Two new books on George Lawrence Stone

eddypierce

Senior Member
I just wanted to alert everyone about two books concerning Stick Control author George Lawrence Stone that recently came out. One is called “Drum Lessons with George Lawrence Stone,” by former Stone student Barry James, co-written by Joe Morello (he had been working with James on the book before he passed away). It details some of Stone’s teachings, and the bulk of the book is made up of exercises from Stone’s “Technique of Percussion” column which ran in International musician Magazine. The second Stone book is actually a compilation of (I believe) ALL the columns that Stone wrote for International Musician—it’s called “Technique of Percussion: Columns by George Lawrence Stone for International Musician Magazine 1946--1963.” I’m about thirty pages into the latter and it’s very interesting stuff, containing not just exercises, but also a lot of percussive wisdom and information that is of historical interest (he makes reference to his friendship and correspondence with drummers like Charley Wilcoxon, J. Burns Moore, James P. Noonan, Gene Krupa, et al). For those just interested in exercises, I would recommend the first book; the second book is most valuable for those interested in the text.
 
Thank you for posting this. These are of great interest to me. Had no idea they existed.
 
I got my media copies of both of those-- I should have actual reviews up soon. Lessons w GLS covers pretty familiar stuff for anyone aware of Joe Morello's teaching. Technique of Percussion is awesome-- over 400 pages of Stone's writing I've certainly never seen before, with lots of musical examples. Any drummer/percussionist with any scholarly bent whatsoever will want that one.
 
where to get these? I am in!!!
 
My reviews of these books are on my site. Technique of Percussion is great-- anybody teaching, or in concert percussion especially should get it. Drum Lessons with GL Stone is mostly a studio companion to TOP.
Nice blog! When this coronavirus thing is over, we're gonna have to meet over lunch or something.
 
I got the "Drum Lessons with George Lawrence Stone" book as I was curious to know about the approach to "Stick Control" even though I am pretty familiar with the book. I was a bit disappointed in the fact that I haven't seen much on "how to use Stick Control" but rather a lot of general technique concepts, which doesn't hurt but isn't very interesting to me. That being said, I liked to hear about Mr. Stone's approach, I would have loved to sit down with him and take a lesson. I'll have to get a copy of "Technique of Percussion" now. This page here hipped me to those two books so thanks for the cue.
 
I got the "Drum Lessons with George Lawrence Stone" book as I was curious to know about the approach to "Stick Control" even though I am pretty familiar with the book. I was a bit disappointed in the fact that I haven't seen much on "how to use Stick Control" but rather a lot of general technique concepts, which doesn't hurt but isn't very interesting to me. That being said, I liked to hear about Mr. Stone's approach, I would have loved to sit down with him and take a lesson. I'll have to get a copy of "Technique of Percussion" now. This page here hipped me to those two books so thanks for the cue.

I agree with you about the "Drum Lessons with George Lawrence Stone" book. This is not quite the same thing, but a nice book with variations on the first three pages of Stick Control is "143 Binary Algorhythms applied to paradiddles" by Steve Forster. Forster was a Morello student, and a good deal of these variations originated with Morello.
 
I agree with you about the "Drum Lessons with George Lawrence Stone" book. This is not quite the same thing, but a nice book with variations on the first three pages of Stick Control is "143 Binary Algorhythms applied to paradiddles" by Steve Forster. Forster was a Morello student, and a good deal of these variations originated with Morello.
Funny you say that as I wanted to mention that book which is a bit closer to the "how to use Stick Control" quote. There so many fun variations in the Steve Forster book, great stuff!!
 
Ugh, what a turn-off title. I just bought it, but jeez.
Indeed. I don't even understand what it means. And the cover image is even worse. But the content is terrific. It should have been titled "143 variations on the first pages of Stick Control" or something like that.
 
Ugh, what a turn-off title. I just bought it, but jeez.
Exactly! It was almost as if Forster was trying to make it as unmarketable as he could! Calling it "Variations on the first three pages of Stick Control" would have been much better.

Great content, though. A lot of these variations have been around for a while, but it's nice to have them collected in one place. Also, I think with some imagination, one can apply the variations to Syncopation as well (at the very least, to the quarter note/quarter rest reading pages).
 
My copy of Algorhythms just arrived, and on flipping through it for 5 minutes: wow, yeah, that's a serious book. I don't even mind the goofy title and design any more. Definitely anybody serious about working on Stone/Morello should get it, and anyone who teaches.
 
My copy of Algorhythms just arrived, and on flipping through it for 5 minutes: wow, yeah, that's a serious book. I don't even mind the goofy title and design any more. Definitely anybody serious about working on Stone/Morello should get it, and anyone who teaches.

Indeed. A lot of those patterns are pretty challenging to play. I love sitting down with a pad and trying to go through one idea. The bolero thing is also fun.
 
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