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What's a good book to buy if I want to learn some traditional snare pieces? I'm looking for pieces that were written for musical performance, not overly fussy pieces that were written for competition. I've beaten "Three Camps" to death over the last year-and-a-half while working on rudiments...

Most of the music I play is rather upbeat so it isn't great that my toms sound like the drums of doom. That was a great sound when I played hard rock, but now I'm trying to get something more bright and lively. I've been using a Tunebot and I've tried a number of different intervals, but...

Drumming weatherman. https://boingboing.net/2020/04/15/watch-this-bbc-weather-forecas.html

I finally figured out how to tune a ukulele like a bass; EADG. I think this could be really helpful, because if I can learn to play the bass parts of songs on a uke, that should improve my listening skills and help me do a better job of locking in with a bassist. It might help me communicate...

Can anyone suggest a good book for developing single stroke chops? I just spent a year working on the 40 standard rudiments and now I'd like to put the same kind of energy into developing better single stroke chops. Realistically, almost all I ever play on the kit is single strokes, so I'd...

Lately I've been working on learning to play traditional grip, and I'm starting to wonder if I should continue, or just take the lesson learned and apply it to my match grip playing. When playing match grip, my right hand teaches my left, and my left hand always struggles to duplicate what my...

For any Blues drummers out there, or any drummers who at least take Blues seriously, what advice would you give to a Rock drummer who wants to retool as a Blues drummer? I'm thinking about Chicago Blues or Blues that leans more toward Jazz or Country than Rock. Can you make any suggestions...

Does anyone know where I can get reasonably accurate sheet music or tabs for Stewart Copeland's drumming on the first two Police albums?

Can anyone recommend a good practice pad for working on rim shots? I don't want to spend an hour at a time banging out rim shots on my snare drum. I think I'd drive myself and my neighbours nuts. Of course, there won't be any "silent" solution, but something quieter than an actual snare drum...

Some rudiments have names that sound like the rudiments (e.g. flam, paradiddle, ratamacue, etc.). Does anyone have a phrase that sounds like a flammed mill? A flammed paradiddle would be "flamadiddle", but I can think of anything for a flammed mill that rolls off the tongue easily...

I'm thinking about attempting a two piece band (1 drummer and 1 electric guitarist/vocalist). The sound would be a bit like The Black Keys, if the Black Keys were more eclectic and dabbled in different genres. Does anyone have advice about how to get a good drum sound for that sort of band...

My first drum teacher taught me how to play what he called "boodalas". That was his name for what a lot of people call "John Bonham triplets": LRF LRF LRF LRF etc. I decided that three-limb rolls (boodalas and the like) are not for me. Lately, though, I've started practicing them at very...

I'm shopping for a new snare and local stores have almost nothing in stock that I'm considering. Based on what I've heard and read online, the two drums at the top of my list are a Ludwig 402 Supraphonic, or the Yamaha RLS1470 Recording Custom Stainless Steel 14" x 7". I live in Toronto, so...

Can anyone offer advice about how to minimize the impact on my knee when playing high-hats? I have a wonky left knee as a result of an old injury, and it's a pain when I play drums. I have a relatively busy left foot, and and I tap my left heel to keep time even when I'm not playing the...

If I want to set up a snare drum so I'm hearing mostly the drum, with very little snare, what sort of snares would be a good choice?

I see some videos of drummers playing with brushes and getting stick-like sounds. It looks like they're using the same technique they'd use with sticks, and they're getting almost the same sound, just quieter and softer. Usually they're using clear heads, so they're using the brushes to get a...

I'm old enough that I'm starting to do some serious retirement planning. I expect that when I'm 65+ I'll have lots of time to practice, but I won't have the same dexterity I had as a young pup, and my joints won't be able to soak up as much shock. (Let's assume I'm correct about that, and I'm...

My band is getting louder (again). When I played in a very loud band before, I pretty much gave up on using a ride cymbal because it was never audible, especially on stage. This band isn't that loud, but the ride is starting to disappear. I'd rather not resort to playing country and swing...

I've been noodling around with traditional grip for a while, and I'm finding that when I work on drills (like the first three pages of Stick Control), my speed and accuracy with traditional grip is not even close to what I have with matched grip. But if I slow things down and play the same...

If I want to play a technique at a particular tempo, what should my target tempo be for practicing that technique? For example, I like to play paradiddle variations around the toms between 88 and 104 bpm. For practice pad work, though, I figure I should push to a higher tempo, to give myself...