Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
What You’re Not to Read 3
Foolish Assumptions 3
How This Book is Organized 3
Part 1: Setting a Solid Foundation 4
Part 2: Digging into the Drumset 4
Part 3: Dressing up Your Drumset Skills 4
Part 4: Pounding Out the Beat: Traditional Drums and Percussion 4
Part 5: Choosing, Tuning, and Caring for Your Drums 5
Part 6: The Part of Tens 5
Appendix 5
Icons Used in This Book 5
Beyond the Book 6
Where to Go from Here 6
Part 1: Setting a Solid Foundation 7
Chapter 1: Drum Basics 9
Picking a Drum Apart from Head to Shell 10
Exploring How Drums Create Sound 11
Deconstructing the Drumset 12
Appreciating the Old-timers: Traditional Drums 15
Swingin’ Sticks and Slapping the Skins 16
Chapter 2: I’ve Got Rhythm 19
Developing a Sound Vocabulary 20
Adding Some Drumming Definitions 25
Becoming One with the Pulse (and I’m Not Talking Heartbeat) 27
Feeling the Meter 28
Embracing Odd Meter 29
Chapter 3: Tapping into Drumming Techniques 31
Talkin’ Technique: What You Need to Know 31
Perfecting your posture 32
Preventing injuries 32
Hitting the drum: It’s (not) all in the wrist 36
Speaking Softly and Carrying Big Sticks 37
Holding the sticks 37
Understanding drumstick strokes 40
Painting a Variety of Textures with Brushes 43
Getting to know brush styles 44
Getting a grip on brushing techniques 44
Forging a Foundation with Rudiments 47
The single-stroke roll 47
The double-stroke roll 48
The paradiddle 49
The flam 49
The ruff 50
Getting the Most Out of Your Practice Sessions 50
Starting slowly 50
Counting out the rhythm 50
Thinking it through first 50
Toughing out practice 51
Knowing when to stop 51
Chapter 4: Getting a Handle on Hand Drumming Techniques 53
Taking Matters (and Tones) into Your Own Hands 53
Opting for Open Tones 54
Basic open tone stroke 54
Thumb stroke 55
The open slap tone 55
Bass tone 56
The rim stroke 57
Mastering Muted Tones 58
Basic muted tone 58
The closed slap stroke 58
The palm stroke 59
The heel-tip stroke 59
Venturing into Some Alternative Strokes 60
Brushing stroke 60
Drone tone 61
The snap 61
Trills 61
One-handed rolls 62
Keeping Your Options Open 63
Part 2: Digging Into the Drumset 65
Chapter 5: Settling In Behind the Drumset 67
Setting Up Your Drumset 67
Sitting on the throne 68
Positioning the pedals 69
Securing the snare drum 69
Placing the tom-toms 70
Adjusting the ride cymbal 71
Angling the crash cymbals 71
Raising the hi-hats 72
Putting Your Foot Down 73
Beating the bass drum 73
Playing the hi-hats 75
Working Out: Exercises to Improve Your Hand- and Footwork 75
Chapter 6: Rolling into Rock Drumming 81
Harnessing the Backbeat 82
Mastering the Basic Beats 83
Eighth-note feel 84
Sixteenth-note feel 84
Half-time feel 86
The rock shuffle 90
The half-time shuffle feel 92
Dressing Up the Basic Beats 94
Mixing up the hi-hat 94
Moving the backbeat 96
Adding syncopations 99
Incorporating fills 100
Chapter 7: Beating the Blues 105
Finding the Pocket and Staying in It 105
Playing Blues 106
Slow tempo 106
Medium tempo 108
Fast tempo 110
Filling in or not 111
Understanding Blues Song Structure 113
Chapter 8: Rallying Around R&B and Funk 115
Playing R&B Grooves 115
Keeping time 116
Adding ghost notes 118
Opening and closing the hi-hat 122
Getting Funky: Exploring Funk Drumming 123
Incorporating syncopation 123
Syncopating the snare drum beats 125
Including ghost notes 126
Opening and closing the hi-hat 127
Chapter 9: Swinging into Jazz 129
Getting Into the Swing of It 129
Varying the tempo 132
Tackling different textures 133
Adding to the beat 134
Expanding Your Horizons 136
Riding the cymbal 137
Adding accents 138
Incorporating the snare drum 140
Including the bass drum 142
Mixing up your accents 144
Telling Your Story: Soloing 149
Making two-bar phrases 149
Creating four-bar phrases 150
Blending Styles: Jazz-Fusion 151
Playing Fusion Rhythms 152
Knowing that more (not less) is more 153
Forgetting swing (at least for now) 153
Dealing with odd meter 154
Chapter 10: Looking at Latin and Caribbean Styles 157
Building On Traditions 158
Playing Afro-Cuban Rhythms 159
Bolero 159
Cha-cha 160
Mambo 160
Nanigo 161
Playing Brazilian Rhythms 162
Samba 162
Bossa nova 163
Playing Caribbean Rhythms 164
Reggae 164
Calypso 168
Filling It Out 170
Chapter 11: Ratcheting up Your Rock Drumming 171
Building on a Solid Foundation 172
Exploring Some Great Drummers and Their Grooves 173
Peeking into the pop drumming of Kenny Aronoff 173
Checking out punk’s Travis Barker 176
Catching up with the jazz influence of Carter Beauford 178
Discovering rock legend John Bonham 180
Looking at Dave Grohl’s alternative drumming 183
Jamming with a drummer’s drummer: Jeff Porcaro 184
Examining Spug’s heavy rock style 187
Finding Your Own Inspiration 189
Part 3: Dressing Up Your Drumset Skills 191
Chapter 12: Getting Into the Groove 193
Getting the Feel of the Music 193
Playing Musically 194
Understanding song structure 196
Fitting your playing style to the song 196
Choosing the Perfect Rhythm 197
Getting hints from other musicians 197
Using the music as a guide 198
Adding Your Personality 200
Choosing the bass drum part 200
Selecting the snare drum part 200
Picking the cymbals 201
Electing embellishments 201
Chapter 13: Expressing Yourself with Fills and Licks 203
Enhancing Your Drumming with Licks 204
Increasing Your Impact with Fills 206
Marking the phrase 206
Supporting dynamic variation 206
Playing Some Fills — From One Beat to Four 207
Creating Your Own Fills 212
Fitting the musical situation 213
Syncopating 214
Rolling 215
Chapter 14: Flying Solo 217
Soloing Basics 218
Keeping time 218
Playing musically 218
Thinking melodically 222
Pushing the limits 223
Part 4: Pounding Out the Beat: Traditional Drums and Percussion 225
Chapter 15: Handling Hand Drums 227
Embracing the Variety in Drums 228
Beating the Bongos 228
Playing position 229
Understanding the rhythms 230
Carrying On with the Congas 231
Playing position 232
Understanding the rhythms 234
Discovering the Djembe 235
Playing position 236
Understanding the rhythms 237
Uncovering the Udu 238
Playing position 239
Understanding the rhythms 240
Deciphering the Doumbek 241
Playing position 242
Understanding the rhythms 242
Touting the Tar 243
Playing position 244
Understanding the rhythms 245
Tapping the Power of the Tambourine/Riq 246
Playing position 247
Understanding the rhythms 248
Partying with the Pandeiro 249
Playing position 249
Understanding the rhythms 251
Chapter 16: Singling Out Stick-Played Drums 253
Bopping to the Bodhran 254
Playing position 254
Understanding the rhythms 254
Detailing the Djun Djuns 256
Playing position 257
Understanding the rhythms 257
Rubbing the Cuica 258
Playing position 259
Understanding the rhythms 259
Striking the Surdo 261
Playing position 262
Understanding the rhythms 262
Rapping the Repanique 264
Playing position 265
Understanding the rhythms 265
Tapping the Tamborim 266
Playing position 267
Understanding the rhythms 267
Tinkering with the Timbales 269
Playing position 269
Understanding the rhythms 270
Chapter 17: Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Exploring Other Percussion Instruments 273
Ringing the Agogo Bells 274
Playing position 274
Understanding the rhythms 275
Twisting and Shaking the Afuche/Cabasa 276
Playing position 276
Understanding the rhythms 277
Keying in to the Clave 278
Playing position 279
Understanding the rhythms 279
Clanging the Cowbell 281
Playing position 281
Understanding the rhythms 282
Scraping the Guiro 282
Playing position 283
Understanding the rhythms 283
Movin’ to the Maracas 284
Playing position 285
Understanding the rhythms 285
Experimenting with Shakers 286
Playing position 287
Understanding the rhythms 287
Tapping the Triangle 288
Playing position 288
Understanding the rhythms 289
Chapter 18: Jamming with World Rhythms 291
Demystifying Polyrhythms 292
It Takes a Village: Using More Rhythms for Better Sound 292
The Rhythm Nations: Playing Well with Others 293
Exploring African polyrhythms 293
Checking out Cuban polyrhythms 296
Banging out Brazilian polyrhythms 297
Part 5: Choosing, Tuning, and Caring For Your Drums 303
Chapter 19: Decision Time: Selecting a Drum of Your Own 305
Choosing a Drumset 306
The drums 306
Other hardware you have to buy separately 308
The cymbals 309
The sticks 310
Choosing a Traditional Drum 310
Natural or synthetic drumheads 311
Shell type 312
Hardware style 314
Branching Out: The Extras 314
Keeping time with the metronome 314
Carrying it all in cases 315
Knowing Where to Find Drums 316
Chapter 20: Tuning and Maintaining Your Drums 317
Checking Out Tuning Basics 318
Tuning a drum with lugs 318
Tuning a drum with a rope system 319
Tuning the untunable 320
Choosing and Replacing Heads 320
Knowing when heads need replacing 320
Choosing replacement heads 321
Replacing your heads 323
Caring for Your Drums 323
Handling hardware 323
Cleaning cymbals 324
Storing and transporting safely 325
Part 6: The Part of Tens 327
Chapter 21: Ten Ways to Expand Your Drumming Horizons 329
Checking out Classes 329
Visiting Clinics 330
Attending Workshops 330
Exploring Drum Circles and Jams 330
Perusing Books and Videos 331
Getting Online 331
Reading Magazines 332
Joining a Band 332
Forming Your Own Band 333
Playing Open Stage 333
Chapter 22: Ten Tips for Finding a Drum Instructor 335
Test Driving a Teacher 335
Knowing Where to Look 336
Understanding the Costs Involved 336
Exploring a Teacher’s Playing Style 337
Gauging a Teacher’s Willingness to Teach to Your Interests 337
Starting Where You are 338
Getting a Sense of History 338
Honoring Yourself 339
Understanding Expectations 340
Knowing When to Move On 341
Appendix: How to Use the Website 343
Index 359
