A thing we do here is to rewrite/re-organize existing materials to make them better for practicing certain things. I hate hunting around the page while I practice, flipping pages, dodging things that are no good […]
Miscellaneous: cymbal and book
UPDATE: Feedback from the buyer of the cymbal: “I think perhaps I’ve never owned a nice sounding cymbal before b/c all my current cymbals sound like garbage compared to the Hassan.” Please forgive the light […]
Best books: Jim Payne’s Complete Funk Drumming Book
I’ve long felt there isn’t a truly good basic funk drumming book. There are many bad ones, and a few decent/acceptable ones. I most often use A Funky Primer out of habit, or Joel Rothman’s […]
Three Camps for drumset – 16th notes / basic – 04
This is the basic form of Three Camps for drumset, converted into 16th notes. I continue to dig this format for practicing jazz coordination. For me the main attraction of this page is the Elvin-like […]
CYMBALISTIC: You never know
Thinking about this fabulous product I’m selling, Cymbal & Gong cymbals, in this precarious time, it struck me that they could just go away at any time. I think— as do many of the the […]
Very occasional quote of the day: Mickey Roker on practicing
More from Mickey Roker’s Modern Drummer interview by Jeff Potter, October, 1985, on the subject of practicing the drums: It has always been hard for me to practice, because I get bored if I don’t […]
Extended shuffle stickings
This is just a little exploration of a special set of stickings for drum set. I wrote it to practice myself, and see if it’s worth developing as a concept. A lot of what we […]
Transcription: Shelly Manne – What Laurie Likes
Here’s Shelly Manne playing a funk jam— What Laurie Likes, by Art Pepper, from Pepper’s album Living Legend. This is really just to get you to listen to Charlie Haden— that’s a bassist— who is […]
Jazz fundamentals: more stick control for jazz
Another jazz fundamentals item, that pairs nicely with Monday’s thing. These are some stick control patterns designed to be played on the drumset, for a specific jazz vocabulary lesson. That’s a lot of what we […]