overboard on some sections, and, sure, part of the DVD is a thinly-veiled advert for a pedal, but the diamonds far outweigh the coal in this package.

Here's a couple of points from Creative Control that I found quite useful, but you're likely to miss them because he just tosses them at you very quickly.

1) Lean forward when you're playing, not back. That way everything is closer to your shoulders and you'll have less of a reach. The result, as I see it, is that you'll use smaller muscle groups which in turn will let you play faster with less effort. Leaning forward reduces arm motion and concentrates the work in your wrists and fingers.

2) When possible, practise multiple things at the same time. That means, for instance, when you're practicing double-strokes, move them around the kit and play them at different volumes. So you're practicing not only doubles, but also movement between drums and dynamics. Special this week only! Three-for-one practise deal!

I highly recommend this double-disc set.

[Sticktrick]

You are right on these two points. But to me that is just not enough - and both things I knew allready years ago because I was lucky having very good teachers. You can also say this in two sentences, like you did. You don´t need a double DVD for that.

What I want to say with my review is, that too much time is wasted for useless stuff and showing off. I don´t like that. But as I also said in my review I think Lang is great and many things on the DVD are very cool. It is just that I personally was very disappointed because I saw him in one clinic that was very different from this DVD and much better.

Lang is a master of the drums and an almost unlimted source of information and wisdom. Get the other DVDs of him, they are more usefull for most of the people. If you like to see cutting edge drumming (although with not that much musical value imho) - get this DVD.

Cheers!

[medeskisoul]

Wow thank you! I just thought about buying this one yesterday.
Maybe someone saw the "Dennis chambers in the pocket" dvd and can tell if it's worth buying?


YES! YES! YES!!

man he kills on that video. One of my first videos I purchased years ago and I still never get tired of it. Not much for instruction but he does document his career to date, his playing is amazing and VERY inspiring to say the least.

Plus he jams with Scofield. Oh man I could go on and on for hours about this video. One thing though, he is such a phenominal(sp?) player that it took me years to get all that he was doing.

[ale52]

NAME:
Bobby Jarzombek / “Performance & Technique”

STAR RATING:
####

WORDED RATING:
Bobby’s playing is exemplary. His technique is flawless. His taste is well deserved.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Intermediate to advanced

PUBLISHED BY:
Warner Brothers

DESCRIPTION:

• Bobby’s 3 showcased songs are great with lots of intricate moves and tasty playing. The down side is you only get a glimpse of his double-bass wizardry. He does some really nice syncopated bass drums riffs that I’d like to see.
• The exercises he lays out are good ones to work on 4-way coordination and 2-way [between hands and feet] coordination.
• He does a nice explanation of “stick twirling” and how to. What I really liked was him pointing out when not to do the showy stuff.
• He demonstrates some nice “showy” stick twirling in a solo [that and his incredible double-bass playing seem to be his forte]
• You get some “extras” like him in the studio [so-so], buying Paste cymbals [another so-so] and preparing his kit for a show [if you’ve done it once, you’ve done it a thousand times]

I very much liked his humble attitude. He is a very likeable and extremely talented guy. I hope his next video will focus more on his double-bass technique, which is not just mindless 64th notes like a machine-gun, but rather excellently timed and executed.

[the gayge]

If I've missed a thread about this I'm sorry to be redundant, but i just got a copy of the Drumset Technique/History of the U.S. Beat DVD. It's incredible. Super informative, excellent playing, fantastic technique tips, just an overall great package. Also, just as a bonus, his gear is gorgeous and sounds unbelievable. When he's going through the history of the U.S. beat portion he's playing a beautiful vintage kit with a legit black beauty and it seriously sounds too good to be true.

I would love to hear what you guys think about it.

[aahznightsky]

To me truthfully I feel that this dvd didn't have enough. As far as the second disk, all he went over was typical rhythms that you can learn just by listening to music from those periods. Plus the actual people playing on those recordings had more feeling (more swing n funk) in it too. On the first disk, he goes through basic techniques (moeller for hands and feet), and a small amount of coordination, but virtually no soloing ideas, licks, or anything. I think the technique aspect is always important on any dvd, but I want so much more. Im looking towards getting the carter beauford dvd and/or the tony royster jr. .....

[DottedQuarters]

If nothing else it was an exercise for the left side of the mind. His concept of Big Time, layering as many rhythms as possible (i.e.-click your teeth, tap your heel, sing your own little melody, etc.) despite the mics not hearing it just so it feels as good as possible to your bandmates was interesting. He presents so many little nuances to spark creativity...don't expect much instruction for technicality, but you can't help buy get inspired by it!

[finnhiggins]

To me truthfully I feel that this dvd didn't have enough. As far as the second disk, all he went over was typical rhythms that you can learn just by listening to music from those periods. Plus the actual people playing on those recordings had more feeling (more swing n funk) in it too.

This bothered me too. Very little in most of the styles beyond the cliche, and worse yet as soon as he hit the 1960s or so he just went "... and amazingly, my band Vital Information plays all of this music from then to now! Hey, let's watch us play 80s fusion!". As if every style that has emerged since the 60s (which arguably was the beginning of some of the richest drumset material we have available to us today) is just to be considered a preamble to contemporary fusion and not worthy of independent discussion.

I didn't really rate that DVD beyond the technical aspects, to be honest.

[mandion]

NAME:
Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials

STAR RATING:
#####

WORDED RATING:
Very interesting and useful.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Advanced beginner to advanced

PUBLISHED BY:
Vic Firth

DESCRIPTION:
Tommy breaks down and demonstrates "47 grooves every serious drummer should know," in styles including rock, jazz, R&B, funk, latin, world, New Orleans 2nd line, etc. Then, for each, there are 2 tracks to play along with - slow and fast. There's so much variety on this DVD that I think anyone could learn something from it. But, it is an overview of lots of styles, so if you're looking to get really deep into any one style, this is not for you.

For me (probably intermediate level), I breezed through the first several grooves, but have found many that challenge me enough that it takes a week or more to really get down. And I've taken many ideas for techniques and styles I want to expand on. I think Tommy is a great teacher who breaks down each beat to its essential parts and makes it relatively easy to learn. Plus the poster it comes with has each beat notated, which really helps me.

For a beginner, I think many of the beats would be easier to learn if he started with simpler, similar beats that built up to the groove. I've had to make up exercises myself to help with some of the more complicated grooves. I've also heard this video criticized for not expanding enough on the grooves, but Tommy does "take liberties" with the grooves in the play along section, and again, if you're looking for depth in any area, this is not for you.

To summarize, for anyone looking to expand their playing or to experiment with different styles, this is a great DVD. For anyone looking to learn all about any given style, look elsewhere.

[Sticksman]

NAME:
Creative Control
STAR RATING:
#####
WORDED RATING:
Excellent DVD for those whose future is drums
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Advanced players. About an hour into it I was on the verge of tears (no, not really, but you get the idea). After awhile, the concepts begin to sink in, but it obviously takes time and much attention. Also geared towards those with double bass.
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Music
DESCRIPTION:
This is a double DVD instructional with about five hours worth of advanced hand/foot concepts, most of which are Mr. Lang's own ideas and variations.

It comes with printable PDF files of Thomas' performances, as well as around 100 of his exercises! ACID audio files are also included to allow you to play the tracks (minus drums) on your computer so you can play along to it, which is very cool.

I was particulary impressed with the section on MPOs (Multi Pedal Orchestrations), in which he not only demonstrates how to better coordinate your double bass chops, but also how to play the hi-hat pedal with the ball of your foot while double bassing.Of course, not all of us have two hi-hats but this DVD made me think. He presented some very interesting (and challenging) patterns and orchestrations on how to integrate the hi-hat into double bass for some great rhythms, which opens the door for great sounding and technical grooves and paradiddles. His technique in that area adds a whole new dimension to what would otherwise be basic foot patterns.

Lang also does a section on Twin FX pedals, which I have always been averse to for some reason, but thanks to him am now quite interested in. Some of the patterns and rolls he performs on it are anything but cheating or easy. In fact, ALL of them are anything but easy. He uses it on a Meinl Jamblock, which was pretty cool. When I have $400 or so dollars waiting to be spent, I'll definately keep a Twin FX pedal and a cowbell in mind.

In the first disc, he covers singles, doubles, and combos, which is basically practice and coordination exercises, which are all pretty nifty and helpful. His philosophy in that area is why just practice with your hands when you can practice the same thing with your feet at the same time? After taking this to heart, here's hoping my coordination will improve.

Overall excellent DVD for the advanced among us. And even if you don't consider yourself advanced, this will definately help you there. Yes, some of the concepts demonstrated might be out of the world at first, but just remember to practice the little things at the beginning of the DVD, and in time, you'll work your way up to the heavy stuff. I'm having fun rediscovering the basics anyway, and this DVD helps even in that area with the Singles, Doubles, Combo's section.

Also, I should definately look into buying a second snare...

[sonor_dude]

NAME:
Carter Beauford: Under the table and drumming
STAR RATING:
# # # #
WORDED RATING:
cool, gives a new perspective on how to play.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
drummers who like tricky stuff...and like to use the hi-hat ALOT.
PUBLISHED BY:
Warner Bros
DESCRIPTION:
This DVD is mostly a closer look at some of the dave matthews songs and what Carter is playing in them. He also talks about his influence about playing open-handed and leading with the left hand. I thought this DVD would of been more like an instructional but its not. He doesn't really explain anything, its just mostly him playing and giving you an example.

A little dispointed but its cool to watch and when you buy the DVD theres 2 little booklets that have the sheet music for #41 and satellite and some other cool grooves. After watching this DVD i wanted to hop on the kit and just play like him..his hi-hat work is very impressive. But even if its not the greatest DVD, i would still recommend it for everyone.

[RudimentalDrummer]

NAME: Gregg Bissonette - Musical Drumming in Different Styles

STAR RATING:
# # # # #

WORDED RATING:
Very Eductaional and all -around, really full of insights & practical stuffs that we can be sure to become a better musician. Camera Options: allow us to see him playing above the drums for better visual study...Alternative Edit: 3 band tunes are offered where we can see Gregg's Bass Drum part throughout, Photo Gallery too.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Any Tyes Of Drumers In The World. Gregg explain that a Drummer needs to learn/play and understand the link between different Style of Music to be Creative which will indefintely enhance whatever personal style of playing & prefered music later-on.

PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Music

PRICE OF DVD:
USD49.95
(Indeed Value for Money) ... if you look at the materials provided.. It's a DVD with 2 Disc in a Set and the Duration is 4hrs and 20 minutes. My lessons is USD36 per 45 minutes and that makes this DVD USD208 app for 4hrs 20 minutes ...what more Gregg is my Instructor ....kekekeke


DESCRIPTION:

This DVD showcase Gregg's well rounded stylistic approach to drumming....and as the title goes...The main focus is on becomming a more musical drummer (What we have always talk about in DrummerWorld - GROOVE), and at the same time creating and performing the right drum part for the song.

He also discuss in great details on the topics R&B Funk, Heavy Rock & Pop Rock, Afro-Cuban, Background Vocals, Elvin Jones type small-groove swing, Incorporating Rudiments, Beat Displacement, Incorporating Rudiments, Texas Blues Shuffle, Keeping a positive attitude, cool fill ideas, Playing right part for the song, Big Band Drumming & Articulation, Chopping Wood, Song Forms, Odd Times, The Gigging Drummer, Tony Williams type-fast bebop, playing a musical drum solo, warming up & cooling down, auditioning, studio drumming and many others etc.

I admire and like this guy alot - though I have to admit ... before I got this DVD..I don't know how he looks like or who he is...just know that in DrummerWorld ...there are many who says..he is a good drummer. What I love most besides the insighful info is he is a very nice drummer who gave plenty of CREDITS to other Drummers throughout this DVD -It seems he learn alot from his brotherhood of Drummers

There were 10 Stylistic diverse original songs (and he actually explain & show how it's been played), The Songs are

( 1 ) Marbles
Basic Beat with Ghost Notes and Parradiddles, 777-9311 Beat, Double Parradiddle Phrased As Sextuplets With Bass Drum & Snare, Double Parradiddle With Accented Hi-Hats Done most effectively(very very good).Double Paraddle Accenting every other right hand, Double Paradiddle With Hand To Hand Accents, Basic Beat With 16th Note Displacement, Basic Beat With Displaced 16th Note Upbeats On Hi-Hats, Inverted Pariddiddle Displaced By A 16th NOte, Displacement Ideas At Marbles Tempo.

( 2 ) Submarine
Riding Crash Cymbals,Boogaloo Beat On Floor Tom, Submarine Groove, Left Flams,Flam Fills, Flam Fills With Left Hand Accents, Flam With Dotted 8th Note Fills, Right Hand-Right Foot& Left Hand-Left Foot,snd Right Hand-Left Foot...Lefthand-Right Foot

( 3 ) No Hay Parqued
2-3 Son Clave, 2-3 Rhumba Clave, 3-2 Son Clave, 3-2 Rhumba Clave, 2-3 Rhumba Clave With Cascara, 2-3 Clave With Cascara, 2-3 Rhumba With Bass Drum, Bell Pattern, Bell Pattern With 2-3 Jam Block,Pattern With Timbale Roll(using your snare), Groove With Bass Drum Slow, Groove With Cross Sticks, Timale Solo Played Loosely,

( 4 ) Lum Lum
Lum Lum (A) Section, Lum Lum (B) Section,

( 5 ) Noah's Ark
Take 5 Groove, Noah's Ark (A) Section 7/8 Time, Noah's Ark (B) Section 7/8 Time, Manic Depression Groove 3/4 Time, Led Boots Groove 7/8 Time, Noah's Ark 4/4 Groove,5/4 Time 1-2 1-2-3, 5/4 Time 1-2-3 1-2, 7/4 Time 1-2-3-4 1-2-3, 7/4 Time 1-2-3 1-2-3-4, Bar On Nine 1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2-3, Bar On Nine 1-2-3-4-5 1-2-3-4, Bar On Nine 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4-5

( 6 )Big Band Drumming
8th note Phrase, Long Sound, Fast Tempo Articulation, Big Band Fills, Unison Hands Over Samba Feet, Big Band Articulation, Big Band Medium Swing, Chopping Wood, Bass Drum Before Crash, Big Band "Uptempo Swing",

( 7 ) Train To Willoughby
Train To Willoughby Tom Groove,SEcong Line Groove With Loose Snare, Tom Groove With Tighter Snares, Bo Diddley Type Groove, Chrous Riding Crash Feel

( 8 ) Cloudy Day
Swing Triplet Ride Patterns, Louis Prima BackBeat, Fast Shuffle With Ghost Notes On Snare, Parallel Motion With Both Hands, Fast Shuffle, Dotted 1/4 Note - 8th Note Feel, Shuffle - Pre-empt Snare With Hi-Hat, Shuffle - Up Beat Hi Hat Before Snare, Shout Chorus, Shout Chorus With Ghost Notes In Left Hand And Added HHat (foot), Ruff RRL With Rim Shot, Texas Shuffle With Fill,

( 9 ) Tribute To Tony William
Ride Cymbal - Flat 8th Notes, Gene Krupa "Sing Sing Sing",

( 10 ) Warming Up.


All the above... that I've stipulated are in PDF Files/Format ..... to be printed out for your reference and playing - 60 over pages.

I've learn the most important lesson from Gregg - Be Humble, Learn to Share What We know With Other Fellow Drummers - WE ARE A BROTHERHOOD, A FAMILY OF DRUMMERS ! ... and I know the Joy he had in doing all this. cheers !

[yakbutter]

Hopefully a Mod can sticky this like the DVD thread.

I prefer to buy books as opposed to DVDs because DVDs are sort of hit-ormiss when it comes to actual educational value. For instance, I can be inspired by a video by Terry Bozzio, but not be able to really take that much away from it in terms of practical application.

The sheer volume of books out there is pretty daunting, and I would like this to be the forum in which you drummers out here provide the most useful ones and explanations of why and what style they are applied two.

My contribution is Time Functiong Patterns by Gary Chaffee. I am actually embarrassed that I had never heard of this one in eleven years of playing. For me, this is the Holy Grail of Rock/Jazz coordination, laid out in an excellent fashion and loaded with good practice tips. Especially useful is the explanation of the basics of Linear playing (straight from the guy who invented it.) I can't wait to get the other books in the Patterns series.

[jamndrummer]

My contribution is Time Functiong Patterns by Gary Chaffee. I am actually embarrassed that I had never heard of this one in eleven years of playing. For me, this is the Holy Grail of Rock/Jazz coordination, laid out in an excellent fashion and loaded with good practice tips. Especially useful is the explanation of the basics of Linear playing (straight from the guy who invented it.) I can't wait to get the other books in the Patterns series.
by YAKBUTTER

Yes a very good selection, I have all the books in this series. The knowledge is years worth of material.

[NUTHA JASON]

very nice idea.

so post away under these headings then:

TITLE:
AUTHOR:
PUBLISHER
RATING: (same as for DVDs)
COMMENTS:

[bdub]

Title: Techniques in Interdependence Volume 1
Author: Bryan West
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
About the book: Techniques in Interdependence is about learning how your limbs work together and how they relate to time. Practicing and applying the exercises in this book will help you develop interdependence. More info. at www.bryanwest.com/books.htm (http://www.bryanwest.com/books.htm).

Comments: I'll let the pros speak!

" 'I love this book!' In this day and age when there are so many drum instructional books to choose from, Techniques in Interdependence Volume I is a book that you will actually use. Comprehensive and well conceived, its vast number of patterns and combinations will benefit all levels of students, instructors, and pros, as well as to help identify each player's strengths and weaknesses. And that's crucial, because every drummers style is a combination of both what a drummer can, and cannot play."

-Paul Wertico
(Paul Wertico Trio, Larry Coryell Trio, Pat Metheny Group, Roosevelt University, Northwestern University, Clinician)

"Bryan has created an interdependence version of the George Stone classic 'Stick Control'. Every permutation and combination are outlined in detail which leads the student in the right direction for a step by step understanding and execution of coordination between all limbs."

-Grant Collins
(Australian Drum Master, The Collins/Wardingham Project)

[dasilvs]

TITLE: Alfred's Beginning Drumset Method
AUTHOR: Sandy Feldstain, Dave Black
PUBLISHER: Alfred Publishing Company
RATING: (same as for DVDs): # # # #
COMMENTS: Alfred's Beginning Drumset Method is an innovative and practical approach to playing the drumset. All of the beats and fills presented can be used in a performance situation. The book is divided into two sections - rock and jazz.

In each section students learn the use of hi-hat, ride cymbal, snare drum and base drum technique. Included with this book is a recording demonstrating many of the beats and fills contained in the book. With the help of the recording, the studen tis able to hear each of the beats and fills played while following the music (which you learn how to read and write). The play-along recording also includes corresponding drum charts (two in a rock style, the other in a jazz style), allowing the drummer to have the experience of actually playing with a group.

In my opinion, this is a great book for beginners, as well as intermediate players who need to brush up on technique and tempo. My drum teacher and I literally memorized the entire book. It's worth every penny, and you even get a CD to play along to, as well as learn to read sheet music for the drumset.

[dasilvs]

I don't think anyone's done this one, so here goes...

NAME:
RUSS MILLER - THE DRUMSET CRASH COURSE

STAR RATING:
# # # # #

WORDED RATING:
This DVD is a great package. Not only do you get a chance to learn countless styles, but also a unique and effective learning method that allows you to adapt and conform to virtually any style of music you want to play. Among other things, Russ discusses the genre's history, as well as which parts of the set should be emphasized or "ghosted", depending on the sound. He also teaches you a valuable learning technique called "facility development", where you essentially learn to develop up to four-limb independence with EACH style of music, not just in general terms. For example, in the jazz section, Russ demonstrates a facility development exercise that teaches you how to move around a kit from a jazz drummer's perspective. There are play-alongs as well. Definitely worth buying if you want to expand your knowledge of the drumset and music showmanship!

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Beginner to Professional

PUBLISHED BY:
Russ Miller (himself)

DESCRIPTION:
In this video Russ delivers one of the most informative demonstrations ever on the art of drumming, covering everything from 2-limb independence to advanced 4-limb independence as well as how to master over 18 different styles of music! Historic facts of styles are presented -- the basic grooves, variations, fill and solo development for each style, the mix of instruments on the kit, dynamic studies and hints from Russ on how to play each style more convincingly. This video is the most comprehensive all-in-one drum set learning tool available! This is great as a flagship curriculum for any novice, or as reference material for any professional. Russ gives incredible playing demonstrations, informative descriptions and inspirational performances! The "Drum Set Crash Course Video" is a must have for every student of the drum set. $29.95

[theduke86]

TITLE: Master Studies
AUTHOR: Joe Morello
PUBLISHER: Modern Drummer Publications
RATING: #####
COMMENTS: This is a tremendously well written book for the development of technique. I don't think this is a beginner's book. I would recommend Stick Control by George L. Stone before one dives into this instructional matierial. Seeing as the author (also known as the drummer from Dave Brubeck's quartet as well as many other artists) studied with Mr. Stone in the 30's and 40's, one can see a clear influence from Stick Control on the way this book is written. The book does not discuss actual hand technique, this is more about chops building. The matierial being presented already assumes you have proper grip technique. That may be a flaw for some people, but then again this is more of a book intended for an intermediate to professional level drummer. If you work through this book for a couple months for an hour a day, a new level in chops will definetly happen for you.

[sabian_aax]

TITLE:Rhythm section drumming
AUTHOR:Frank Corniola
PUBLISHER:musictek australia
RATING: #####

COMMENTS:amazing book to develop ur groove in different styles of music,locking in with the bass player, it also has quotes from famous drummers like steve smith,colauita,wackerman,famularo,weckl,donati,cha mbers.

[BboyShifty1]

NAME:
Getting Started on Drums, Featuring Tommy Igoe.
STAR RATING:
#####
WORDED RATING:
Wow, I heard good things about this DVD, but it was much more than I expected. Tommy Igoe is an excellent teacher and puts all his lessons into perspective in each demonstration. I would recommend this video for beginners and intermediate players. For beginners this DVD is a perfect start, and he does not fail to miss any part of the learning process. Being an intermediate player myself, I gained a few ideas and tips for setting up kits and playing. The pace of this video is very smooth and easy to follow. Each lesson is very detailed and is explained very thoroughly. Beginners should buy this at any cost, Intermediate players should own this if they get the chance to, and experts need not apply.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Beginner to Intermediate players (and/or people who haven't owned an acoustic drumset).
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Music
DESCRIPTION:
Tommy Igoe shows his teaching brilliance by introducing the drum set piece by piece. This two hour video is divided into two sections, setting up and playing. The first part goes in-depth of how to set up each part (Assuming the kit came in pieces) and how to tune them and create your setup. He doesn't go too in depth with specific tuning but stresses that drums are mostly preference when it comes to sound. Not only that, he gives slight history stories of drummers. The second part of the video goes into a few basic grooves and fills. He explains the controversal heel up or down topic and a few basic exercises (he doesn't go over rudiments except single strokes). There are three additional jam songs in which his students demonstrate the fills and grooves in the video, but unfortunately include the drum part (if you're looking for a song to jam to with yourself). I found it helpful as I stole some drum fills from some of the players. The ending was completely satisfying as he encouraged the viewer to keep listening to more music and try everything with drums (ex- school band). He ends the DVD with an awesome exhibition of his skills in an upbeat jazz song. This is highly recommended for a starting video for anyone wishing to start drums.

[superbatmat]

What do you think about this book ????????

Thank you so much...

[finnhiggins]

What do you think about this book ????????

Thank you so much...

It's great. Just a shame I've barely even dented the material in there, it's amazingly deep. You could work on that book alone for years and make solid progress every day.

[punky_funk]

hi i've been looking at your posts and was wandering if you had any advice for someone at grade 4/5 standard bored of rockschool. I am hoping to improve my rudiments but I also want to have fun with funk and jazz. Any suggestions?

[Henry II]

Hopefully a Mod can sticky this like the DVD thread.

I prefer to buy books as opposed to DVDs because DVDs are sort of hit-ormiss when it comes to actual educational value. For instance, I can be inspired by a video by Terry Bozzio, but not be able to really take that much away from it in terms of practical application.

The sheer volume of books out there is pretty daunting, and I would like this to be the forum in which you drummers out here provide the most useful ones and explanations of why and what style they are applied two.

My contribution is Time Functiong Patterns by Gary Chaffee. I am actually embarrassed that I had never heard of this one in eleven years of playing. For me, this is the Holy Grail of Rock/Jazz coordination, laid out in an excellent fashion and loaded with good practice tips. Especially useful is the explanation of the basics of Linear playing (straight from the guy who invented it.) I can't wait to get the other books in the Patterns series.

Gary Chaffee is THE preeminent drum educator on the planet. His two videos are the best "educational" drum videos I've seen and are based on his 4 "Patterns" books and his "Linear Drumming" book. The videos are called: " Phrasing and Motion" and "Sticking Time, Linear Time Rhythm & Meter."

A great method book for "advanced" drummers that focuses on dynamic independence (the most difficult aspect of independence) is "Future Sounds" by David Garibaldi.

[punky_funk]

Hi, I was wandering what you guys might think of the following books

Title:Beyond The Backbeat: From Rock & Funk To Jazz & Latin
Author:Larry Finn

Title: The Jazz Drummer's Workshop
Author: John Riley
Fnx

[franklinj]

i havent seen dom famularos book on here, but im really interested in it.

so, what do all of you think would be the best books to get for an intermediate, single bass player?

[punky_funk]

I have recently bought "Advanced Funk Studies" by Rick Latham, the 25th anniversary DVD. It is very inspirational and It has a lot on rudimental application. I suggest getting the book for it too, to use as reference. It is for all skill levels.
Beginner to advanced.

[Thinshells]

Tim Alexander live performance and commentary...

This dvd is very cool for Primus/Laundry and Alexander fans.

It is unusual, in that during the performance, you hear no music at all, but he just plays the drum parts to a lot of his music.

There is an audio commentary track that is of some value. I am at a point where I can sort out what he is doing. But: I must warn potential buyers: this really is not a very good educational dvd. It has no step-by-step instruction, and there are only generic explanations of what he is doing. There are no "slow-mo" parts either.

What he does is lay down some very cool grooves and powerful kick work. He showcases himself well as one of the most underrated, and yet powerfully influential drummers out there. He has a very well defined, and deep kick drum sound. I like his octoban fills as well. He does a good job of incorporating Afro-Cuban and funk flavored bits. It's almost like you'd classify Tim as a "Prog-funkster." And he gives the nod to Neil Peart as well in the commentary track.

So really, it's watching a guy play just his drum parts for about 45 minutes. It's $24.95 at www.timalexander.com (http://www.timalexander.com/).

Bottom line: I like it because it isolates his drumming, but it's not what I had expected. It is also not for beginner, or most intermediate level drummers. Tim Alexander fans will really enjoy it. I sure do. But I would like to see a full-blown instructional dvd in the future. Tim obviously has a wealth of knowledge and a host of chops that could be given better elaboration for a wider audience.

[candlemass]

I don't own many music videos so I'm afraid I lack reference to judge, but let's try.

NAME: Dennis Chambers: Serious Moves


STAR RATING: # # #


WORDED RATING: Average. Everytime I look at this video I remind of guitarists who complain at videos of guys like Malmsteen, who just show off, and don't sound interested on teaching anything.


TARGET AUDIENCE: Everybody who wants to get really frustrated or likes LONG Drumsolos. Seriously: VERY far advanced drummers who need to get some new ideas or everybody else who wants to see "how its done". (Yes I copied this from another review below, it fits so much)

PUBLISHED BY: DCI


DESCRIPTION: It's mostly Dennis showing off. Then after each song they show the bass/drum groove slower, then he's interviewed, and he's asked to make some interesting things he makes on each song. I didn't BECOME Dennis Chambers after watching this video, but I just got a few ideas.

The songs are too much long, so it's like too much information for you to get at once. If I really had to learn something, the songs would be less than 1 minute each, since they're very complex, and I can absorb all the information. They should know that this is an INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO. This is, by the way, the same comment I want to make on Marco Minemann's Extreme Drumming DVD. I feel like skipping the songs parts of these videos because I really learn nothing watching them. It's just stuff for you to drool on. I want to learn soemthing, so I go straight to the explanation.

Plus, Marco Minemanns' songs are lame. They're mostly: 1 bar of groove, then Marco solos for 1 minute, 1 bar of groove, another drum solo, 1 bar of groove and so on.

[JOE]

hi i've been looking at your posts and was wandering if you had any advice for someone at grade 4/5 standard bored of rockschool. I am hoping to improve my rudiments but I also want to have fun with funk and jazz. Any suggestions?


1.GEORGE LAWERENCE STONES STICK CONTROL

2.JIM CHAPIN MODERN DRUMMER( HIS BOOK ON INDEPENDENCE) BE BOP JAZZ

3.RICK LATHAM ADVANCED FUNK STUDIES.

I WOULD RECOMMEND GOING THROUGH THEM IN THAT ORDER.IT WILL CHANGE YOUR DRUMMING IN THE FIRST MONTH.

[Mckinney]

should i get Thomas Langs greative control or Neil Pearts Anotomy of a drum solo?

[Thinshells]

should i get Thomas Langs greative control or Neil Pearts Anotomy of a drum solo?

Those are two entirely different things. I have ordered Neil's dvd, but it's content promises to center on his drum solos only.

Thomas Lang's awesome dvd covers a wealth of subjects. IMO, it's invaluable.

They are apples and oranges.

[brittc89]

NAME:
Gregg Bissonette
STAR RATING:
# # # # 1/2
WORDED RATING:
Great instruction in a ton of styles, some awesome tracks of Gregg playing, and a fun sort of loose and human vibe to the whole thing
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Mostly intermediate, some pretty advanced topics though
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Music, double disk
DESCRIPTION:
Gregg is a fantastic educator throughout the video and makes the learning process smooth and fun. He covers areas such as rock, funk, fusion, bop/big band, latin, and afro-cuban in a very informative and detailed manner specific to that individual style. Another great part of the DVD si that he goes past just drumming and delves into the music industry and the modern studio scene. I could have used a tad-bit more on the instruction for the afro-cuban, but other than that, I was never confused or having to rewind over and over to catch a lick. Hey, its where I learned the blushda. A great DVD all-in-all; Id reccomend it to any drummer.

[mandion]

NAME:
Ed Thigpen: The Essence of Brushes
STAR RATING:
# # # 1/2
WORDED RATING:
Relatively basic brush techniques
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Mostly beginner, some intermediate
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Music, double disk
DESCRIPTION:
Relatively basic intro to brushes by one of the greatest brush players of all time. Instruction and examples are good, but video is short (60min), and only brushes the surface (pun intended). Thigpen repeatedly refers to his book for more detail, and refers to this DVD as volume one. He covers a couple basic patterns in 4/4 and one in 3/4, plus 2 simple accents. If you want to see a couple intimate performances by a great brush player or have no clue how to use brushes, this would be a great aid. If you're already proficient but wanting to improve, you won't get too much out of this. Maybe consider the book instead.

[Latin Groover]

2 people have already done a review on creative control but ill do a quick one aswell. I just got this DVD and its great. Also this is my first drum DVD so my rating may differ from players.

NAME: Thomas Lang: Creative Control

STAR RATING: I give it #### - #####

WORDED RATING: Very well done, interesting topics, strick said that there r alot of thing that rnt any use to 90% of all drummers. I think not. But the DVD does definently lean towards dbl pedal stuff, i have just done some of the exercises on my hihat instead. I can feel my left foot being alot stronger, faster and more comfortable, like i can just use it at more places while playing now. But it is still very iseful to players that dont use dbl pedal, for sure. I think that players that use single pedals will like it and will get alot out of it, but for youse dbl pedal players, woa ud better get this, i see this as a great DVD for those using a dbl kick.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Sticktrick said that it was mainly for advanced players. No its not. But hes damb rite bout the solos. Everyone already knows how good he is...but then for the people that dont they will find out on this DVD. But im not an advanced player, ive been playing for 3 years, so im intermeidate, but i still got alot our of it. I think begginer to advanced really. Because the first disc is good for people who have even just started. He demonstrates some, wait, LOTS of exercises to do to improve hand feet co-ordintaion, which is very important. Most of the first disc is just one singles and doubless, for Gods sake! Thats tons to practise!

Published by: Hudson Music

Ive pretty much already described it so ill just say that there is a really good chapter on sticktricks and showmanship, which like stricktrick said is really great. He breaks them down so you can learn them. But wats great in this chapter i think is that when he demonstrates a trick he tells and shows where some good times to use it. Like theres som tricks he shows that he say mainly use on the hihat and he plays you a demo of how to 'FIT IT INTO YOUR PLAYING". Which is great! Cause its all great to be able to do these tricks but if you cant fit them into playing then wats the point!? I hav trouble fitting stick tricks into my playing. I have no idea when to do them, so i dont do them, also i cant do stick tricks. Although i can sort of do the Blackwell twirl good, thanks 4 that NJ.

But with the songs i quite like the songs, i must admit tho sum i didnt like and also i thought that he would play different styles. But i do like that first song 'Dog'. Great drumming in that, altho the lyrics r little kids singing (only in the chorus tho.) But another great feature is that littlew icon that cums up, u just press play or enter on ur remote and it goes to a sort of side clip for xtra info on wat hes talking bout.

I thinks its a gr8 DVD.

[NUTHA JASON]

NAME:
DAVE WECKL - THE NEXT STEP
STAR RATING:
#####
WORDED RATING:
a great dvd that meets most serious drummers with a challenge and a path to greater things.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
intermediate to advanced
PUBLISHED BY:
warner music
DESCRIPTION:
Many of us will be at that level now where we are very good at the obvious stuff but somehow, watching DW videos we seem to be missing that extra bit that seperates us from the legendary drummers. this dvd goes a long way to adressing the gap. dave takes you through the minefeild of beat displacement, odd time, band hits, hand/foot coordination and using a click effectively ...to name just a few of the gems. his calm friendly approach soften the blow that comes when you see this monster of a drummer grooving and soloing...at some points in the dvd i found myself thinking: 'hey i can do thaaat!' but what i found is that i can almost do the stuff on the dvd...which is what i look for in the dvds i buy - possible but not already achieved lessons. dave adresses the drummer who is ready to go pro...he really does give you the next step. if he ever reads this review...thanks dave.

j

[moosryan]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK, so I've gotten 4 books in the past month and I shall do a quick review of them for your viewing pleasure. I should add that my favorite part about every single one of these books is that they can be used for beginners to advanced drummers.

Reed's Syncopation. Really do I need to review this? You all have it and it has 1001 uses. I haven't got around to working out of it that much yet, but it can be used to work on absolutely any aspect of your drumming.

Don Famularo: It's your move. Don ****in' Famularo!!! What a friggin genius. Totally solved most of my technique problems, taught me moeller, etc....This is a great book for technique and it also has a lot of great concepts for creativity on the drumset and stuff. Highly reccomended.

Jon Riley: The Art of Bop. They should have titled this book "How to Play Jazz", because that's what it is. And that's what I was looking for. Teaches you how to comp, solo, use brushes, play odd times, and much more. It works on more musicality than chops. I already consider myself a pretty good jazz drummer, but this book is pushing me up to the next level.

Tommy Igoe: Groove Essentials (book and playalong). The definitive playalong book. Has charts and songs and commentary on each one for many different kinds of music. Teaches you grooves for different styles (almost all of which I already know, but who cares, the playalong is the best part). Then you get to play along with a REAL band, not just some electric crap like turn it up and lay it down. I'm having so much fun with the book. And the hidden gem of this book is how much it helps your chart reading.

I'm really happy with all the books, which I knew I would be because I don't just buy things on a whim, I research them . But each of these books is helping me a lot with my playing, and I would reccomend all of them. Feel free to ask any question..

moos.

[sublicon]

NAME:
Brain's Lessons - Shredding Repis on te Gnar Gnar Rad

STAR RATING:
###

WORDED RATING:
Good DVD to learn about the importance of groove, but very narrowly focused.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Kids who want to get funkay - fans of Primus?

PUBLISHED BY:
Warner Bros.

DESCRIPTION:
In his debut DVD, Brian goes over some very important concepts such as grooving in a couple different feels, upstroke/downstroke technique, some roll exercises, and some brazilian ostinato patterns and how to get your hands coordinated with them.

Agreed, these are very important concepts. However, it just didn't click for me. The DVD distracts you from the lack of real straight-forward content with various antics and long drawn-out speeches by Brian. I seriously fell asleep half way through this DVD.

It also surprised me, and I hate to say it, but Brian is a very good example of a drummer who has a superior command of feel and groove, but probably plays the networking and the "its who you know" game very well. I was watching some of his clinic/solo clips and thought they were garbage, I honestly don't see what about his skill set sets him apart from a lot of lesser known drummers that I've seen. So I have to deduce that he's an awesome guy and has gotten in good with people in the various bands he's played in. I actually bought a Tim Alexander DVD when I bought this, and thought THAT was going to suck, but I found this far less stimulating that I had anticipated it to be.

For young drummers who need a nice jump start into the game, this DVD will work very well becaue it will start them understanding the importance of having good time and feel, the importance of stroke types, and various other concepts. However, I hope they will be able to pay attention through the endless garage speeches, because I barely did. As I said, though, the DVD is kind of fun to watch at times so maybe that will hold the young attention spans.

If I could take this DVD back to the store, I would. I'll probably sell this thing on eBay. Sorry to be a downer.

[greg8]

just wondering if any of the instructional video's out there are any good? if so, anyone have any suggestions?

[burnthehero]

I really enjoyed Billy Ward's latest.

[Bernhard]

I would say: it all depends on you and not on the DVD.

On every DVD there are so many big and little things you can work on to improve your drumming. But just watching of course is not enough - some work needed.

Bernhard

[lowender]

Shame on all you brits for not mentioning this one sooner...

NAME:
The Art Of The Drummer - John Savage (Book with CD) (Spiral Bound)

STAR RATING:
#####

WORDED RATING:
The best single drumset (general not specialist) book I've come across. Covers the basics very very well.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Beginners although some intermediate/advanced players may find it worthwhile if they feel there might be any holes in there playing. I cannot recommend it enough for beginners though.

PUBLISHED BY:
John Savage's Music Books

DESCRIPTION:
I bought this book (after it had been recommended to me by a few local drummers) and have not looked back - it has almost single handedly made me the drummer I am today (whether thats a good thing or not I wouldn't be confident enough to say), I do own quite a few books and DVD's which have all helped me a lot in fairness but as one single book, at least to start off with, this is absolutely the way forward.
It takes the beginner right from square one and introduces drum score from the off (a good thing I say) in a very simple and user friendly manner, I'm fortunate in that I could already read a little music already when I started (18 months ago) as I play a couple of other intruments but I'd recommend this even to the complete layman. Of course the CD helps loads too.
It's broken down into lessons (in the order as the author says he would teach them in a private lesson scenario), here being a very brief overview...

Basic Beats/Rhythms
Snare exercises
Fills using semiquavers
Rock
Swung Rock
Triplets
Jazz Rhythms
Accents
Strengthening the left hand
Rudiments (various rolls, paradiddles, flams etc - plenty here)
Various Time Signatures
Brush Rhythms
Latin American Rhythms
Advanced Rock
Expression markings in music
Tuning
Soloing

I really have only touched on the contents of this book and picked just a few salient points - as a quick look at the index will prove.
It really does seem to cover everything you'd need to touch on in your first year (or years) playing. I have done a lot of research into my drumming, with having had very few lessons and having to rely on myself/books/dvds/web to learn and there is nothing I have come across that isn't already covered in the material.
If you are in your first few months of drumming you SHOULD have this in your collection and be actively working from it IMO, if not I'd recommend you at least give it the time of day and check it out. And when you do and you think bloody hell that lowender's a good lad this is a great book... mine's a pint of the black stuff ;)

[Steve K]

Thanks Lowender, that sounds like the book for me.


(Why do I keep getting logged-out?)

[JetBlack]

Has anyone ever tried either Drumming for Dummies or "An Idiots guide to: Drumming"?

Both come with a CD.

[nhzoso]

Lowender, does that book come with a dvd or just an audio cd?

[Garvin]

Title: Pure Energy (Tony Royster Jr.)

Star Rating: ###

Target Audience: Anyone into superfast chops, and R&B/Gospel style drumming.

Description: This is a great video to watch for entertainment purposes. There are several pieces with his band, a duet section w/ Nisan Stewart. There is a really cool slide show of his trip to the DW shop, and some pretty good exercises. It's not a very in depth learning video, but if you are a good self-taught drummer, you'll probably be able to pull some good ideas out of this. Other than that, it showcases his inhuman speed and agility on a huge drum-set.

[lowender]

To answer...

The book comes with a CD - but there is an older one that doesn't so make sure (if you want the CD version of course) that it is the CD version if you order it. I know they definitely stock it on Musicroom.com.

The log out thing - dunno mate but after a period of inactivity I (and I expect everyone else) gets pushed off.

[Sutor]

Has anyone got an instructional DVD by Mike Portnoy? I think the guys a legend, he might not have that much technique but the mans timing and knowledge of progressive drumming is awesome. I sneakily downloaded a few clips of random instructional DVDs but they range in years, like one where he looks really young and hes talking about double bass technique, then theres another where he looks a bit older, and hes going through all Dream Theatre songs and i found a video from a clinic but its just like a massive solo, so i'm not sure what im looking for.
So does anyone actually have one and can they let me know what they think.

Andy.

[shuffle]

NAME:
Funky Beats & Breaks. by Frank Briggs

STAR RATING:
####

WORDED RATING:
Nothing too fancy here, but I keep getting back to this book.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Rock/Funk - Content may suit every level

PUBLISHED BY:
Mel-bay

DESCRIPTION:

Not an how-to book. It is a plain and simple collection of about 200 grooves, each with an associated 4 bars fill. Anyone is likely to meet some challenge – depending upon the tempo that you’ll choose for each beat, and the level of “funkyness” you want to achieve.

Includes a well-done CD, which where all the patterns are played by the author, in a very groovy style.

[Mckinney]

does anyone know how neil pearts anotomy of a drum solo is?

[Bernhard]

does anyone know how neil pearts anotomy of a drum solo is?

Videosamples will be up on DW very soon.....

Bernhard

[Breakaway Faction]

I am just wondering what you guys think of the Larry Finn "Accelerate your Drumming". Is it worth picking up. I have played drums for a number of years and I mainly play rock. I just want to diversify my playing. IN general put in some better fills and make beats that are little more intresting. Will this book help me out.

I took lessons for a number of years. But for the last four years I have not had a lesson and I wanna start learning again but more on my own.

Any other books that would be good. I'm not the best reader but I can read fine. I thought this one might be a good choice since it has a DVD and book. So I can slowly build up my reading skills.

Thank you for reading

Christian

[Del Jaso]

Shame on all you brits for not mentioning this one sooner...

NAME:
The Art Of The Drummer - John Savage (Book with CD) (Spiral Bound)

STAR RATING:
#####

WORDED RATING:
The best single drumset (general not specialist) book I've come across. Covers the basics very very well.




I've searched for a little while for this book, but I am only coming up with UK shops that charge a lot to ship to the United States... Does anyone know where I can buy it in the US?

Thanks!

[NUTHA JASON]

NAME:
DOUBLE BASS DRUMMING - JOE FRANCO
STAR RATING:
#####
WORDED RATING:
This is a must-have for double bass players. i've just started playing double bass and this is the best material i've seen. slightly dated but very applicable.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
any beginner to intermediate double bass drummer out there.
PUBLISHED BY:
warner videos.
DESCRIPTION:
okay, once you look past the funny facial expressions he pulls while drumming, the weird sound of his drums (1984 tuning!) and his slight speech impediment you find joe franco to be an amazing drum teacher. he is quick to the point and his explanations are excellent. he really gets you to understand what 8ths, 16ths and syncopation are and how they launch off the bass as an instrument. his way of showing how the exercises (and there are loads of them here) and talking you through them is unsurpassed. of course a lot of the d/bass material here is now a little dated but it is an excellent starting point into todays demands. he gives you lots of beats with tab and, while they belong to 80s metal riffs, they do strengthen your technique so you can play the stuff of the day. Studying him now is like a 70s rock drummer studying a jazz drummer from the 50s. There is so much there that can be customised once the skills have been aquired. he's not a show off...but a down to earth teacher with a lot to give. i hope to meet him one day.

j

[Sticktrick]

2 people have already done a review on creative control but ill do a quick one aswell. I just got this DVD and its great. Also this is my first drum DVD so my rating may differ from players.


I get your points and they do make sense to me since you said that you are a beginner. I am a pro (which doesn´t mean that I´m any good - it just means that I earn my rent and and fill my fridge by playing drums...) therefore it is a bit hard for me, to judge, if a beginner benefits from the DVD or not.


Now here´s what I actually CAN say about it:
I gave it to many of my students and all of them loved it, even the beginners. BUT: NO SINGLE ONE OF THEM really gained something out of it other than a motivation to practise, because they saw great Thomas playing all that crazy stuff.... Some tried to do the exercises and left them soon after, because the stuff was way to hard and - if you only focus on proper execution - boring. Coordination exercises only start becoming fun, once you´ve mastered them and can put them on the drums or better in music. For beginners (and I am now talking about beginners, who don´t know how to hold their sticks yet and are maybe 8 to 14 years old) this is just not it. period. These students need simple grooves, fills and play alongs that are fun and doable for them. If I´d show them some dbl bass examples from the DVD I´d just scare them away. Playing along with Queen or Micheal Jackson tunes is for beginners - they love it because they can do it and feel the music. Practising paradiddles with your feet while playing Flamaccents with your hands over it is NOT for beginners. Just imagine what a student (who doesn´t really have any clue about the drumming world yet) would look like, if you´d tell him: "OK, you did very well on "We will rock you", so lets just move on to some MultiPedalOrchestrations and 5 over 7 things on two HiHats!". You see?? These exercises are great - but they were not designed for beginners. Give them a foundation first - proper tech, rudiments, a Groove toolbox, some good fills. THEN show them, what to do with that stuff and where to put it. For this, the DVD is perfect - but such a student is no longer a true beginner.

Check out Thomas other DVDs - It is much easier to gain something out of them IMHO.

But as I said - I get your point and I guess that many people think about the DVD just like you do. Of course Thomas is great - he is in fact one of the best out there. His approach is very dogmatic and therefore easy to understand - he is just a great teacher. Thats also why I left the rating open - of course its a great DVD and great exercises. No doubt about it.

And I still stick to my point about the wasted time for the twineffect, long solos and MPOs - who the hell has got two or three pedals on each side of the drumset??? Actually I have, but only on my practise set to challenge myself. Live I´d never use that, it is simply to much stuff to carry, hehe.

[edit:] BTW - feels good to be back on the forum again...

Cheers

[Mr. Bananagrabber]

Does anyone know anything about this upcoming Morgan Agren DVD?

[Stu_Strib]

Instead of rehashing the same format for the vids already covered, I'll comment on some that I own or have rented. I'd also like to say that it really depends on what you are looking for in a dvd. Instructional? If so, what kind of learner? Do you like to watch and copy, or read notes and dive into theory? Not every dvd can appease all people.

___________________________

Tommy Igoe Groove Essentials -- great sounding drums, great layout with the different patterns, but very limited to new drummers and drummers looking for a quick beat in a genre they normally don't play. The most disappointing part of this video is the cool little things that Tommy plays at the end of the samples, but doesn't break down. For the more advanced drummers out there, it would have been nice of him to ellaborate.

I would suggest Groove Essentials to anyone who teaches too.

The production value is above average. The drums sound great, the video quality is good, but there is too much cheezy artistic stuff added for no reason (black and white/aged film look, etc.) I feel this takes away from the professionalism. But the soundtrack is much better than many.
____________________________

Steve Smith's History of the US Beat

This is a great "documentary" disk. It isn't for the step-by-step method of learning though. This is best owned by those who appreciate great drumming and great audio tracks. The solo at the beginning is enough to justify the price. Steve Smith could just make a video that says, this is my gear and this is why it sounds so great, and this is me, one of the three greatest drummers alive playing it!

Criticisms are valid. The history from 1984 to present rings something like "After I quit Journey I have been playing this really technical fusiony stuff with my band Vital Information". I'm afraid to count how many times he mentions his band.

Summary; If you like great playing and great sounding gear, get this one. Also, the history is interesting, especially Steve's thesis that everything is derived from the swing pattern. This is the best sounding drum dvd I've heard.

________________________________

John Blackwell Jr.

This one suffers from a lower production value than the other Hudson videos. The audio is great, however. The "question and answer" format however, was cheesy. John's drumming is great, but not quite everyone's cup of tea. He is technically very good, with fast feet, good hands, and a strong musical sense behind the kit. His showmanship is obviously a big plus for him. He is a very over the top type of player, and has amazing sounding drums. The writing isn't very good in this one, as the dvd sounds mostly like he's making it up off of a real rough outline the whole time. The transitions from segment to segment don't make sense sometimes. John is a great guy, but some people might find his public speaking skills a bit lacking. He says "uhm" a lot and just never seems confortable speaking.

The extras were kind of lacking but I did like the live performances with the band. And again, his drums and cymbals sound killer.

____________________________________-

Thomas Lang Creative Control -

I think this one is a love/hate type of cd. As for me, I'm leaning towards hate. This guy is ROBODRUMMER from hell. The audio again, is great, but the whole interview outside is just plain cheezy, right down to the dialogue and wardrobe. Also, I have a huge problem with the blatant product placement.. "And here are my Thomas Lang signature series cymbals from Meinl, and of course Sonor Drums are the best and I also play all these sonor pedals", "And these are my giant white drumsticks from Vic Firth" blah blah blah. It would be more believable if his cymbals didn't sound so awful! There are several cheesy pans that focus on brand labels and products too. To the dvd...I really like the way his chapters present one idea (single strokes, double strokes, combos, etc.) but I really dislike how he does one exercize then just busts into a very extreme and difficult pattern. For example, he explains how he gets really fat sounding double strokes, but doesn't show you HOW to do it! Same goes with the feet. This guy has probably the best feet I've ever seen and he uses them in interesting ways. But like the whole dvd, he seems to be doing it just to show you how good he is at it and forgets to teach us how to do it ourselves.

If you like technically insane drummers who use very interesting and unique concepts (5 hihats!) then this might be for you. Otherwise, you can be like me and just rationalize your inability to play that crazy complex stuff by playing a simple fat groove.

______________________

Steve Gadd: American Drummers Achievement Awards

This is NOT an instructional dvd. The playing on the cd is really good. It seems like the top notch musicians where all flown in and had one rehearsal session to try and get it down. After a lot of boring self-praising speeches about Armand Zildjian and Steve himself, you get to see some really cool "tribute" performances. Old pal James Taylor has a nice set, Tom Scott leads an interesting ensemble (Vinne Coliauta on "Nite Sprite" is really good). Then you get to see Steve himself play with Scott and the guys. I wish this dvd had a section just of the performances. Bill Cosby is really funny at times, but not funny enough for a 3 hour and 5 minute long dvd that has maybe an hour of music on it. The best part of this dvd is in the extras where you get to see the rehearsals.

______________________

Carter Beauford Under the Table and Drumming

I like CB a lot. If you don't know anything about him and his style this is a really interesting dvd for open hand playing. Otherwise there really isn't much new here (if you are a fan). Carter has a hard time "explaining" the licks he plays, but he plays them for you very well. Also, the little booklet has all the notes, which I found helpful. Again, I think this dvd suffers from too much filler and not enough playing. When he does play, they go into long sections of him just playing along to a track. Instead of hearing the entire songs, I would have rather seen him break down individually trickier sections. He really struggled explaining his cymbal crossover moves...he tries to verbalize it then just kinda says screw it and rips off a huge cymbal crossover pattern. This dvd is a real eye opener though for those who have never seen the huge kit he plays and how he applies the left hand lead/open hand playing style.

_____________________


That's all I can think of at the moment. When I get the rest of my stuff here, I might remember some I've forgotten. Also, I have Ed Soph's dvd on the way!

Stu

[fLaT-fIfTh]

Everyone check out the trailer to my new dvd, Shed Sessionz Vol.1 and tell me what you think. It's a different concept in drum videos. I hope you enjoy it!! Here's the link:

www.gospelchops.com/index-4.html

[DogBreath]

Everyone check out the trailer to my new dvd, Shed Sessionz Vol.1 and tell me what you think. It's a different concept in drum videos. I hope you enjoy it!! Here's the link:

www.gospelchops.com/index-4.html
Hey bro, maybe it's just me but I can't find the trailer anywhere on that page.

[fLaT-fIfTh]

Yeah, it's there. But I'll post it here:

www.gospelchops.com/shed1.wmv

Thanks!

[NUTHA JASON]

hey man. i love gospel chops. nice trailer. all you guys are really talented. let us know when its out and where we can get it.
j

[fLaT-fIfTh]

Hey, NUTHA JASON!

Thank you man. I appreciate the compliment. The dvd is available now on the website. It can be ordered here:

http://gospelch2.securesites.net/store/index.html

Thanks again!

[Jacko Wacko]

hey everyone, do you guys buy these books/DVDs on the internet or in music shops or in bookshops or where?

[LimaBeans]

hey everyone, do you guys buy these books/DVDs on the internet or in music shops or in bookshops or where?

I can't find any in my local music stores, so I buy them on the internet. I suggest buying them on Amazon.com through a link on the artist's page on Drummerworld. I think Drummerworld gets a cut of the price that way.

[Stu_Strib]

Yes indeed, buy your dvds from Bernhard's store. He gets a cut. Nothing that makes him rich, but it helps keep the servers going strong!

[Bernhard]

Yes indeed, buy your dvds from Bernhard's store. He gets a cut. Nothing that makes him rich, but it helps keep the servers going strong!


Yes exactly. At the moment the shop sells 15 DVD's a day. This are $ 750 a month.

ServerCosts are $ 3500.

Thanks for buying.

Bernhard

[Bernhard]

Hi Stu:

Just read your reviews. I have all these DVD's too - and you spoke exactly out, what I thought, but didn't want to say.....

Perhabs this: Thomas Lang: at the moment Hudson Music is shooting a new one with him.

Tommy Igoe: Yes, he couldn't resist to throw some in always at the end - just to spice it up - but so it's a beginner DVD, it was no room to explain.

All drumming problems will be solved, when the new JoJo DVD comes out!!!!!!!!

Again, many thanks for your in deep reviews.

Bernhard

[LimaBeans]

All drumming problems will be solved, when the new JoJo DVD comes out!!!!!!!!
Bernhard

A new JoJo DVD!? Great! Please keep us updated!

NAME:
Marco Minneman Extreme Drumming
STAR RATING:
# # # # #
WORDED RATING:
An amazing instructional DVD for what I consider the most difficult aspect of drumming. Very inspirational DVD to say the least.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Intermediate to Advanced, but there are also some interdependence exercises that could be useful to beginners.
PUBLISHED BY:
Warner Bros.
DESCRIPTION:
His videos on this site don't even touch Marco's full range of skills. Accompanied by a master bassist and an amazing keyboardist, Marco shows how you can apply interdependence and extreme grooving to music. Just because Marco has a double bass pedal, foot snare, and at least 4 different high hats, it does not limit what you can learn from this video. After a few introductory songs, Marco proceeds to play a song with his band in one chapter, then in the next chapter break down the groove limb-by-limb. Many of his songs are written in odd time signatures, so he also breaks down playing different time signatures with each limb. Once he does this with most of the songs on the DVD, he goes into some other lessons such as showmanship (stick tricks including the REAL BUDDY RICH STICK TRICK (not RRL)), hand technique (moeller, finger control), how to analyze time signatures (taking audio clips from movies/TV and playing along with them), and of course, some extreme interdependence exercises. He plays some interesting fills, but he doesn't really break them down because this DVD is mainly for 4 limb interdependence. I would say the only thing that disappoints me about this DVD, is that he uses the push-pull technique and doesn't explain it, but anyone should be able to learn this technique from reading the one handed roll thread.

[Stu_Strib]

Don't forget you can donate to Bernhard's cause! (I just donated $25)

If you have the 2005 Modern Drummer Festival DVD, I'm off to buy it right now....


Stu

[sovereign_76]

Stanton Moore - Take it to the Street!

This is something currently being marketed by Carl Fischer as two DVD's and one book+CD package.

I own both DVD's, which have been broken into "traditional approach" and "modern approach" to New Orleans drumming.

I think that the review of these DVD's is going to be very personal...my roomate and i have different opinions, which is great.

First, the cost is $29.95 USA for each DVD----average i guess, but together that's $60.00 with no booklet and no printable pdf files...i think all current and future DVD's should include pdf files for working with the DVD...it's cheap and easy to produce.

Running Time, 60 min. per DVD----below average if you ask me...for that little running time it probably should only be one DVD, that's marketing, blah.

Do the TWO DVD's crossover material???? YES, too much for the cost.

Moore covers a lot of ground here...talking about his influences being from New Orleans (the heart of modern drumming)...he talks about Baby Dodds and how the jazz ride pattern evolved from his playing on the snare...then people played time on the ride, then hats, etc.
how he incorporates things that other drummers did before him whether they were playing a kit or marching in a parade...the evolution of the New orleans rhythms...incorporating brazilian, latin, and afro-cuban feel to his sticking and groove theory.

His rock and funk feel is covered as well.(Earl Palmer = New Orleans too!)

He goes over a few different sticking patterns RRLRRLRL, LLRLRLRR, etc...and how to make them feel a lot of different ways with different accents and inflection (snare in particular)
If you are a fan of Stanton Moore and of the New Orleans stuff that he focuses on (there is a lot of other stuff happening in New Orleans obviously) then you will be very happy.

The Production is top notch with an amazing group of musicians playing with him throughout the two hours (George Porter, Ivan Neville, Little Rascals)

For the Money I would be happier purchasing this as One DVD set with some written explanation of the techniques he discuses.

Also, he barely mentions his feet and never mentions his left foot, a BIG MISS as far as I'm concerned, he rocks the hats with his foot and does some really fun stuff with that 26" bass drum via remote.

HONESTLY---> If you're not already a fan of what Moore is doing and where it came from then don't purchase these DVD's...If you just want some ideas go to www.vicfirth.com and download the pdf of PASIC 2005 and watch the stuff there (as well as here) it will give you a lot of the same ideas, plus it's written down for you.

If you are already a fan and want a well produced educational series that documents the evolution of modern drumming with a Moore slant then it is well worth the money...The footage of the various bands playing the grooves as he explaned them is very helpful and enjoyable.

For Both Videos ### 1/2 (probably ####, but there is too much overlap between the two)

If you want to purchase only one of these it should be "modern approach" same technique stuff and then some without as much history.(i appreciate the history lesson though)

enjoi

[shuffle]

NAME:
Stanton Moore : Take it to the street - Book + CD
STAR RATING:
# # # #
WORDED RATING:
I only bought the book+ CD package, and I havn't seen the DVDs associated (see previous post...) . However, I find that the book stands pretty well on its own. Lots of accents variations, Good explanations, and good balance between exercises and the author's views on how to approach them. I am new to those rhythms, and I found in this book infinite learning opportunities.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Intermediate to Advanced. Most exercises demonstrated on the CD are played much too fast in my opinion to be useful as a learning tool. It only serves as a target to reach, a pretty far target for me though
PUBLISHED BY:
Carl Fisher

[moore6537]

Getting Started on Drums, Featuring Tommy Igoe

The above sounds similar to Dave Weckl's: Back to Basics, which I own now and appreciated very much. If anyone has seen both, would you recommend purchasing "Getting started on Drums" AND "Back to Basics?" Is there very much overlap in content?

[markee2004]

NAME:Bruford And The Beat (Video).

STAR RATING:*****

WORDED RATING: Truly exceptional, you can really benefit from the experience, and wisdom of one of the best drummers ever.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Anyone who likes good music, and wants to learn.

PUBLISHED BY: Hudson Music (I think).


DESCRIPTION: The two main elements of this video are clips of Bill Bruford talking about his musical career, explaining his personal approach to drumming, and his unique style, and offering advice, and talking about drumming concepts in general. The other element is clips of him playing, mostly on his own. Playing solos, and demonstrating techiques and ideas that he explains. There is also a full performance of 'discipline' with king crimson.

This is a very refreshing, inspiring, and original approach to drum instruction, as it is geared soully twoards the creative aspects of the art its self, and at no point trys to tell the veiwer what to do. I think many people would also find this video inspiring, and highly useful. But if your looking for something more technique orientated, I would reccomend 'When in doubt roll' which is an instructional book by Bill Bruford. Both video, and book aren't widely available, but you should be able to find them on the internet with a little effort.

[redone520]

whats goin on everyone. i been playin drums for three years now for my church and i just bought my first set. yea im excited but people tell me im pretty good but i need to hit that next level. there are allot of talented drummers on here and i need advice on a dvd that enhance my playin all around. ne thing would be a great blessing.

[aahznightsky]

Musical Drumming in Different Styles




I have a question ... does greg actually explain all the different techniques and ideas he uses in each song in depth? Like if he does some perplexing, cool fill in a song, does he break it down stroke by stroke?

[tamaman]

I just bought Mel Bay's "Complete Modern Drumset" DVD which comes with a book also. Frank Briggs is the drummer and it covers everything from rudiments to different world beats. Mozambiques, Sambas etc... Frank does not talk at all during the entire video but I picked up some great licks and ideas from this DVD book combo. Reasonable price as well 32 dollars at my local music store for the DVD and the book.I would reccomend this instructional for intermediate.

[Stu_Strib]

I always wonder why Frank Briggs isn't mentioned much. He is a great drummer, and that book is very cool too.

$32 seems pretty steep though! I think I got mine for like $12.99!

Stu

[Jeroen aka aksie]

does ANYONE (maybe bernhard?) know when JoJo's DVD will be out, I'm kind of waiting for it =)

[Pedro]

TITLE: Dave Weckl's Natural Evolution
STAR: * * * * * + :)
Comment:

Really really great for hand technique. It's for pro, semi-pro and beginners.
Certainly recommended for everyone who holds the stick right at the back. Dave changed his technique after maybe 30 years of drumming. He explains how he gained insight that he used the "wrong" technique for 30 years and explains the "right" one and the differences between the two. Everything is really great and detailled explained.

I recommend it especially to everyone who plays "Keit Carlockish"......it will change your playing!!!!!! And you'll understand it actually feels better :-)

The only thing what I'm not so positive about is wen he explains the foot technique. Almost te whole DVD is about hand technique but at the end he still wants to say something about foot technique....he only gives one possibility.....and I actually don't agree with him at that point

[Pedro]

Title: Steve Smith Drum Technique and History of the U.s Beat
Hudson Music
*****
Comment:
The Technique DVD is really great. He begins explaining very basic but VERY important techniques - hands and feet. And he explains how to develop a swing feeling and approach. Really great. I recommend it to everyone - beginner and advances and pro.

The History DVD is quite amusing. Like previously said, it's not instructional, but fun to watch and learn about te fundation of jazz (witch is very important). But te biggest dissapointement was Vital Information. I never heard such tasteless music. And especially tasteless guitar-playing. Awsome technique, but the music and musicality(te last one is for the guitar player) = 0,0000!

[Stu_Strib]

But te biggest dissapointement was Vital Information. I never heard such tasteless music. And especially tasteless guitar-playing. Awsome technique, but the music and musicality(te last one is for the guitar player) = 0,0000!

Frank Gimbale. Love him or hate him, the guy can play.

[Eryn]

Hi,
Good day to everybody!
It's my first time here.
Could somebody introduce me some books that the drummer and bass player can practice together?
thanks a lot.

[MEL]

Name
Traveling Through Time
Star Rating
# # # # #
Worded Rating
Amazing solos and interplay between Horacio "EL Negro" Hernandez (top Latin drumset player) and Giovanni Hidalgo (top conguero) with educational breakouts. Inspirational!
Target Audience
Latin musicians, drummers and percussionists looking for ideas for soloing and how to play off of each other. Inspirational for all, more comprehensible for intermediate, advanced players.
Publisher
Warner Bros.
Description
(A Caveat: I'm a percussionist (congas, djembe, pandeiro, etc.) not a drumset player, who happens to like reading this forum to get ideas from all of you drumset players -- just so you know my biases and where I'm coming from. Perhaps a drumset player who has seen the video can add his/her comments and perspective.)

This DVD, one of my all time favorites, is a hybrid performance/instructional DVD. It features just Giovanni and El Negro in a nicely done up studio, with a variety of camera angles, allowing you to see plenty of Horacio's left foot clave technique. Overall the production is great.

It's a tremendous example of how to develop soloing ideas from a combination of rudiments and Latin rhythms. The sheer musicality of these guys and the way they play off of each other and bend the rhythms back and forth is amazing. As is their technique: Giovanni has blinding speed, and is noted for pioneering the use of rudiments on congas and the ability to mimic the multiple rebounds you can get with sticks with just his hands (although he is frustratingly coy about exactly how he does it -- my teacher asked him in person and his advice was basically the same as on his videos: practice hard). Horacio has incredible indendence, and strikes me as being amazingly relaxed and balanced while his limbs whirl around all of his bells, cymbals and toms. (Drumset players, what do you think of him?). You'll get more out of this if you are familiar w/ Latin timelines and rhythms like songo, comparsa, rumba clave and the 6/8 bell, or are good at absorbing rhythms quickly, as they demonstrate them only in passing while breaking down and explaining the inspiration for their solos. To tell the truth I get a little lost when they talk about how they combine different metric feels (e.g. a 6/8 and 5/4 feel within a 9/8 meter on Enea) but I don't have any formal instruction in that area. There is no instruction on basic techniques/patterns on this DVD, but it's great for what it is, with a lot of inspiration and food for thought.

[tcl1627]

Does anyone know of any good books or dvd's on conga playing?

[MEL]

Does anyone know of any good books or dvd's on conga playing?

The Tomas Cruz series (books w/ DVDs included, from Mel Bay, available at amazon.com) is excellent for learning conga parts for Salsa, Latin Jazz, etc. and is the only source I know of if you want to learn the newer timba "gears" (in the third book of the series). Tomas is one of the better Cuban congueros of his generation, and the DVDs let you watch his technique and play along. What's especially nice is that many of the play alongs are first built up stroke by stroke in one DVD chapter at a very slow tempo, then played in their entirety at a reasonable tempo for a beginner in the next, so you can hear what they should sound like. His co-writers do a good job of making everything clear. The books include exercises, rhythms, examples of "recursos" (short solos/fills), Tomas' listening suggestions, and in the third book, a concise explanation of how to "think musically" and play the different "gears" in the new timba genre of salsa, which made sense to me when I read it, although I haven't actually tried it out yet -- I'm starting on the second book (and timba pickup bands are few and far between here). Everything is taught in clave when applicable on the DVDs, which is important if you are going to be playing Afro-Cuban music. Although you don't need to read music to follow the books, if you do you will find the notation system (from Cuba) to be a real plus. It uses different kinds of note heads (I think that's what they're called) for the different strokes. Their system is much clearer than that in other books like Poncho Sanchez's and Rudy Gajate-Garcia's, where you constantly have to look down to see the letters that they have written under the staff to understand which stroke you are supposed to be playing, something which has always bothered me about those books. (5 stars)

Two other books that I highly recommend are Conga Drumming and Hip Grooves for Hand Drums, both available from amazon.com or direct from the authors at dancinghands.com. These books are well written in a conversational style, have excellent explanations of how to make all of the different strokes and play the rhythms, and come with CDs. They use the authors own version of "rhythm box" notation which is VERY clear and easy to follow (even if you don't read music). Conga Drumming is more for playing congas in traditional Afro-Cuban percussion ensembles (rumba, bembe, and similar styles) while Hip Grooves teaches a bunch of beats and rhythms applicable in a wide variety of genres. The Dancing Hand's Conga Drumming DVD has a fun, encouraging, friendly feel, but is basically just to complement the book -- it doesn't have that much information and the book breaks things down for you much better. (5 stars for the books, 4 for the DVD)

Bobby Sanabria's videos are pretty clear, and a lot of other people speak highly of them, but they're only available on VHS, which means backing up to go over something again is a pain. (4 stars)

Giovanni Hidalgo's Conga Virtuoso DVD has some nice solos, and he explains some common rhythms and how how he uses rudiments in his playing, but it will be easier to learn technique and rhythms from the above books/DVDs. Giovanni's explanations are not the clearest and he plays so fast at times that his hands are a blur. Put off buying this one for later. (3 stars)

I have hardly used Poncho Sanchez's book. The others had nicer layouts and were just easier to get into. He doesn't seem to offer anything that is not done better somewhere else. (1 star)

Rudy Gajate-Garcia talks about how to work with drummers, something that is not in the other books, but for me it's not worth the price of the book (I can summarize what he says in one sentence: your job is NOT to lay down the backbeat, so lay off the slaps on two and four, and focus on complementing the drummer's rhythm). Other than that, I think that the Dancing Hands and Tomas Cruz books do a better job with everything, so go with them. (3 stars)

[markpowers]

NAME: RHYTHMIC VISIONS by Gavin Harrison

STAR RATING: ####

WORDED RATING: Worth a view, but GET THE BOOKS!

TARGET AUDIENCE: Intermediate-Advanced

PUBLISHED BY: Warner Bros.

DESCRIPTION: Gavin takes a look at beat displacement, metric modulation and more in this, his follow-up DVD to his 'Rhythmic Illusions' and 'Rhythmic Perspectives' books. The DVD is good, but I personally gained more information from the books. Both 'Illusions' and 'Perspectives' contain a wealth of knowledge. Most players won't get too far into them before being stumped by something! It seems that on paper he is more concise and clear about how these shifting patterns can be achieved and applied. But the DVD does contain some great playing from Harrison, who can certainly weave in, out and around any constant time pulse. It's worth checking out- hearing and seeing the performance is often a better teacher than a book anyway.

CLOSING: Get it? Or don't get it? You could go either way with this DVD. But if you really want to expand your rhythmic vocabulary, do NOT pass up Gavin's books!

[drummer_wid_pulse]

NAME:
Shed Sessionz Vol. 1

STAR RATING:
# # #

WORDED RATING:
THIS IS NOT A INSTRUCTIONAL DVD. Its just alot of the top gospel drummers jamming away. Probably can take some fills and stuff.

TARGETED AUDIENCE:
Anyone that wants to watch a bunch of people jam away. Especially gospel drummers so you can pick up some stuff.

PUBLISHED BY:
Gospel Chops

DESCRIPTION:
Gospel drummers Jeremy Haynes, Joey Oscar, Tony Royster Jr., Thomas Pridgen, Eric Moore II, and more take it out in a jamming session. With one piano player and one bass four drummers at a time take it out in a session. This dvd has 5 sessions.First one just has the young kids take it out. The rest is just mixed gospel drummers. I enjoyed watching it. I got some fills and some facial exspressions. LOL.
Not good if u want it for a INSTRUCTIONAL DVD.... Good if you want a show off dvd. or just enjoying other good drummers play.

[drummergirl_Nina]

regarding Steve Smiths 'history of a US BEAT' DVD, i kinda liked it!

he really goes into all the different styles up until about the fusion era, and it's an interesting demonstration, he definately knows his stuff,,,

the thing that really annoyed me about Steve Smiths DVD is that he explains styles up until 70's-80's fusion, and then he stops and says "sit back, relax and watch my band play fusion" - its like DUH HELLO STEVE!! what about all the music from the 70's to 2006?! The development of modern music didn't just stop at fusion dude!,,,

ohwell no ones perfeft, like i said its still a cool DVD and the technique section is real cool
Nina xxx

[Backwards Marathon]

could somebody please mention some good double bass books? im really intrested in buying one but i dont know which one to get.

[Mckinney]

does anyone know how marco minimens (sp?) extreme interdependence is? Thanks.

[drummergirl_Nina]

yes Marcos DVD is AWESOME, that guy is a freak. its more a 'watch me play' kinda thing, but he's definately the kind of player well suited to that scenario. he have phenominal chops, and inderpendence, but the thing I like about him is he's also very musical (dynamically) and I find I can watch him for a lon time, whereas other "choppy" guys tend to bore me a bit.

also his kit and the studio looks cool and sounds great.

Nina xx

[LinearDrummer]

I have a question ... does greg actually explain all the different techniques and ideas he uses in each song in depth? Like if he does some perplexing, cool fill in a song, does he break it down stroke by stroke?

Yeah he does breakdown alot of his licks in each song....My favorites are his explanations of the Tony Williams flam and he does this ultra-sychopated funk groove that he got from Morris Day and the Time that I still can't do...

My only gripe is that the video is more of a promotion of his CD than really covering styles - personally I liked his old DCI video better but this is still a good product....

[LinearDrummer]

Heres a couple of recomendations I have from my collection of about 35 dvd and videos...

Accelerate Your Drumming by Larry Finn
To me this is a very underrated dvd...It covers advanced rock, funk and latin grooves and gives some nice ideas for fills...I would recommend it for intermediate to semi-advanced players or someone like me who took some off and wanted a refresher course...

Its kinda of in the Tommy Igoe mold except a little better to me as I got bored with Igoe's simplicity...however if you got some chops going already the Igoe play-along book is really cool - you get to practice to many styles and work on your weaknesses...

Shed Some Light by Steve Holmes
Another underrated durmmer who clones himself out of the Weckl and Vinnie mold...I like this video alot just for ideas in watching him solo...He also demonstartes a real cool Tony Williams type flam lick that I like working on and phrasing in fives ala Steve Smith....If you can find it its worth buying...

Sticking Time, Linear Time, Rhythm and Meter by Gary Chaffee
Hard to find video that explains Gary's concepts from his patterns series books...Explains how to approach timekeeping in a linear approach and paradiddle variation type sticking feels...A good teaser but would be better if you have his books....I wish there was some band performances...

Brazilian & Afro-Cuban Drumset by Maria Martinez
A basic 2 dvd set mostly for someone just getting into latin grooves...I got it because I really only played samba and I wanted a breakdown of the basic grooves, terminology, and understanding the clave...Her playing is very simplistic so don't expect El Negro licks....however it is a good starting point for someone who wants to diversify their playing...

Theres a few as I tried to breakdown some that have not been discussed....I have alot more -some good and some bad so maybe I'll post some later...

[XAkitAX]

NAME:
Alfreds Max Drumset (dvd and book set)
STAR RATING:
# # # # #
WORDED RATING:
Goes from the basics to advanced; intended for your daily practice sessions
TARGET AUDIENCE:
beginners - intermediate
PUBLISHED BY:
Alfred Publishing Co.
DESCRIPTION:
This guy is very clear when he explains things. He starts off with the basics like reading music and basic rock/jazz/blues beats and fills. He has some good practice excercises like "embellishing the left hand" and stuff they are helpful too. He has full songs in the book that you can play along with the dvd. These are very similiar to lessons. When i went up to tril music to buy a book or dvd or something the guy recommended that and said that "covers just about everything we teach here". He must of been honest because this dvd helped me. I have certain excercises that I include in my warmup now from that book. I recommend this to all beginners and intermediate players.

[mandion]

Getting Started on Drums, Featuring Tommy Igoe

The above sounds similar to Dave Weckl's: Back to Basics, which I own now and appreciated very much. If anyone has seen both, would you recommend purchasing "Getting started on Drums" AND "Back to Basics?" Is there very much overlap in content?

Yeah, they're pretty similar. Both cover basic beats and techniques. Different teaching styles, but if you learn the info from one, you probably wouldn't get too much from the other.

[SilverPearl]

Name:
The One Handed Drum Roll
Star Rating:
# # # #
Worded Rating
Well put together, instructive, but nothing you can't find elsewhere.
Target Audience:
Those looking for something new for drumming.
Published by:
Railroad Media
Description:
This video is very nice, although there are quite a few flaws in it. It starts you right off withhim explaining how to hold the drumsticks and how to position yourself in relation to the pad. He then spends a whole 1 minute teaching how to do the one handed drum roll. This was not enough, I've been at it and still can't quite get it as well as he can. He should have spent more time teaching and developing the one handed drum roll with you. Instead he (by the way when i say he i mean Jared Falk) goes right into warmups, quite fast too. He teaches well though. Buy this if you are ready to work. Also you can find the technique at drummerworld's drum clinic link, it is the same thing. It has helped me though.

[Backwards Marathon]

Hey does anyone know if Mike Portnoys Liquid Tension Experiment DVD is worth buying? Does anyone have this dvd? Did you learn a lot from it? thanks a lot.

Wes

[TomasHakkesBrain]

Hey does anyone know if Mike Portnoys Liquid Dream Theater DVD is worth buying? Does anyone have this dvd? Did you learn a lot from it? thanks a lot.

Wes

Yeah theres a lot of cool fills and ideas in it. CD1 is all about LTE which i wasnt into as much at Dream Theater...or check out his other DVD

[TomasHakkesBrain]

Name:
Progressive Drum Concepts -Mike Portnoy (1995)
Star Rating:
# # # #
Worded Rating
Informative-well presented-clear and concise
Target Audience:
mostly for beginner to intermediate rock drummers
Published by:
Hudson Music(??)
Description:
This DVD is split into 2 main parts-double Bass Technique & Time Signature Explanation and application. Despite looking hungover as hell..Mike does a great job presenting in a friendly way which is fun and easy to understand. Firstly he explains his double bass technique in grooves (triplet to 8th notes etc) then in fills (demonstrates some great hand foot combo fills).
The DVD then goes into Time Signature explanation in a basic clear way without notation and goes on to show subdividing compound time signatures, then shows examples of time signature changes from their early albums with John Myung and Derek Sheridian.

Well worth a look

[franklinj]

Im looking for a good Latin book thats starts from beginner grooves/independance to advanced grooves and independance. I know theres probably a book in this thread somewhere, but I really dont want to search through 6 pages or more to find it. Thanks in advance.

[Backwards Marathon]

Yeah theres a lot of cool fills and ideas in it. CD1 is all about LTE which i wasnt into as much at Dream Theater...or check out his other DVD
yeah thanks i actually downloaded the movie and downloaded the book that comes with it and it has all the fills like the opening to Paradigm Shift.

[XAkitAX]

Name:
A Funky Primer
Star Rating:
# # # # #
Worded Rating
This book is great, teacher recommended and I got it its great teaches all types of rock beats, excercises, warm ups, techniques ect.
Target Audience:
Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced. All.
Published by:
Alfred
Description: Contains various warm ups, sticking exercises, many types of rock beats and some jazz, techniques to loosen up and be able to play beats left handed and right, its got double bass stuff too... great book. I recommend

[RudimentalDrummer]

Have any of you Bros here tried the below Books in drumming? and Is it Good? Please Advice

( 1 ) Beyond The BackBeat (from Rock & Funk to Jazz & Latin...by Larry Finn, Berklee Press

The exercises in this book teach us how to incorporate Mambo, Swing, Latin, Jazz Bossa Nova and other Styles into our ROCK & FUNK beats with ultimate goal to expand our range and add new influence into our style of playing...and comes with CD


( 1 ) Rudimental Warm-Ups (skill-Strengthening Exercises For All Drummers) by Maria Martinez

This is a Book and CD package that provide Drum exercises and variations based on the 40 Contemporary Drum Rudiments....It features both demonstration and play-along track.

[Rick_Strong]

Steve Smith's video is more of a documentary than an instructional dvd. He explains a lot of stuff, but there are no excercizes or play alongs or anything like that. I own it simply to watch one of the three best drummers alive play the kit. I also like Vital Information a lot, so you get to see Frank and Baron and the guys a bit too.

I would love to know how he gets that snare sound "rim shot"
I am a newbie to the drumming world.

Rick

rstrong@doctorseyeclinic.com

[pat]

To produce a 'rim shot' sound, you need to catch the rim and the snare together.

Experiment an a snare drum, you'll find it pretty quickly.

[adorno]

Can anyone recommend a DVD with a good drum tuning tutorial? Thanks!

[Timmay]

Does anyone have Mike Mangini's Rhythm Knowledge 2 ?
I'd really like to know what kinds of exercises are in there..

[LostRythym]

NAME:
Progressive Drum Concepts by Mike Portnoy

STAR RATING:
# # # #

WORDED RATING:
Great, Mike explains lots of things, hardly shows off although in some parts he has duets with a drum machine.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Everyone.

PUBLISHED BY:
not sure

DESCRIPTION:
Mike starts the video off with a short drum solo, then explains his setup and his kit. Goes into beginning double bass techniques and double bass fills. He then goes through odd time signatures, explaining how they can be broken down (eg.9/4 to counting 5/4 and 4/4 like 12345 1234 instead of 123456789) , playing parts from dream theater songs explaining the time signatures and a polyrythym from a song. He then explains how he actually develops his drum parts instead of playing the same beat throughout each song and ends by playing to a dreamtheater song.

Sorry if it was a poor explaination.

[DrumProgressive]

It's a good explanationLostRythym, i saw the dvd too. I'dd only rate it 3stars actually.

[LostRythym]

NAME:
Back to Basics

STAR RATING:
# # # #

WORDED RATING:
Lots of information.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Begginers. Serves a good reminder about technique to intermediate and maybe professional drummers.

PUBLISHED BY:
DCI Music

DESCRIPTION:
Starts with a solo and playalong. He then goes into the basics of snare drumming explaining grips and how to practice traditional grip. He then teaches double strokes and buzz rolls and how to play buzz rolls in time. He switches to brushes and teaches brushing techniques and how you can apply the brushes to the kit. He then shows bass drum techniques(heel up, heel down), talks about seating positions and teaches how to do doubles on the bass pedal. He then goes into coordination, introduces books that help with independence. He also explains how his kit is set up and talks about drum heights. Talks about coordination and soloing then talks about tuning and stuff like that.

[fanagel]

Curious...
Has anyone reviewed Jared Falk's "bassdrumming Secrets" dvd?
thanks

[LinearDrummer]

Can anyone recommend a DVD with a good drum tuning tutorial? Thanks!

Dave Weckl - Back to Basics.....

[goteedrumking]

Bobby Rock
Zen Of Drumming

Rating:
#####

-This is a must for any serious rock/progressive drummer. Bobby breaks concepts and patterns down better than anyone I've ever seen. His technique is flawless and his efficiency is unequivocal. In my opinion, the best instructional DVD that's been produced for the serious rock/progressive drummer.

-Seth M. Burkey
www.myspace.com/sethmburkey
www.youtube.com/user/goteedrumking

[fanagel]

Curious...
Has anyone reviewed Jared Falk's "bassdrumming Secrets" dvd?
thanks

nevermind,,just read the whipping that he's recieving on another thread.

[samthebeat]

Im gonna review this one, cause I have mentioned it a few times now and no seems to have heard of it, so I think more people should cause it's a GEM.

NAME:

100 Tips For Drums, Mike Sturgis

STAR RATING:

# # # # #

WORDED RATING:

100 Tips For Drums is not what it sounds like at all. It's a heck of a lot more than just 100 tips. The information in this book is vast, it covers more areas than any other drum book I have came across. In otherwords for people who aint got a lot of money to be spending on drum tuition materia, this is the one for you.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

It could easily be used by beginners, but I think the book is aimed drummers who have been playing by ear to a few rock songs who want to improve, but have no idea of how to do it. So really for drummers who have that fisrt big brick wall.

PUBLISHED BY:

Tuition, Sanctury Piblishing

DESCRIPTION:

Im just gonna list what it covers from the start of the book to when it ends.

Practicing, The Click, Health Issues, Grip, Set up, Technique (hand and feet..including moller and fingers), Rudiments, Time Playing (this is adressed through the use of ostinatoes and reading text, so it sorts out your independence to), Paradidle Time playing, Swing (jazz/comping/independece), Brushes (jazz), Shuffles, Halftime Shuffles, Jazz/funk Shuffles, Second Line, Odd Times, Latin, Afro-Cuban, Reading, Drumset Vocabulary (linear stickings, doubles stops, stuff like that), Ostinato Soloing.

Now for the rest,

Drums sounds, Head selection, Tuning Techniques, Cymbal Selection, Electionics. In the studio, how to mic a drum kit, effects etc. Playing live setting up, monitoring etc.

All this is pretty comprehensive to, e.g. when he goes into latin, its not just one samba groove, its lots of sambas, and you understand how it all works. Everything is clearly explained and thier is lots of inspiring qotations from famous drummers to keep your morale up, and their is a CD to go along with it to boot.

[mr_hayward_99]

NAME:
Savage rudimental workshop

STAR RATING:
# # # # #

TARGET AUDIENCE:
this book is for american marching drum players, but it wicked so drumset players should have it as well. good for all levels from beginer to advanced.

PUBLISHED BY:
Alfred publishing co.

DESCRIPTION:
this is quite a hefty book with 160 pages 2 cd's and it cost £20 front cover discription "for beginer to advanced player, over 400 exercises, gain imediate stick control speed and efficency of motion, enhance your reading skills, 40 rudimental solos with cd acomanyment, 10 groove tracks in various styles, 2 bonous contest solos with cd acomanyment."

This book is really fun, and since i have got it my double have improved loads. it goes through all the 40 rudiemnts. each rudiment has 10-15 exercises on it then there is a peice of music revolving around that particular rudiment which you play along to on a track on the cd.

This maybe aimed at marching drum players but it makes practicing rudiments a lot more interesting, and gives you lots of ways of practicing them. i deffinatly recomend it. and every body need to practice those rudiments!

You can also practice all the exercises with you feet as well!

[shuffle]

NAME:
Drum set warm-ups

STAR RATING:
# # # #

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Pretty much anyone who happens to play drums...


PUBLISHED BY:
Berklee Press

DESCRIPTION:

I love drum books. I bought this one without even being sure I'd be using it. Warm-Ups ? There is so much to learn, and I never feel I have enough time to practice... My idea of warming-up is just starting slowly. But a complete book of warm-ups drills ? The book stayed beside my drum kit for a few weeks before I decided to give those exercises a try.

Well, I love it.

It is divided into 34 lessons. Each of them is based on a theme, usually a sticking, or grouping combination. Each lesson has many exercises that will make you move around the set in every possible ways. None of the exercises are written in a musical perspective. However, I find plenty of new ideas while doing them, because some of them are so unusual. And each lesson (sadly) reveals a weakness of mine I often never suspected.

There is a subtitle : Essential exercices for improving technique. I think it is more appropriate. I never use it as a warm-up. And there a small comment from Ron Spagnardi as this book being the "stick control for the drum set". While this may be a bit of a reach, It is indeed written in a similar format, and I now think it is a very good book. Pretty inexpensive as well.

[Stijnn1990]

Does anybody have the dvd of benny greb called "vorschlag" ? Because I can't find anything on the internet about it..

Thanks,

[Shane G]

Does anyone have Mike Mangini's Rhythm Knowledge 2 ?
I'd really like to know what kinds of exercises are in there..
Do you have Rhythm Knowledge 1?

[Beat Spector]

Do you have Rhythm Knowledge 1?


Looking for reviews of that book two, also Rhythm Knowledge 2 ofcourse.

If there's anyone who can post it here? thx.


Also considering Code of funk or any other Dave Garibaldi material.
Reviews anyone?
I'm just a bit afraid it will be waisted money cuz it will be way to difficult...

[Shane G]

Looking for reviews of that book two, also Rhythm Knowledge 2 ofcourse.

If there's anyone who can post it here? thx.
Well...RK one is the theory, and RK two is the exercises.

Rhythm Knowledge 2 is worth the price for the C&C exercise alone.

course...you get lots of other things too, like how to play every permutation against another, how to count & play odd subdivisions through 19 at fast tempos, and so on & so on.

They're pretty cool, but Mike's stuff takes time. Very conceptual, but well worth it. If you only can afford one or the other, get Vol. 2.
A friend of mine gave me his books, and I was skeptical at first, but after a few weeks I started noticing the difference.

[kaseli]

Irv Cottler, I've Got You Under My Skin

STAR RATING

# # # # #

TARGET AUDIENCE

Intermediate to Advanced

PUBLISHER

Alfred Publishing

DESCRIPTION

This is one of the few books that you can find that's a compilation of great drum charts for big band numbers. It's not so much an instructional book in that you'll find detailed explanations but you'll learn so much by listening to how a master of big band drumming sets up the horn figures. It will help inexperienced drummers to get an idea of how to properly prepare new sections, how to calm down the band, how to bring up the energy...
It's also an excellent book to go back to it once in a while to freshen up your ideas and change your own ways of orchestrating figures.

The songs are so relevant, every drummer should know them, and the band on the recording is fantastic. You can get the book for less than $20. Get it!

Here's a link to the book on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Ive-Got-Under-Skins-Book/dp/0739017063/sr=8-1/qid=1163046188/ref=sr_1_1/002-7956379-2693648?ie=UTF8&s=books

[terry_bozzio_wanna_be]

i can play straight rock and jazz but alot of the cymbal rhythms are difficult for me (in marco minneman ultimate play along) it is probably pretty far away for me, but all i want is a push in the right direction.
i was wondering if anyone here could suggest some books, or even exercises to help me get from straight rock to marco minneman's ultimate play along

[spw]

Does anyone have any opinions on the instructional "Hands, grooves & fills", by Pat Petrillo?

[Spreggy]

I have recently bought "Advanced Funk Studies" by Rick Latham, the 25th anniversary DVD. It is very inspirational and It has a lot on rudimental application. I suggest getting the book for it too, to use as reference. It is for all skill levels.
Beginner to advanced.

It's a nicely done video, but falls short in that it is hard to learn from. What was left out is even though it says it includes the material from his two books, it doesn't include the text, so there you are watching him play pattern after pattern trying to figure out what he's doing. I would recommend just cut to the chase and buy his two books, which come with CDs and /or videos, and leave this one at the store. I had this pegged for my winter workout, now I'm back to square one. It's kind of like you buy the DVD, which tells you that you need to buy his book for it to be of use. Sure I can get something from this, but not the whole package.

[loki83jcg]

I was taking lessons for 3 years before I bought this video. This video confused me so I want to explain to others about what they will be getting for their money before they change their style of playing.

Dave Wreckl's "Back to the Basics"

Seemingly aimed at beginning players, a video of this type should exclude any personal bias on how to play and offer a wide spectrum of different techniques. Yet, this video does leave large gaps that I wish to discuss.

This video is separated into different sections. I will try to recall the some of the sections to explain away some of the larger gaps.

1. Hand control: Wreckl has great hand control. Many of his techniques are helpful. He teaches about the finger control offered by the French grip and traditional grip. However, I would inform the beginner that Wreckl neglects to inform about the German grip, the grip that I and many many other players prefer using (Buddy Rich for example).

2. Foot control: Wreckl shows you how to play the bass drum with heel up. Yet, there is another gap. He doesn't show you how to use the heel down technique, which is used, and preferred, by many drummers (including Buddy Rich). In my opinion I think that heel down is more important for beginners because it evenly distributes your weight between your butt and two feet. A beginning player needs to understand the concept of weight balance and thus, having one foot continually up isn't the best start (it is also exhausting). Also, heel down technique is known for offering more control and more balance.

3. Cymbal Placement: Wreckl teaches you how to play the cymbals and produce the cymbal's different array of sounds. Yet, there is no overhead camera on the cymbals and you can only see the drum set and cymbals on profile. Also, he chose a kit set up that confuses the issue because of its vast amount of cymbals. Simply, a beginner needs to know how to place ONE ride and ONE crash.

4. The solos: Wreckl is a masterful drummer who plays with a lot of feeling. I would recommend anyone interested in prog. rock to listen to his stint with Chick Corea. However, I believe that a key element for playing drums is tempo and, right after cymbal placement, when he says that he will play a "straight-ahead" beat , he goes into a complicated solo that is without tempo. And this isn't the only solo without tempo.

Overall, it isn't a bad video but I would not recommend it for beginners. Though seemingly a video comprised of sections for the beginner, the real highlight of this video is watching and listening to Dave Wreckl. However, for a beginner, I actually believe that this video confuses the most important issues: a steady tempo and the basics.

[Bernhard]

loki83jcg:

This is a hard one - and with the first post....

I don't say, that I disagree, but:

Ok, more opinions welcome

Is it meant for beginners really? Do you write Wreckl instead of Weckl for purpose?

Bernhard

[loki83jcg]

In view of what you have wrote I am changing my post to make it a little more friendly. Thank you for your quick response. Thank you for founding drummerworld!

[loki83jcg]

finished my revisions.

[ajgdrums722]

This movie is not aimed solely at beginners. Weckl's foot technique suggested to play both heels up, not one up one down. His solos are not without tempo. Did you actually take a metronome and match it up to his playing? There are things called beat displacement which allow you to change time signatures or displace beats while playing.

I'm sorry but I think you're way off on this one. I'm not praising this as the greatest movie in the world, but to call a guy "Wreckl" is asinine. This is a very good movie for beginners through professionals.

[samthebeat]

I would agree ge does'nt go into avaliable techniques, he is teaching the way he played at that point, and from the results he was getting I dont think it'ts a bad thing. As wekl prooves himself, heel down is not the important technique to master when feet are concerned, especially in modern playing. As for not teaching matched grip, well he does because he goes through that with his left, and since it is matched then it does'nt take a genius to figure that out.

He does also go into independence and how obatain it, this I think is quite important, he recomends a couple of great books which is the only way to learn it really. It's a long challening process, like he him selfs outlines.

The title it of the DVD outlines who it is made for. Back to Basics suggests to me a drummer who needs to go back to basics becuase they have never covered that material before. There are plenty of other dvd's out there titled "drums for begginers" and what not, I dont see why you think it was inteded for beginners.

[jonescrusher]

Yes, as samthebeat says Weckl's Back to Basics was never intended as a beginner's tuition video, but as a 'consolidator' for those looking to reaffirm their basic technique. Common sense should dictate that Dave Weckl isn't one for beginner tuition.
I think this is one of the all time great drum videos, an absolute must see for anyone into their tech. And the way that mullet moves is pretty groovy, too.

Loki - you might want to check out the Tommy Igoe video, apparently one of the best 'basics' teachers out there.

[vadrum]

althought the video was not intended as a baics video. there is still tons of information to be gleaned from this instructional. i used to have this video, but i loaned my copy to nate smith and i never saw it again :(

anyway, the whole point of the video was dave trying to show you the house that he built out of the basic information that he presented. he focused some degree on technique and control of rebound, as well as some basic rudiments that he worked on hard in order to build his vocabulary. his cymbal setup was shown from a profile because his main point about how he setup his equipment in general was that everything should be pointing towards your waist. this is not a point that would be illustrated well w/ an overhead shot. he plays heel up, i play heel down. there is no reason why anyone should have to present both on their instructional. its the dave weckl show, and dave weckl plays heel up. as i remember he presented some decent applications of brush technique too.

again, don't let the title fool you. this was not meant to be a beginner's video and i don't recall that it was ever presented that way. he just boiled down his approach to the most fundamental elements within his playing (@ that time) so that he could present very basic ideas to the viewer and then show the viewer how, after considerable practice, they could build a deeper vocabulary based off that information.

[LinearDrummer]

Weckl and beginner shouldn't be in the same sentence....

Whats with the WRECKL....

[loki83jcg]

Thank you for all the responses.
I am happy that everyone agrees that this video isn't for beginners.
I am also happy that everyone agrees that the few "basics" discussed in this video only reflect the basics that he uses.

John

[Flattop]

Can you help me, im looking for a good DVD for beginner i meen realy a beginner that know nothing at all. I saw Rock Drumming Video Training System made by Jared Falk
i also saw TOMMY IGOE - BEGINNER DRUM DVD PACK any suggestion.

thanks for your help

[Flam_Paradiddle]

I would highly reccommend Larry Finn's Accelerate Your Drumming DVD. I'd give it # # # # #.

It's logically laid out, with challenging but musically interesting grooves in rock, funk, hip hop and latin. In fact everything is geared towards a practical and musical end, whether it's four way coordination or rundimental hand technique, there's an actual point to all of it, making the whole process worth while. There's also very little bull on this DVD; one drum solo (with a groove and in time), a few demonstrations and a brief introduction to each section and that's it. The rest is all exercises and grooves that are all notated in a handy little note book for you to learn in sequence. For my money, that's what an educational DVD should be.

One page is misprinted in the my note book though - does anyone know where I can get a correction? Larry Finn has no home page or anything.

[Bad Drummer]

Hi, I was wandering what you guys might think of the following books

Title:Beyond The Backbeat: From Rock & Funk To Jazz & Latin
Author:Larry Finn

Title: The Jazz Drummer's Workshop
Author: John Riley
Fnx

I will second the Larry Finn. I don't know much about the DVD, but I've had him as a teacher and he's one of the best. Definitely a top-notch teacher.

[vince]

Hi,
Good day to everybody!
It's my first time here.
Could somebody introduce me some books that the drummer and bass player can practice together?
thanks a lot.

Solid grooves by Dieter Petereit and Herb Quick covers many styles and contains some great ideas, although it can feel a little bit old-fashioned.

[<<L3o Luk@?>>]

TITLE:The New Breed
AUTHOR:Gary Chester
PUBLISHER:Modern Drummer Publications
RATING: #######

COMMENTS:damn, it's a really good book.
The systems in this book will help you develop your coordination and reading
abiltity, and will give you a greater awareness of time, all of which will allow you
to be part of the "new breed" of studio drummers.

[rendezvous_drummer]

TITLE: Groove Essentials
AUTHOR: Tommy Igoe
PUBLISHER: Hudson Music & Vic Firth
RATING: 5/5

Comments: This book is really what it says it is, groove essentials! It gives basic and advanced grooves in many styles of drumming ranging from Rock, to jazz, to funk, rnb, and ever world beats. It also comes with a DVD and a playalong CD to practice your grooves to. Tommy Igoe explains everything in a very comprehensional way, so everyone can use this book!

TITLE: Advance Techniques for the Modern Drummer
AUTHOR: Jim Chapin
RATING: 5/5

Comments: All I can say about this book, is that it is the most difficult book I've ever used. It is truly the Bible to Jazz drumming. I've only gone through the first couple pages and it's frustrating..which is good! The concepts are fine to understand if you have experience in reading music, but without being able to read music, it will be pretty difficult, but doable! Buy this book.

[Zildjian 242]

TITLE: Thomas Lang Creative Corrnation & Advanced Foot Technique
AUTHOR: Thomas Lang
PUBLISHER: Hudson Music
RATING: 3.5/5

This was a fairly decent video. If you want to learn some double bass technique and multi pedal exercises then this is a good dvd. But for me, I dont own 4-6 pedals so alot of this video was useless. But as far as double bass technique this video was ace. It also came with Thoma's formula called a "matrix". It is a series of steps to improve interdependence

Was not as good as Creative Control but was a good video

[tamadrummer132]

I asked my drum teacher to teach me some jazz/ swing stuff... and he said "get a good book and ill teach you"

So, i have began my search.. and ofc came to drummerworld.

I live in the US so it would have to be found here, and a CD along w/ it would be great.

any recommendations and the price would be great :>

-dave

[ExPLiciT]

@ tama drummer.
i suggest you pick up a book called "Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer" by jim chapin. this a really good jazz and be-bop, it does happen to come with 2 cds. it can also be know as the "jim chapin book" it goes for $25 but is definately worth it

[rendezvous_drummer]

I asked my drum teacher to teach me some jazz/ swing stuff... and he said "get a good book and ill teach you"

So, i have began my search.. and ofc came to drummerworld.

I live in the US so it would have to be found here, and a CD along w/ it would be great.

any recommendations and the price would be great :>

-dave

I Just wrote a review about it a couple posts ago....

[tamadrummer132]

6 pages is alot to read...

[Miggle]

Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials interests me. Amazon sells the DVD and book separately. Any idea which i'm supposed to get if I can only get one?

[Swamp]

Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials interests me. Amazon sells the DVD and book separately. Any idea which i'm supposed to get if I can only get one?
I bought this one that includes the book, CD, and DVD.
http://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Igoe-Groove-Essentials/dp/1423411277/sr=8-2/qid=1169821631/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-3739765-7000136?ie=UTF8&s=books

[Miggle]

thanks for the link man! I'll ask my friends in US to get this one for me.

[Timbo]

Hey you drummer-guys !!
Yes I am new in the forum and have never heard of it before.
But: I played the drumset 11 years now and all by self-education.
So i ve tried perhaps twenty books and dvds ... and this are the best to start with and later on to go on with ( in my oppinion and in oppinion of lot of other drummers)

First : go to Vic-firth homepage an dowload the 40 rudiments videos for free. learn all and keep on playing them (try them with your feets too )

Best Books and DVD s (from beginning to advanced) :

1. G.L. Stone Stick Control for the snaredrummer (try to play many of the exercices with feet as well and share the strokes on the drumset)
2. G.L. Stone Accents and Rebounds for the snare drummer (try to play many of the exercices with feet as well and share the strokes on the drumset)

3. Thommy Igoe Groove Essentials DVD and Book ( Great !!!) -> to learn all basic grooves


Now its getting advanced (learn 4-way independece) :

4.marvin Dahlgren : 4 way coordination
5. Garry Chester : The new Breed

Now the brain is burning ( metric modulatian , odd times , Displacement )

6. Garry Chaffee - Rhythm and Meter Patterns
7. Gavin Harrison : Rhytmic illusions ( Book and DVD ) Great book and Great DVD 6 stars to it !!!


all listed books and dvds got 5 stars by me and by other (amzon.de / amazon.com)

Follow this and I will think you become a great drummer !

Cheers

Timbo

[Kckazdude]

NAME:
Alfred's Drum Method Book 1
STAR RATING:
#####
WORDED RATING:
Covers and answers many begining questions.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Beginers of all levels
PUBLISHED BY:
Alfred Publishing
DESCRIPTION:
This book covers all the very begining topics. Although billed as a Snare drum book, it covers what we all should know. Time signatures, reading the notes and their values. Lessons are laid out in a very orderly fashion all building from the previous page and setting the player up for the next page. The solo pages can be very long and tedious but the lessons are very well earned. They help to reinforce lessons learned on previous pages.
The book comes as 2 different versions, With and without DVD. I would suggest saving the few extra dolars for the DVD version. Very dated and droning. Highlights the solo pages well but doesnt have any more meat in it that the book doesnt explain very well to begin with.

[NUTHA JASON]

NAME:
complete learn to play DRUMS manual by craig lauritsen
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1864692588.02._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
STAR RATING:
##### ++
WORDED RATING:
highly progressive from basics building up in what i consider to be an excellent balanced and thoughtful curriculum to upper intermediate levels.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Beginer to professional level
PUBLISHED BY:
L.T.P publishing pty ltd
DESCRIPTION:
224 pages and two discs. this really is a manual. i use it as a drum teacher. particularly good is its drum reading lessons. it is blocked into bite sized lessons which are ideal for the self taught drummer or a teacher to use.
typically it runs each lesson like so:

- introduction to a rhythmic figure (eg the dotted 8th) with 16 variations and placements and counting techniques (with eg tracks on the disc to ensure you are accurate)
- a 16 bar sight reading exercise incorporating the figure with previous lessons.
- up to twenty written and tracked grooves that incorporate the figure (including fills that use it)
- finally a short (8 - 10 bar) solo using the figure. (an excellent homework assignment after spending the lesson going through the three points above).

the book takes you up to quite complex reading figures before suddenly becomming simple again but introducing a rudiment. then it progresses forward again quickly showing how the sticking pattern applies and soon it is added to the body of knowledge that went before.
it ends on some generic stuff including reggae, jazz independance and comping and lots of triplet application.
this is an essential filler book for the self taught and a great introduction to reading.
i don't often say this of drum books but i am very glad i bought it. more so than the george lawrence stone book even.

for more visit: www.learntoplaymusic.com (http://www.learntoplaymusic.com)

[caprisun3484]

can anyone recommend me a book that is like Advanced Funk Studies

[druid]

OK I will give an old one a shot here....especially since it is re-released on DVD:
NAME:
TERRY BOZZIO: Solo Drums
STAR RATING:
****
WORDED RATING:
Great video- ahead of it's time in a way
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Medium to advanced players
PUBLISHED BY:
DCI video ( originally) not sure who has DVD rights
DESCRIPTION:
This video is the begining of many of the techniques Terry Bozzio has come up with and showcases his soloing ability for the most part. Key things that are sovering are basic grip and arm mobility. Practicing various rolls using both hands and feet, Permutations of 16th note soloing phrases and ostinato drum soloing. Bozzio shows solos invloving triplet feels and 16th notes feels utilizing his fett and left hand to 'hold down' the ostinato patterns while soloing with his right hand. He also holds certain patterns with his feet while soloing with both hands. Odd times are discussed somewhat and examples are played in cluding the US Drag groove. I remember when the video came out so many were saying "yeah but how can I apply this stuff?"...well to me anyway ostinatos are used all the time in jazz and rock ...so I find the techinques to be useful in becoming a more well rounded player. Also the Soloing concepts are a grea alternative to a "just blowing chops" style of soloing with little direction . So the idea of using musical themes and playing more musically in general as a drummer I feel was helpful. Seeing other players nowadays like Minneman, Virgil and Lang ....I guess some of these guys might agree. Plus the other thing I liked was being able to see how the guy thought about his playing- something in general I like to see from any Drum video.

[Spreggy]

can anyone recommend me a book that is like Advanced Funk Studies

David Garibaldi's Future Sounds. (http://www.amazon.com/Drum-Set-Warm-Ups-Essential-Exercises/dp/0634009656/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-3602293-5592718?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173794611&sr=8-1)

[caprisun3484]

David Garibaldi's Future Sounds. (http://www.amazon.com/Drum-Set-Warm-Ups-Essential-Exercises/dp/0634009656/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-3602293-5592718?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173794611&sr=8-1)

alright thanks alot for the suggestion

[ajgdrums722]

Hey guys. I saw a few clips of Weckl's "How to Develop Technique," and it has me wondering about my own hand technique. I wondering what books I can buy to help me develop my hands (grasp different techniques better: Moeller, wrist/finger control, etc.).

Alot of the book are pretty cheap on Amazon, so I'm thinking about getting 2 or 3. Right now I'm looking at Dom Famularo's "It's Your Move," and the supplementary book to Weckl's DVDs, "Exercises for Natural Playing."

In addition to those, I'm wondering about "Stick Control," by George L. Stone and versions 1 and 2 of Joe Morello's "Master Studies."

If anyone can comment on these books (and/or others) it would be helpful. What books would be the best for re-learning the basics of hand technique? I'm at the point now where I feel like I want to go 'back to basics' and really re-learn my technique. Clips of Weckl inspired me, so I'm wondering if I should attempt to follow his examples.

By the way, I currently play matched grip, and have for about 10 years (I'm only 18) but am thinking about working on traditional grip as well.

Thanks in advance.

[mvikred]

Marco Minneman - Extreme Interdependence(Book + CD)

Rating : 5.0/5.0

Review : One of the best books to build up independence and interdependence. Marco takes u step by step evolving independence and interdependence of four limbs. This is actually helping me a lot. still in the first exercise, took me a while to do the warm up exercises, but now the actual exercises are a bit easy. i advice this book to every drummer who intends to make their body a bit more flexible .... drumming wise :)

Thomas Lang - Creative Co-ordination and Advacned Foot Technique

Rating : 4.5/5.0

Review : A very in depth analysis of double bass work and also independence. A matrix system that Lang came up with actually helps prac independece easily. since the matrix is easy to remember and no difficult at all, i think its a nice idea. though it doesnt cover independence over time signatures(which is covered in marco's book) it makes a very good watch and interesting DVD. he covers many aspects of multi pedal orchestrations and diff foot patterns that can be created using simple and already known patterns. The only negative aspect is everyone cant try out the diff MPOs that he shows, but its interesting to see how its done. All in all a good DVD with 7 hrs of footage, a nice watch and plenty to learn from.

[Paul Quin]

Does anyone have any opinions on the instructional "Hands, grooves & fills", by Pat Petrillo?

I recently acquired this DVD and I think it is great. It comes with a book, a DVD and a CD which contains files in Mp3 format. All three of these items work well together. I find that many educational tools out there fail because they are too much of an exhibition of the drummer's prowess or, on the other hand, the educational style is simply too uninspiring to work in such a medium. Pat really does a great job of teaching while inspiring you to practise. This is a book about TEACHING - but the examples make you want to play!!

The technique section is very useful in terms of ways to develop control and speed. Note, however, that I think you need to have some basic knowledge before this will be very helpful. This is not for brand newbies because I suspect they may not make it past the warm up exercises. But, Please don't let that put you off - if you are dedicated I am sure you could get some benefits.

The groove section is excellent. It teaches good basic grooves and it teaches some complex grooves with the use of controlled ghost notes as well as displaced snare work. The fills section is also excellent as it breaks down just what technique you need to pull off some stuff that sounds a lot more complex than it is.

Pat is an engaging and passionate teacher and he does a good job in showing you how to find the pocket - and that after is all is the thing that keeps you in work.

This is one of the best educational tools out there - I recommend it highly.

Paul

[MattRitter]

Hey, guys

I found this review page and think it is a great idea for a thread. I recently produced a DVD on bass drum technique (not some gimmick, but true bass drum technique for today's music). If one of you would like to review it for this thread, I'd be happy to send you a free copy of it. I know we all like to get free stuff, but I want the person who receives the free DVD to be someone who is truly struggling with their bass drum technique and is sincerely interested in improving it. If that is you, send me an email with your mailing address and a note about your situation. If I get multiple emails from people who sound sincerely interested, I'll send it to the person who touched base first. By the way, receiving the free DVD does not mean you need to give it a good review. You can give it any kind of review you want. I only want honest comments written. Thanks. Keep up the good work with the review thread.

Matt Ritter

www.MattRitterMusic.com

[Pat Petrillo]

Paul

Thanks for the great review! I'm glad you like, and I hope it is helping you achieve results.

I would love to hear from anyone else with comments.

Look for some upcoming excerpts in Modern Drummer in the coming months.

Pat

[MattRitter]

Thanks for the email responses. I knew it would be hard to choose just one person to receive the DVD, and I was right! I've chosen 2 drummers who emailed me. One is a beginner looking for a solid bass drum foundation, and one is an experienced drummer interested in exploring new concepts. That should definitely provide us with 2 different perspectives. Thanks, everyone!

Matt Ritter

[drumnisworship]

[QUOTE=MattRitter;299797]Thanks for the email responses. I knew it would be hard to choose just one person to receive the DVD, and I was right! I've chosen 2 drummers who emailed me. One is a beginner looking for a solid bass drum foundation, and one is an experienced drummer interested in exploring new concepts. That should definitely provide us with 2 different perspectives. Thanks, everyone!

Matt Ritter[/QUOT
Hey I just bought your DVD, and I am looking forward to learning from it. I have always strugled with my bass drum playing, and I'm looking forward to some help!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to get it and start learning!!!!!!!!!! Thank's

[MattRitter]

Hey, Drumnisworship

Thanks for buying my DVD. I really hope you enjoy it. As you begin working with it, I want you to keep in mind that 99% of all drum grooves involve just single strokes and double strokes on the bass drum. That's all! I wish I had emphasized that more in my DVD. Singles and doubles! Focus on those 2 techniques, and you'll be in great shape. My video teaches those things, plus a zillion other things, so it can easily get overwhelming. Keep it in perspective, keep it enjoyable, and start by learning singles and doubles. Those 2 techniques can EASILY be learned in a couple of weeks. Anything above and beyond singles and doubles should be considered extra credit for fun. If you ever have any questions, feel free to email me through my website. I'll get your message quickly that way, since I'm not on the forum all the time. Best of luck!

Matt Ritter

www.UnBuryingTheBeater.com

[spw]

"Bass Drum Techniques for today's drummer
Unburing the Beater" by Matt Ritter

This is a bass drum system that revolves around not buring the beater in the head.

Matt has an analysis of common Bass drum methods.
Talks about heel down, heel up, and how the system uses them in the unburing the beater system.
He covers basic drum setup, practice guldelines, and how to sit and stabilizing yourself at the kit.
Matts discusses pedal adjustments and becoming sensitive to your pedal.
He then goes into detail about single strokes, multiple strokes, fast multiples, doubles, consecutive doubles and "Bonham triplets".
Matt discusses using different parts of the foot, the slide,and gives practicle applications of the system.

The dvd has a FAQ section, and a section on troublshooting.
There is also some other bonus chapters about Matt.

I am a new drummer and this dvd has given me a great game plan to develope my bass drum technique, but I think it would help more than just begginers.
Very good dvd!

[TheBeyonder]

Hey there,

Does anyone here have any experience with Mike Michalkow's Moeller Technique DVD:

http://www.moellertechnique.com/

I've owned Jim Chapin's Speed, Power, Control, Endurance video for several years, and it's still the best one I've seen for technique. It's helped me more than anything or anyone else. It seems as if I saw that it was supposed to be reissued on DVD with more content. Does anyone know when this is supposed to be out? I love that man.

[Mike Newland]

I have recently bought "Advanced Funk Studies" by Rick Latham, the 25th anniversary DVD. It is very inspirational and It has a lot on rudimental application. I suggest getting the book for it too, to use as reference. It is for all skill levels.
Beginner to advanced.>

I got the expanded DVD and the book recently.

I think they are excellent for the precise purpose they were written for. They are not about basic rock or jazz. Nor are they straightforward groove primers like Tommy Igoe's excellent Groove Essentials concentrating on a ready made result you can use with further ado. The purpose is facility in playing often complex patterns using mixed single and double strokes plus bass drum. Which is what funk is about! The patterns really do enlarge your vocabulary. But that style of playing does not technically suit basic rock in my view so if that's what you want to play look elsewhere. Also it's not much about the triplet feel of jazz which is another planet. For that sort of pattern look to Jim Chapin and others.

The fact that the book and video have sold for so long I think emphasises their value. You can dip and learn a little hand and foot pattern now and then so it's not too hard work! They tend to stick with you I find so you absorb them subliminally. Watching him do it really adds to the subliminal so for the best you need the book and DVD. Not cheap it's true but worth it for the serious player with a long-term plan to master the damn things called drum kits which look a lot easier to play than they are. Which exercise from which page is given on the screen so you can watch book in hand working through examples from every section.

I particularly enjoyed Rick Latham's description as to how the tutorials came about. He regularly transcribed things leading players like Garibaldi, Purdie and Gadd were doing and used them in classes he taught at a time when the linear funk style was becoming popular. The class expected something new each time. It took off into a book.

I also enjoyed Ed Shaughnessy's remark about how few people at clinics say they practised simply playing groove. He said it's rare for someone to ring a drummer and say "I'd like you on the gig because I've heard you do great solos. I know your time's a little shaky but I'm really looking forward to the solo".

Hilarious!

[Mike Newland]

I have recently bought "Advanced Funk Studies" by Rick Latham, the 25th anniversary DVD. It is very inspirational and It has a lot on rudimental application. I suggest getting the book for it too, to use as reference. It is for all skill levels.
Beginner to advanced.

Hey there,

Does anyone here have any experience with Mike Michalkow's Moeller Technique DVD:

http://www.moellertechnique.com/

I've owned Jim Chapin's Speed, Power, Control, Endurance video for several years, and it's still the best one I've seen for technique. It's helped me more than anything or anyone else. It seems as if I saw that it was supposed to be reissued on DVD with more content. Does anyone know when this is supposed to be out? I love that man.

I've not seen it but you make me want to!

Jim Chapin said somewhere that the reason he can play so well at his age is that he holds the sticks so loosely anyone could lift them out of his hands. I wish someone had told me that a few decades ago. Making the bounce work for you instead of hanging on like grim death in the fashion of people being rescued by firemen down a ladder.

[practising drummer]

alright, just registered.
i saw someone speak of the afro cuban for drumset by maria martinez, double disc.
i have that one but only a single disc and a note transcription pamplet with it.

what is on the second disc?

any reccomendeations for learning bossanova?
books, dvds?

Kristján.

[Paul_Klein]

"Bass Drum Techniques for today's drummer
Unburing the Beater" by Matt Ritter

This is a bass drum system that revolves around not buring the beater in the head.

Matt has an analysis of common Bass drum methods.
Talks about heel down, heel up, and how the system uses them in the unburing the beater system.
He covers basic drum setup, practice guldelines, and how to sit and stabilizing yourself at the kit.
Matts discusses pedal adjustments and becoming sensitive to your pedal.
He then goes into detail about single strokes, multiple strokes, fast multiples, doubles, consecutive doubles and "Bonham triplets".
Matt discusses using different parts of the foot, the slide,and gives practicle applications of the system.

The dvd has a FAQ section, and a section on troublshooting.
There is also some other bonus chapters about Matt.

I am a new drummer and this dvd has given me a great game plan to develope my bass drum technique, but I think it would help more than just begginers.
Very good dvd!

Can anyone tell me if this book is geared toward double-bass? Because I am not a double bass player, but really want a book that will help my single-bass technique.

[spw]

It is NOT geared towards double bass.

[Freddie Freeloader]

Book: The Drummer's Complete Vocabulary as taught by Alan Dawson
Author: John Ramsay
Rating: # # # # #
Review: I started working on this stuff about 10 months ago and its fantastic. The rudimental ritual will give you a complete grasp of every important rudiment and a few more things that will help develop your chops. The various interpretation ideas for the Syncopation Book (by ted reed) will give you a lot of jazz vocabulary in the simplest way. All you have to do is follow the instructions and work hard on it. Great stuff every one interested in playing jazz needs to get. Alan taught people like Tony Williams, Billy Kilson, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kenwood Dennard and many more.

[NUTHA JASON]

http://library.davesabine.com/uploads/itemID(185)_001.jpg


NAME:
PROGRESSIVE STEPS TO SYNCOPATION FOR THE MODERN DRUMMER
by TED REED
STAR RATING:
#####
WORDED RATING:
The more into this book you delve the happier you get
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Beginner onwards (especially for the reading drummer!)
PUBLISHED BY:
Alfred publishing
DESCRIPTION:
The whole book is neatly hand written by a master drum teacher. It was literally the material he used for years of lessons. This book is an absolute must for guys learning to site read or brushing up on their reading skills. The first 32 pages are all about reading and are thorough and progressive. Syncopation only kicks in on page 33… but by then you feel you’ve already had your money’s worth.
Still ... Ted gives you loads of stuff to consider in the world of syncopation.

[NUTHA JASON]

http://jasonhorsler.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/crosstic.jpg
NAME:
CROSS-STICKING STUDIES (EXERCISES FOR MOVING AROUND THE DRUMSET)
By RON SPAGNARDI
STAR RATING:
#####
WORDED RATING:
This book is simply written, progressive and FUN!
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Intermediate onwards
PUBLISHED BY:
Modern drummer publications
DESCRIPTION:
If you want to cross stick like Buddy Rich you have to learn how to organise your limbs. This progressive book is simple (only ever showing movement between the small tom, snare drum and floor tom) and progressive. It focuses on a single cross over movement at a time and puts it in various places. What I loved about this book is how soon results appear.



http://jasonhorsler.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/149579u.jpg
NAME:
1001 DRUM GROOVES
By Steve Mansfield
STAR RATING:
#####
WORDED RATING:
Very useful as a groove and beat resource and a site reading exercise to boot.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Beginner onwards
PUBLISHED BY:
Cherry lane music company
DESCRIPTION:
No jokes … there really are 1001 drum grooves in this book neatly organised by genre. Rock and funk (40 pages), blues and jazz (31 pages), ethnic (10 pages), afro-Cuban and Caribbean (20 pages). Sometimes the variation between one and another are slight though but all in all this book is a fantastic resource.

[rendezvous_drummer]

NAME:
Steve Jordan: The Groove is Here
By Steve Jordan
STAR RATING:
# # # # #
WORDED RATING:
Excellent for the grooving drummer. Tons of fun
TARGET AUDIENCE:
All
PUBLISHED BY:
Ritter Music
DESCRIPTION:
Steve Jordan plays many of his beats here. Goes through them in detail too. Also, interviews with other respected musicians (Kieth Richards, Drummer of The Band). Definitely one of my favorite DVD's of all time.

[ChuckSilverman]

hi Kristján,

regarding bossa nova and samba, may I help you in your quest? I can suggest some CDs for you to listen to which'll give you some ideas, and possibly some exercises as well. Just let me know...

thanks,

Chuck Silverman

[n2xlr8n]

DVD Title: Bass Drum techniques for today's drummer, Unburying the Beater, by Matt Ritter

STAR RATING: # # # #

WORDED RATING:
Matt has excellent foot technique. I've yet to see a better description in media that describes this technique in detail. I studied with Rick Steed in CA years ago, and he called the technique "fulcrum foot".

TARGET AUDIENCE:
IMO, the technique is very useful for beginners and Pros alike, regardless of music style.

PUBLISHED BY:
http://www.unburyingthebeater.com/BassDrumDVD/OrderPage.html

DESCRIPTION:
Everything from setup to posture and shoes. Matt describes different applications of the method (Triplets, 8ths, 16ths etc) in a articulate manner. I'm not crazy about the pace of the DVD (it drags at some points), and his BD sound is very open and resonant, but the technique he teaches is a must for those wanting to learn. Will it teach you how to heel-toe to QTR=280? No, but it will teach you the proper way to play a Bass Drum....exactly what I was expecting. Thanks, Matt.


SRJ

[drumnisworship]

I got Matt Ritters Video unburying the beter about 3 months ago, it is worth the money you will spend on it!!!!!!!!!!! Even with limited practice time i've noticed a great deal of change in my playing, my foot feels more in control!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Matt

[runj0]

yes
i must agree with Ritters video.
Unbelievable!
go get it!

[MattRitter]

Wow! Thanks, you guys, for all of the positive comments about my DVD. That really means a lot to me.

Matt Ritter
www.UnBuryingTheBeater.com

[Tomtom123]

I noticed that Paul Quin gave input in this thread on Pat Petrillo's "Hands, Grooves, & Fills". I got mine a month ago, and it has really helped me...Here's my review..

I've been playing for about 15 years, and have taken a lot of lessons. I had heard of Pat before, but then I saw his clips here on drummerworld and YouTube....off the chain!...I had to get "Hands, Grooves, & Fills"..it covers everything it says in the title and then some...

He's a monster drummer, smooth and fluid ,with a great feel and pocket, but he's an even better teacher!...Real personable....He gives you step by step lessons on the rudiments, and some excellent hand exercises, which is all about a relaxed rebound. His warmups are really helpful. He developed this Rudiment TAB System, which assigns a TAB symbol to each rudiment which then can be combined into great phrases..

The grooves section has over 50 Play Along tracks., included on the MP3 CD. Many groove based books have a lot of grooves, but they are very similar, one note added or removed. Not this book! Each one is VERY unique and no repeated patterns. Live band as well, playing in a different 'groove style" (Funk R&B, Rock, etc) Its an awesome feeling to jam with a great band. I especially like the "Nawlin' Funk", and "Gospel R&B tracks" !

The fills section is what I was looking forward to seeing. Now I know how to do some movements and phrasings that I have heard others do, but couldn't figure it out. It will take me a minute to work them out, but the DVD shows me some orchestrations and variations from the book. It really is one of the BEST DVD/Books I have in my collection, and I have ALL the Hudson stuff. Its a teaching DVD, and a performance DVD all in one. Quality was great...a couple minor issues with sync locking music to audio..not a big deal...

A DVD/Book/and MP3 CD with Play Alongs for $39.95. WELL Worth it!! 5 Stars!..really..no b.s...

[n2xlr8n]

NAME: Tiger Bill's Concepts of Tension Free Drumming, VOL I

STAR RATING: #####

WORDED RATING: Second only to hands-on instruction from Billy Gladstone, Joe Morello, Jojo Mayer...this is the 2nd best hand technique video I've seen to date....see below : )

TARGET AUDIENCE: Anyone desiring to learn Gladstone via Bill Meligari. "Building Monster Chops", originally found on his site is a text example of these techniques.

PUBLISHED BY: http://store.tigermix.com/tmtfdhtdvdvol1.html

DESCRIPTION: The "Space" theme, INTRO and choice of drum sounds from his Pintech kit are um, funny, but one can't deny the man has KILLER chops. I would have liked to hear more of his playing on a contemporary sounding kit. Tiger Bill goes into detail about tension caused by improper hand/wrist position, full/mid/low strokes, and transitions between. Very good instructor. I would have preferred a better overhead camera view (the one on the DVD was off center) but overall, this DVD (although a bit pricey) is excellent.

[NUTHA JASON]

I thought i would give it an official review

NAME:
JOJO MAYER - SECRET WEAPONS FOR THE MODERN DRUMMER - A GUIDE TO HAND TECHNIQUE.
STAR RATING:
# # # # # #
WORDED RATING:
Hilarious and visually educating.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Any level
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Ltd
DESCRIPTION:
If you don't know who Jojo is then I suggest checking him out here (http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/JOJO_Mayer.html). If you do know him, then you will also know that they man is a genius drum 'n bass wizard and a master of technique. He really has made studying technique his speciality and he has even refined some techniques to the point where he quite rightly names them after himself (eg: the mayer/moeller). His teaching explanations are excellent and clear and often voiced over slow motion, CGI visual demonstrations. Potential problems are highlighted and possible solutions are given, including many exercises to help build up your chops. There is a great, balanced amount of philosophy, particularly Jojo's practice quotes at the end of the second disc, which add depth to the whole work. Camera angles and close ups are very well chosen to help you learn. Add to that a great sense of humour, lovely snippets of Jojo drumming in and around New York and nearly perfect presentation throughout and you have, in my opinion, the finest instruction DVD available. This beats Thomas Lang'sincredible DVDs for educational value and is on par with Chad Smiths for charisma. Well done and thank-you Jojo.

[n2xlr8n]

I thought i would give it an official review

NAME:
JOJO MAYER - SECRET WEAPONS FOR THE MODERN DRUMMER - A GUIDE TO HAND TECHNIQUE.
STAR RATING:
# # # # # #
WORDED RATING:
Hilarious and visually educating.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Any level
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Ltd
DESCRIPTION:
If you don't know who Jojo is then I suggest checking him out here (http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/JOJO_Mayer.html). If you do know him, then you will also know that they man is a genius drum 'n bass wizard and a master of technique. He really has made studying technique his speciality and he has even refined some techniques to the point where he quite rightly names them after himself (eg: the mayer/moeller). His teaching explanations are excellent and clear and often voiced over slow motion, CGI visual demonstrations. Potential problems are highlighted and possible solutions are given, including many exercises to help build up your chops. There is a great, balanced amount of philosophy, particularly Jojo's practice quotes at the end of the second disc, which add depth to the whole work. Camera angles and close ups are very well chosen to help you learn. Add to that a great sense of humour, lovely snippets of Jojo drumming in and around New York and nearly perfect presentation throughout and you have, in my opinion, the finest instruction DVD available. This beats Thomas Lang'sincredible DVDs for educational value and is on par with Chad Smiths for charisma. Well done and thank-you Jojo.


I received this video recently, and hadn't had a chance to view it......Simply the best hand technique instruction I've ever seen, including private lessons. The CG illustrations are priceless, and his sense of humor is hilarious.

BTW, did anyone notice the special thanks to Bernhard? That was nice.

SRJ

[rutherythm]

does anyone know what is better between rock school and guild hall?

[cbaker]

Hey all,
I was wondering if anyone had anything to say about Contemporary Drumset Techniques by Rick Latham and Beyond Bop Drumming by John Riley.
thanks

[CtrStDrumSchool]

NAME:
Encyclopedia Of Double Bass by Bobby Rondinelli
STAR RATING:
####
WORDED RATING:
An excellent comprehensive book on Double Bass playing. This book has an updated feel over the Joe Franco book. The beats are interesting and the fills are real world applicable.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Intermediate to Advanced - Anyone looking to improve their double bass skills
PUBLISHED BY:
Modern Drummer Publications
DESCRIPTION:
This book covers every aspect of double bass drumming. It covers 16ths, Triplet, Sixtuplet 32nd and up tempo 8th note grooves. Extensive linear fills and groove/fill combinations. It uses an additive approach... as you progress more notes are added. A must have for metal guys or fans of double bass playing.


Matt Scurfield
www.myspace.com/centrestdrumschool

[Craig Lord]

I received this video recently, and hadn't had a chance to view it......Simply the best hand technique instruction I've ever seen, including private lessons. The CG illustrations are priceless, and his sense of humor is hilarious.

BTW, did anyone notice the special thanks to Bernhard? That was nice.

SRJ Hi, this is my first visit to any chat room, ever. I am a self taught drummer. I am gathering info. from experienced drummers to improve my style.
Also, I am learning to use this chat room. Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks for the review of drum info.
Crlord

[Dispatched]

Mike Mangini's Rhythm Knowledge series

Price:
The 2 books and 2 cds cost 87$. Too expensive in my opinion.

Should You Buy it?
If you are into drum philosophy, intense practicing, and have some good money, it is worth checking out. If you dont have the money but still want to check it out, ONLY BUY the second book, it has all the excersizes. If you want to master subdivisions, get the second cd.. If you want a taste, check out the rhythmknowledge-online.com website.

Warning:
These are not "musical" or "groovin" studies. They are math, rhythm, and concepts

Star Rating:
# # #

Target Audience:
Intermediate- Advanced. It can also be used by all musicians but it is primarily for drummers

Rhythm Knowledge Volume 1: (25$)
This book is all concepts no excersizes. It is a short read. The writing is pretty inspirational, similar to what people write in the drummerworld forums. He says he gleaned information from neuroscience and psychology to help write this book. He really only scratched the surface and doesn't go into much depth. It sort makes you think "well the scientists were proving what we knew all along." His most concrete practice advice is to ingrain something into your nervous system practice it 90 min a day, 4 days a week, for 6 weeks. Its written very informally and talks about drumming and how it affects life.

Rhythm Knowledge Volume 2:
All the excersizes and some repeat information from volume one. Contains excersize called C & C limb system (can be found online somewhere). Teaches how and the importance of counting. Teaches all rhythmic subdivisions and lots of permutations of them. None of the excersizes are musical and they become very mathematical. Many pages are simply permutations of subdivisions. I consider this rather useless information, I don't ever plan on playing a group of 11 with 11th rests in it. It would be too difficult to apply it musically. The benefits though are the combinations of juxtaposed subdivisions. Playing these are very beneficial to the internal clock. The Counting aspect is very important. His advice on practice management is probably the most worthwhile. And C&C Limb system may be worth checking out.

Rhythm knowledge: CD 1: (18$)

CD# 1 is him counting the subdivisions. I DO NOT recommend this cd.

Rhythm Knowledge CD 2 (18$)

I like this one. What he did was record subdivisions next to each other. Ex: 2 bars of quintuplets and then 2 bars of septuplets. then these 4 bars repeat for 4 min. This really helps ingrain the subdivions into your memory so you can execute them. Playing one subdivision over and over doesnt really help, its the change in subdivisions that challenges your internal time. Thats why CD 2 is better than 1.

[slingerland755]

[QUOTE=Dispatched;357413]Mike Mangini's Rhythm Knowledge series

Price:
The 2 books and 2 cds cost 87$. Too expensive in my opinion.

I was thinking of picking that up, but you're right, that is expensive.

[alainnajm]

hey guys, any suggestions about some good Afro-cuban and brazilian drumset books and DVD's? keep in mind that i have never played anything related to "latin" music that goes beyond the basic simple bossa nova grooves.
any suggestions?
pelase e-mail me at alainnajm@gmail.com

thanks.

[Filthy]

Book & CD - Rick Considine's "Rudiment Grooves for the Drumset"

5 out of 5

I spent years listening to rock drummers who are masters of applying rudiments to drumset and rock drumming, but I always had difficulties working the 26 main rudiments around the kit myself in a cool way. This book has completely changed everything about my playing. I would say my whole approach to the kit, confidence and creativity have gone through the roof since I started working this book.

Rick goes through the basic snare based rudiments first and then provides various "moves" and "grooves" throughout the book, showing how each one is based on the basic rudiment but can be orchestrated around the kit. I love his theory that basically all drumset playing can be broken down to singles, doubles and flams. This has helped my feel, time, independence (particularly getting my left hand working a little harder) and has made my playing far more interesting.

I had never heard of this book before and just happened to stumble on it while on a trip to Minneapolis (Ellis Drum Shop). I would highly recommend it for any level of player - kids just starting can see quickly the value of patiently learning the rudiments and advanced players can benefit by going back to basics in order to reach a new skill level.

[j45000]

Can anyone review the TERRY SILVERLIGHT book:

"The Featured Drummer" (includes 2 CDs)

Thanks

[Wavelength]

Can anyone review the TERRY SILVERLIGHT book:

"The Featured Drummer" (includes 2 CDs)

The book is all about polymetric sequences; in other words, it shows you different ways of playing over the barline. If you don't know where to start with this subject, this book will give you a lot of ideas for further development. This book is fairly advanced, and working from this book will improve your time feel and rhythmic phrasing drastically -- don't even think about trying out this book if you don't know how to count out loud and play at the same time.

[j45000]

Re: "The Featured Drummer" - Thanks, Wavelength

[2ndguess]

NAME:

Alan Schechner "Coordination and Groove: Learn how to play intermediate to advanced drums instructional drum lessons video" DVD

STAR RATING:

#####

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Intermediate to advanced

PUBLISHED BY:

Music Star Productions

DESCRIPTION:

I recently returned from my second lesson with Alan Schechner. I hope that anyone who has seen his DVD, Coordination and Groove, was as inspired as I was. It would make me feel better if I knew that they they struggled as much as I did to get my head around what he was talking about in this amazing DVD. Being a perpetual newb drummer, I seek rhythmic concepts that do NOT delve into the obvious: jazz mastery, odd-time wizardry, double-bass speed demons and the like.

Schechner's DVD present a remarkably simple idea about how to tranform common beats into mind-bending independence puzzlers. Alan explains his transformations thoroughly. The problem is that those who translate explanations will literally and quickly deduce Alan's rhythmic transformations as, "You must do it exactly like I do." Not so. This is actually what Alan does NOT recommend. He explicity says, for example, if you don't have a cowbell for your left heel (your other half of your foot plays your hi-hat pedal), then don't play the cowbell.

In my lesson, he boiled down the transformations concept even further: Simply, think of your limbs as creators of rhythms and melodies. To start, he had me play my two favorite beats back to back. Alan then transcribed and combined the beats to put one beat's kick on the right foot as we would normally play; the other beat's kick was moved to the left foot. Modifications were made for musicality--delete a sixteenth, or eighth, note here or there.

The end result: Back home, my right foot is playing a Roland pedal dialed in as a tabla, my left foot is on my kick drum's left-foot double pedal. Or vice versa: My left foot is playing a cowbell, my right foot is on the kick. The beats individually are not complex. Together they create a radical transformation and a whole new level of musicality for the drumset. Alan further suggests playing my hand rhythms with varying patterns (think: The New Breed).

In short, Schechner's DVD is a critical component for the evolution of drumming on the drumset. While many will focus on foot techniques as the next step in double-bass drumming (i.e., moving your feet around pedals assigned to different instruments), Alan presents a means for taking interdependence to the next level. For this, "Coordination and Groove" is a revolutionary, and mandatory, DVD for drummers serious about approaching playing with a truly new view.

(Review originally appeared on my Web site.)

[brennenlesser]

NAME: Tiger Bill's Concepts of Tension Free Drumming, VOL I

STAR RATING: #####

WORDED RATING: Second only to hands-on instruction from Billy Gladstone, Joe Morello, Jojo Mayer...this is the 2nd best hand technique video I've seen to date....see below : )

TARGET AUDIENCE: Anyone desiring to learn Gladstone via Bill Meligari. "Building Monster Chops", originally found on his site is a text example of these techniques.

PUBLISHED BY: http://store.tigermix.com/tmtfdhtdvdvol1.html

DESCRIPTION: The "Space" theme, INTRO and choice of drum sounds from his Pintech kit are um, funny, but one can't deny the man has KILLER chops. I would have liked to hear more of his playing on a contemporary sounding kit. Tiger Bill goes into detail about tension caused by improper hand/wrist position, full/mid/low strokes, and transitions between. Very good instructor. I would have preferred a better overhead camera view (the one on the DVD was off center) but overall, this DVD (although a bit pricey) is excellent.

I hate electronic kits. it bothered my Thomas used it in his dvd and even in clinics.

Jojo is so good...

[Multiverse]

NAME: Hands, Grooves, and Fills - by Pat Petrillo.
This features a DVD, book, and CD with play-along tracks.
STAR RATING: # # # # #
PRICE: $39.95
WORDED RATING:
For me this work has been priceless. I have been interested in, and dabbled in, drumming and percussion for a few years now, utilizing or referencing instructional works including those of Pete Lockett, Marco Minnemann, Marvin Dahlgren/Elliot Fine, Tommy Igoe, and Jim Chapin, but never really taking any of them all the way in so to speak, either because of daunting learning curves or the fact that an (over)emphasis on left-brain, analytical, technical musicianship is almost an oxymoron to me. That is to say, I played piano for years and years as a kid but became bored by the sight-reading, just playing what is on the page, dry and fun-less version I was taught, so I quit. Later I got into the baritone, (like a tuba but smaller) but again the same style of learning and playing bequeathed to me by public school education wore out its welcome and I quit again after years of study. So naturally as I have again acquiesced to the call of destiny (read: begun playing music again) I have avoided standardized technique or only touched lightly the real study of drums so as to maintain the activity as more of a meditation, an authentic expression of myself, than a regurgitation of the known, systematized, and ordered. Then...I saw that Pat Petrillo would be in my area here and there for lessons and classes, so I took the plunge and decided to take it to the next level. Now... I have been using Pat's DVD/book/CD in combination with some lessons for about four months and I am AMAZED on so many levels by his product. First of all, I found it accessible as a beginner in that the exercises get progressively more difficult but the learning curve is not too steep, which allowed me to jump right into basic rudiments and combos and grooves, and now I am already capable of rudimental solos over ostinato-feet, more complex and funky grooves, and fills. Pat has developed a "rudiment-tab system" which is sort of a short-hand way of writing out rudiments and combos, simplifying the process of learning and memorizing them. Second, and more importantly to me, is that I have felt no compromise of the enjoyment of the activity; actually now it is much more fun because I can relate much more easily to the videos on drummerworld, and to other musicians in a band scenario.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
All skill levels
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Limited
DESCRIPTION:
The primary areas of study are, as the title suggests, hand technique, grooves, and fills. Hand technique includes warm ups, the rudiments (regular notation and tab), and rudiment combos (tab). A brief primer on reading 16th note rhythms then precedes the grooves part. At first I found the grooves section of this product very similar to Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials, in which he breaks down many styles to their basic building blocks, but Pat seems to do that and add his own super funky twist to styles ranging from rock to funk, jazz, salsa, "Nawlins," Brazilian, r n b, and more, each with various permutations like jam band, neo soul, funk fusion, acid jazz, drum n bass, etc. The fills section has various contemporary and old school fill stickings in the book, and the video includes demonstrations of how to split it up around the kit at slower and faster tempos.

[aydee]

Hi,

am hoping to pick up American drummers achievement awards featuring Vinnie and Rick Marotta.

Anyone with a quickie review ?

[Big_Philly]

Name: Ginger Baker Master Drum Technique
Rating: ####
Price: about €25
Target audience: intermediate to advanced drummers
Worded rating:
Ginger Baker explains his approach to using rudiments and african polyrithmics in a way that is very easy to understand. His explanation of african polyrithmics makes it all look easy - yet it isn't.

One thing that bugs me about the presentation is the way Ginger looks throughout the DVD. Years and years of smoking affected his voice, and made him to look more like Gollum than any man should do:

http://i16.tinypic.com/71etr11.jpg

Despite that, the DVD is inspiring, and makes you want to practise polyrithmics and rudiments which is always a good thing. There's also some performances included where he shows how his approach translates to a real musical situation. And if you miss a beat, there's also a slow motion recording of most of his exercises. So for the price, I see no reason not to buy it and learn from an excellent drummer with a very nice approach to drumming.

[j45000]

Big Philly,

Is this new material or just the redo of the video he had years ago into DVD?

[Big_Philly]

I think it's a redo, with a little extra material.

Edit: yeah, it's a redo. He's playing ludwigs on the dvd, but he switched to DW quite some time ago.

[j45000]

Yeah, Cool

That saves me from hunting down a VHS copy.

I think that was done in the late 80's maybe early 90's or so.

You can imagine what he looks like now.

Incidently in addition to his superior drumming let's not short change old Ginger.

I understand he is or was a member of the House of Commons where he lives! Not to shabby of a guy.

Reminds me of that Cream tune, "Politician".

Thanks for the heads up and info!

[jacob]

Hi there can anybody recommned dvd or video etc. on how to read drum notation for beginners and upwards

[Big_Philly]

I'd look for a beginner's book instead. The information regarding drum notation will be easier to process if it's not in constant motion like a dvd. Any beginner's book will probably do.

[loki83jcg]

NAME:
John Blackwell: Technique, Grooving and Showmanship

STAR RATING:
# # 1/2 out of 5 stars
WORDED RATING:
Great drummer, below average teacher
TARGET AUDIENCE:
All
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Music
DESCRIPTION:
Cons: I bought this dvd with a series of other dvds when I was in an intense drumming craze. After viewing it for the first hour I searched for some drying paint for some excitement. Then six months later I picked it up again. And I put it back down. It isn't that John Blackwell isn't a great drummer, as stated above. No, it seems that the main problem with this dvd was its lack of focus, script writing, and overall vision. John Blackwell speaks horribly slow with long pauses. Everything he says seems completely unrehearsed and that is the same feel I get when watching this dvd. When I said the target audience was "all" it was because I couldn't find which target audience would benefit from this dvd least. Every once in a great long while he will show you something amazing that will help with your drumming but the intervals between are long and insufferable. Most of what you learn is simply by copying what he is doing through what visuals you have witnessed. There are no explanations. To illuminate, some quotes from John Blackwell:
On how to create a solo:
"I used to plan my solos... but it never came out the way I wanted it to come out... don't plan the moment, live the moment."
On how to practice:
"I go in and try to discover new things. Sometimes they come out... I screw up and stumble into something new." PERIOD
This is mostly because, as John Blackwell has stated, he has been playing drums since the age of 2. I don't remember how I started walking at that age and it is apparent that he doesn't remember anything from that age either. I would not consider this an instructional dvd as there is no instructions. This dvd isn't going to help you learn to play drums the way a dvd by Steve Smith, Erskine, or even Wreckl would.
Pros: I have to give credit from John Blackwell's extensive knowledge of drumming influences throughout the years. And that he always gives credit where credit is due. He seems like a humble gentleman and every approachable person. He is not arrogant; he is very down-to-earth. He loves what he does and you can see it.

Overall:
I feel like this dvd will give you a close look into the personality of John Blackwell. It will make you a fan. I saw him on tv in some music show with Prince and was happy to recognize him. However, this isn't a good instructional dvd. On a different note, although the box says that the dvd is two complete disk, the second disks contents are listed as bonus material and is mostly live footage. I am probably going to keep my copy but never watch it again.

[spleen]

NAME:
THE ART OF PLAYING WITH BRUSHES - presented by Adam Nussbaum and Steve Smith - featuring: Joe Morello, Charli Persip, Eddie Locke, Billy Hart, and Ben Riley.

STAR RATING:
# # # # # #

WORDED RATING:
A very unique opportunity to learn and practice a variety brush playing styles and techniques. I'm so glad they created this project and captured a lot of wonderful information (much of it passed down from great drummers of the past) that might otherwise be lost to us.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
All Levels

PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson

DESCRIPTION:

Presented and moderated by Adam Nussbaum (apparently, it was his idea originally) and Steve Smith, it's two DVDs featuring Joe Morello, Charli Persip, Eddie Locke, Billy Hart, and Ben Riley. In various segments, you see each person (including Nussbaum and Smith) take a turn at playing swing (4/4 & 3/4) at various tempos, latin (Bossas and Sambas) at various tempos, and Ballads. All of the tunes are included as play-alongs on a CD. Basically, after each performance, either Adam or Steve interviews the drummer in detail about how and why they played what they did. Additionally, Adam and Steve spend time interviewing each drummer about his musical life and the stories and anecdotes are priceless--these guys really are living history!

There are great, great "bonuses" included as well including collection of videos of legendary drummers playing brushes in different contexts, including Big Sid Catlett, Papa Jo, Ed Thigpen, Gene Krupa, Mel Lewis, Steve Smith and Jeff Hamilton's "Salt Peanuts" duet, Steve Gadd, Nussbaum, Maestro Max Roach, and more. Too cool!

Plus, individual brush playing "lessons" from Nussbaum, Thigpen, and Louis Bellson. Louis' segment showing him playing brushes on a snare drum a couple of years ago and the variety of strokes and sounds he demonstrates is incredible--that segment alone is worth the price of admission, but it's just one of many gems in this wonderful project.

Other bonuses are PDFs to supplement whats on the DVDs and a little booklet on the history of brushes (did you know they were originally invented as devices to kill flies?) and a listening guide to recordings of significant brush performances throughout the years.

Bottom line--don't hesitate to pull the trigger on this one. You'll get a big chunk of history along with a unique opportunity to witness and learn from some cats who are a part of a legacy of great brush playing.

spleen

[pasta]

NAME
Pat Petrillo--Hands, Grooves and Fills

RATING
######


PUBLISHER
Hal Leonard/Hudson

TARGET LEVEL
Something for everyone and a great resource for teachers


I have gotten so much from this book and I've been playing 35 years. The secret: It's the perfect combination of accessible and challenging so one can teach themselves and not give up (never finishing the book as probably happens to a lot of us when we have the good intentions of picking up some new instructional media and bettering ourselves).
Having the book and mp3 play along in addition to the DVD is genius (the book/mp3 disc is my favorite part). And of course it's much easier to sit down with the book and mp3 disc at one's drums than sitting in front of the TV, but then the DVD is available for clarification.
And all the drumless playalongs and corresponding transcriptions are very hip and useful.
There are some fun rudimental warmups and Pat's own tab method (although for someone who reads music this would be time consuming to learn another notation) and of course the grooves and fills.
The only negative (and this is nitpicking, I suppose) is there are some typos in both the book and the subtitles which should have been fixed in the editing phase.
Suggestions for future editions: Get the flam instruction on the DVD and have the play alongs at a slow learning tempo in addition to the performance tempo.

For me this book is worth it just for the grooves and play alongs.

This is a great, great product! Just buy it!.

[Tomtom123]

Agreed!!

If you already have those two, than it sounds like you would dig "Hands, Grooves, & Fills" by Pat Petrillo

Just check out the reviews on it and see for yourself.

Good Luck

[Drummer Karl]

Okay, so my birthday was on the twenty-first...and except that I was ill I just got....

Name:

THE ERSKINE METHOD - for drumset (Book and DVD)

Rating:

# # # # #

Publisher:

Alfred

Target Level:

Every Drummer - from beginner to advanced

Great book and great DVD!! This book covers some pages with basic techniques, some important rudiments, tips for playing with hands a feet, warming up. This is the minority though.
Since we know that Peter is a versatile drummer who has worked with a lot of musicians and styles over the years the book is more than a "Jazz school". It`s divided into straight and swung. It deals with a lot of straight grooves and even more with the swing, somping excercices, coordination excercices, fill-in ideas, solo ideas, there`s an easy to understand brush part and being dedicated to Elvin Jones there will be some Elvin-ish ideas, too.
There are practice ideas, transcriptions of the play-alongs, not just of the drums, also of the other instruments which I find very nice. It makes the tune clearer and easier to understand this way.
Okay okay, you may think that it`s a drum school like anything else but the truly nice thing about it is the educational value, the tips, experiments and personal philosophies. Peter involves his experience into the book. That`s wonderful!

The DVD is amazing! Peter is an awesome teacher and player, he really encourages me, motivates, makes me wanna play! He explains things covered in the book, plays with the band in various set-ups (piano trio, Alan Pasqua(p), Dave Carpenter(b)...or sax trio with Bob Sheppard(sax) or quartet). In the bonus section Bob, Dave, Alan and finally Peter talk about things they look for in a drummer. There is an example how NOT to play a ballad...and much more.
PLUS, there are 11 play-alongs, with and without drums. Original tunes, high quality...beautiful.

For everyone who wanna work with Peter, that`s it. =)

Great package.

Karl

[slingerland755]

Nice review Karl,
I'll look into it. Sounds like a winner.

Cheers

[Drummer Karl]

Nice review Karl,
I'll look into it. Sounds like a winner.

Cheers

Thanks!
Yes, take a look at it. Don`t expect as many comping excercices as in Jack DeJohnette`s book, not as many grooves as in some Funk schools but it`s a damn nice tool you can work with.
As I mentioned, the personal touch makes it so good in my opinion.

PS: And the DVD is simply fun to watch, the play-alongs are a blast to play with!

Karl

[loki83jcg]

I completely agree with drummer Karl's review.

[NUTHA JASON]

NAME:
BASS DRUM TECHNIQUES for today's drummer : UNBURYING THE BEATER
STAR RATING:
######
WORDED RATING:
nicely detailed thought out with good production.excellent camera angles, clear instructions. Probably the best bass technique DVd out there.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
All drummers
PUBLISHED BY:
unburying the beater productions & Hal Leonard
DESCRIPTION:
As jojo's new DVD is to hand technique this DVD is to foot technique. Matt has a good way of explaining things and has obviously thoroughly studied his ideas and is really passionate about them. He is brilliant at selling the idea but, unlike some DVDs that spend a lot of time selling and idea and then barely giving it to you he really lays it out well with perfectly constructed exercises, practice advice and even tempo and time advice. To boot he really is a nice guy. i wish more DVDs were this thorough. there is a great troubleshooting section and a frequently asked questions section as well. why can't more instruction DVDs follow this format?
i'm afraid my bass technique is all about burying the beater at the moment.i even using it as a stabiliser between strokes. I know that this DVD plus 6 months of regular work with it will change my drumming totally and push me through the ceiling my current technique has put over my progress. There is even a wordof encouragement for me from matt in the FAQ section.
Matt Ritter may not have the fame of Jojo or Steve smith but his DVD speaks volumes for itself and is as precious in my collection of DVDs now as any big name drummer's. All that's left to say is thanks Matt you deserve any and every success from this DVD.
j

[MattRitter]

Jason,

Thank you so much. You may not know how much your post, and others like it, have meant to me. Making that DVD turned out to be much more expensive, time consuming, and mentally taxing than I ever dreamed when I first began it. I can honestly say that it was the biggest challenge of my entire life so far. Now that it's finished, marketing it and getting the word out is a whole challenge of its own. This DVD has really been quite a journey! When I get feedback like yours, it makes me feel that it has all been worthwhile. Your comments are sincerely appreciated. Thank you.

Matt Ritter
Bass Drum Techniques For Today's Drummer
www.UnBuryingTheBeater.com

[drumforfood]

Has anyone picked up the new Brain DVD from DW. I really enjoyed the first one, and I was thinking of picking up his new one. Any reviews?

[mr_hayward_99]

kenny arnoffs power work out 1 and 2

if there is a book get it instead of the dvd

the dvd is good but the pdf files are better than the dvd as the dvd is just a repetitive list of exercise which need promting with the pdf files.


the dvd is a set of exercise making up 2 workouts each of which would take about 20 mins to complete. the 1 st work out will get your double bass going and the 2nd work out focuses on right left hand independence.

kind of uses exercises comprised of stick control stickings. with off beats filled in with bass drum or double bass drum ostinato underneath. and single double and triplet and polyrytham hand ostinatos over the top.

the exercises look like they will drasticly improve your power and indurance and independence if you say did each workout for 1 month.by the way you will have to be pretty fit to play the workouts! hard work

the dvd is ok but the information contained within is a very good

p.s. if you have not seen kenny arnoff play before he hits unbeliveably hardand if you did the power work outs you might be as powerful as kenny.

[mhanon13]

NAME:
Steve Gadd: In Session

STAR RATING:
# #

WORDED RATING:
Boring, lame and a waste of $$$$$

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Beginner players may (and I stress MAY) get something from this DVD, but definately NOT for seasoned drummers.

PUBLISHED BY:
Warner Bros

DESCRIPTION:
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.......................... .................................................. ............Gadd playing/jamming in the studio with some buddies, and some occasional voice-overs. The dude literally looks like he's totally stoned on some smack or something. Not reccomended. He may be a really great drummer to many, but this DVD suxass!

Oh yeah man... Post a video drumming and jamming like Steve Gadd, I would believe a comment like that from Vinnie colaiuta or Dave Weckl... but Jeez.. no one can drum like Steve Gadd, and he does not do anything basic on that video, I guess is a intermediate-advanced level, post a video of his samba or his bebop, and do the soloing like he does..

[gusty]

Oh yeah man... Post a video drumming and jamming like Steve Gadd, I would believe a comment like that from Vinnie colaiuta or Dave Weckl... but Jeez.. no one can drum like Steve Gadd, and he does not do anything basic on that video, I guess is a intermediate-advanced level, post a video of his samba or his bebop, and do the soloing like he does..

Just cause he's a great drummer doesnt mean he cant make a below average dvd.

This thread is to rate instructional dvds, regardless of the reviewer's skills.

[branflakes992]

An awesome Latin book with all sorts of other styles is Afro Cuban Rhythms for Drumset by Frank Malabe and Bob Weiner. This is an awesome book and Frank Malabe is one of Rodny Holmes"teachers that he idolizes.

[Fresh_Dinosaur]

Has anyone had the chance to check out "Indian Rhythms for Drum Set" by Pete Lockett?

[Dixon]

TITLE: African Rhythms and Independence for Drumset (CD included)

AUTHOR: Mokhtar Samba
(has played with Salief Keita, Youssou N'Dour, Carlinos Brown, Richard Bona, Jean-Luc Ponty, Ultramarine...)

PUBLISHER: Music in Motion Films

RATING: # # # #

TARGET AUDIENCE: Anyone who want's to learn something (for most of us) new and very exciting. Especially interesting for those who like African music.

COMMENTS: I have just been working on a few Doudoumba excercises yet but I will do my best:

"African Rhythms" is billingual (English/French). The book is divided into 6 chapters, each covering an African rhythm style (most of them are in 6/8 or 12/8).

GNAWA (north africa)
MAGHREB (north africa)
MANGAMBE (cameroon)
BIKUTSI (cameroon)
DOUDOUMBA (guinea/mali)
SABAR (senegal)

The chapters starts with "movements" and moves on to "patterns". There is information about each rhythm's origin and a few listening tips. The movements are excercises that help you develop the feel and coordination that you need in order to play the patterns, the grooves. Many excercises and grooves are easy to play coordination-wise, the hard part is getting the right (African) feel. Mokhtar has a unique way of playing and phrasing that's very cool but difficult to imitate, just listen to the CD!

The sad part is that even though you work with the book, you probably won't develop an "African pocket" unless you really play with an African band. You can use many grooves in a jazz/fusion situation, but how many of us are likely to do a Bikutsi concert?

Despite its limitations it opens up a world of new ideas, and from a part of the world that I personally think has way more inspiring rhythms than music from Latin/Cuban countries. But that's just me...

Vinnie Colaiuta seems to like it too:
"Wow. The grooves just LEAP off the page! Mokhtar Samba's illustrations of African Rhythms are wonderfully insightful, enriching, and masterfully done. Thank you, Mokhtar for enlightening all of us!"

This book is great and deserves more attention, but since so few drummers in Europe and USA (me included) play this music I'm afraid it won't reach a wide audience.

[Muckster]

Has anyone had the chance to check out "Indian Rhythms for Drum Set" by Pete Lockett?

Yes. I just bought the book and have started going through it. It is very detailed (135 pages) and icludes a CD. Pete breaks down everything inclding phonetic pronounciation, groupings, time signatures, time shifts etc.. with plenty of transcriptions. The CD includes examples as well as play alongs. I'm not far enough into the book yet to give a proper review but i am enjoying it so far. I have been waiting for something like this for a longtime. In fact, I asked Steve Smith (at his last clinic i attended back in April) about books on Konnakol. He said he didn't know of any out currently. I wonder if he was keeping Pete's book hush hush until the release? LOL

Get the book, it's a big study.

[Fresh_Dinosaur]

Will do. Thanks a lot.

[metalslugger5]

really nice thread guys keep up the good work!!!!

[Saurav]

yes guys, i have the pete lockett book on indian rythms. its fabulous. the way he has demonstrated and inscripted the south indian styles is truly amazing. lucky for me, he's performing at a city venue next week. the south indian rythms are really very complicating and pete has tried simplifying to give the drum set player a fair chance to play those styles. hats off to him!

[drummer girl09]

Iv'e been wanting to read music for drumming purposes for a while...what book/dvd would you guys recomend for me? I just want to learn for now the most basic of reading music. Thanks.

[Abstsbtsb]

Syncopation for the modern drummer is what i started on. Don't know if its still in print though. Its supposed to be like the begginers bible in music.

[Alexisthegreatone]

Hi, Im looking for a DVD that focuses on hand and foot technique, e.g different grips, moeller technique etc. Could someone recommend me the best instructional dvd for this in their opinion? thanks in advance!

[jasonrhcp]

Pat Petrillo, "Hands, Grooves, & Fills" has great explanation on hand technique and exercises, with lots of groove with play alongs for foot technique

Jo Jo Mayer Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer focuses on Hands extensively as well. Both are great

[berne]

Jojo Mayer DVD - absolutely the single best instructional video ever for hand technique. No joke. I have invested in many videos by top drummers and most lack real instructional value. Its great to watch them play, but of little value for education. They don't hold a stick to this one :)

Pat Petrillo Hands Grooves and Fills has exceptional content as well for the topic.

Tommy Igoe Groove Essentials DVD for styles

[Kappow]

NAME:
Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer - by JoJo Mayer

STAR RATING:
# # # # # (#)

WORDED RATING:
I took a quick look and didn't find anyone who has reviewed this DVD, so I figured I would correct this. I give this DVD an optional 6th star simply because it blew me away!

TARGET AUDIENCE:
All playing levels - Anyone looking to improve their hand technique.

PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Limited

DESCRIPTION:
In this DVD, Mayer covers pretty much every good hand technique there is. Although this DVD is more encyclopedic than most others, Jojo really has a great way of explaining the techniques crisply and accurately. Plus the grooves he throws in really show off what's capable when you bust out the "secret weapons". Personally, I am just learning Moeller strokes (correctly this time around) but I know that there is so much more to cover. I can't wait to get to the push-pull, and one handed roll! Jojo is a phenomenal drummer and I have gained much from his instruction with this DVD.

[LTNINGFan]

If anyone is thinking about getting Todd Sucherman's new DVD, don't think about it, just do it. Someone on here recommended it, then someone else on another drummer site did also, and I came back here and read even more good stuff about it.

Very entertaining and informative, and I haven't even made it to disc 2 yet :)

[Thetruth]

Books Stick Control
Ted Reeds syncopation
Joe Morellos Master studies

Dvds Anything By Steve Smith

JoJo MAYER
Tommy Igoe
and something new Jason Bittner

To me you need no other but a good Teacher

[Funky Crêpe]

has anybody seen the Ed Shaughnessy DVD??
Taste, Time, Technique and Timbre??
i was thinking of getting it but dont know if it is any good......
if anyone has seen it a reply would be great!

[Muckster]

NAME:
The Commandments Of Early Rhythm And Blues Drumming - Book and CD

Written by Zoro and Daniel Glass

STAR RATING:
##### 5 Stars out of 5

WORDED RATING:
All you ever wanted to know about Shuffles!

TARGET AUDIENCE:
All playing levels - Anyone looking to learn about the shuffle and its variations.

PUBLISHED BY:
Alfred Publishing

DESCRIPTION:
The book mainly concentrates on the early 40's and 50's Rhythm and Blues drumming styles which were all shuffles. These shuffle patterns are where Rock and Roll came from. I bought this book with the hope of improving my shuffles and have re-discovered my Rock and Roll roots. The book is full of history, great photos and written examples of each shuffle that corresponds to the CD so you can hear the groove. There are several full length charts with exampls on the cd both with and without drums allowing you to play along. The book also contains great listening recommendations pointing out the style of the shuffle and who made them famous. It's an awesome book that i now consider mandatory for any drummer.