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This post has been inspired by the book ‘How to teach drums’ by Claire Brock, a book that I would recommend to new and established drum teachers.

After purchasing and reading this book I started thinking about how I could work with other drum teachers to provide a catalogue of potential resources to support drummers teaching and learning experiences.

The first part of this series of posts is teaching books; I have compiled a list of recommended books that teachers should consider making use of when teaching students with different abilities and learning needs.

This list of books has been compiled by me using the books that I use as well as those suggested by other drum teachers in response to a question on the ‘BSTDUK(2)’ forum page on Facebook and I would like to thank the following drum teachers for their contributions to this list:

Tim Sharp; Joel Waters; Colin Woolway; Calum Macleod; Julian Ecymbals; Jack Wright; James Sharp; Pip Harbon.

I hope you find this list useful and if you think there are any books that are not mentioned in this list that should be please post a reply with the books Title and Author, as well as your name.

David.

Hand / Foot Technique Development

Stick Control – George Lawrence Stone

The Weaker Side – Dom Famularo & Stephane Chamberland

Advanced Techniques For The Modern Drummer – Jim Chapin

Progressive Steps To Syncopation – Ted Reed

Buddy Rich’s Modern Interpretation Of Drum Rudiments – Buddy Rich & Henry Adler

Buddy Rich snare drum method – Buddy Rich

Syncopated Rolls for the Modern Drummer – Jim Blackley

Natural Hand Development For Drummers- Roy Burns

Wrist And Finger Control For The Advanced Drummer – Charley Wilcoxon

The Moeller Book – Sanford A. Moeller

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Drum Kit Tutor Books

Music Reading for Drummers – Dave Hazlewood

Practical Percussion – Kevin Edwards

Drumsense Volumes 1 & 2 – Colin Woolway

Drumset For Beginners – Paul Hose & Jim Farey

Eighth Note Rock And Beyond – Glenn Ceglia & Dom Famularo

Rudimental Rock Rhythms – Ronnie Bottomley

The Art Of The Drummer- John Savage

Rhythmic Patterns For The Modern Drummer – Joe Cusatis

Essential Styles – Steve Houghton & Tom Warrington

It’s Your Move – Dom Famularo & Joe Bergamini

Groove Essentials: The Play Along – Tommy Igoe

Groove Facility – Rob Hirons & Dom Famularo

Afro Carribean Drum Grooves – Chuck Silverman

Latin Grooves – Dave Hassell

Double Bass Drumming: The Mirrored Groove System – Jeff Bowders

The New Breed – Gary Chester

4-Way Co-Ordination – Marvin Dahlgren & Elliot Fine

Mastering the Tables of Time – David Stanoch

Latin Grooves – Dave Hassell

Graded Course for Drum Kit (Books 1 & 2) – Dave Hassell

Groove Alchemy – Stanton Moore

100 Famous Funk Beats – Jim Payne

The Breakbeat Bible – Mike Adamo

The Art of Bop Drumming – John Riley

The Drum Perspective – Peter Erskine

Advanced Concepts & Techniques for simple jazz & rock independence – Peter Erskine

Ultimate Playalong Level 1,Vols. 1 & 2 – Dave Weckl

Essential Styles Books 1 & 2 – Steve Houghton

The Drumset Soloist – Steve Houghton

Realistic Rock for Kids – Carmine Appice

Reading, Rudiments & Rock Drumming – Joel Rothman

Mini-Monster Book of Rock Drumming – Joel Rothman

Rock Breaks Around the Drums – Joel Rothman

Rudiments Around the Drums – Joel Rothman

Basic Drumming Made Easy- Joel Rothman

Evolution of Jazz Drumming – Danny Gottlieb

Riddim: Claves of African Origin – Billy Martin

West African Rhythms for Drumset – Royal Hartigan

Rockschool Drums – Rockschool

Rockschool Hot Rock Drums – Rockschool

Trinty Guildhall Exam books – Trinty Guildhall

Trinty Rock and Pop Exam books -Trinity College

Contemporary Drum Fills – John Savage

Brushworks – Clayton Cameron

Brush Artistry – Philly Joe Jones

Future Sounds – David Garibaldi

Jazz Standards for Drumset – Brian Fullen

Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band Play Along Series Drums – Gordon Goodwin, Bernie Dresel

The Level System – Jeff W. Johnson

Double Trouble – Pete Riley

New discovery for today

<a href=”http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7649035/?claim=ne893693kgt”>Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

I’ve discovered Bloglovin and am going to give it a go. Anyone else using it?

Can you recommend any blogs to follow?

StickittoMS

The day has finally arrived for the StickittoMS world record attempt to get the most drummers playing together for 5 minutes.

I dragged myself out of bed, loaded up and headed out. First stop was in Queensbury to collect a student who was also taking part, followed by a short stop for something to eat at a well known chain and then it was a quick drive down the M62 to Eventcity in Manchester.

When we arrived we were greeted by a wall of sound and there were only 200 of the 842 drummers in, time for earplugs!

10:00

Should be 400 drummers here now and the room is starting to fill up. Everyone’s been told not to play, which is a good time to rest the era from the earplugs and take a look at the kits.

11:00

We’ve just practiced the 4 bar phrase we have to play for the world record. OMG because of sound lag from the other side of the room it sounds like you are our of sync when you are playing correctly. thankfully there is a click with green and red lights to follow.

New Mantra to remember: keep on watching, keep on watching, keep on watching.

14:00

3 hours have passed with a mix of practicing the required performance for the world record, playing along to the house band and being entertained by Steve White, Andy Treacy and Russell Gilbrook.

16:00

After some more practicing the time finally came for the World record attempt. Two runs through the 5 minute performance of the 4 bar phrase needed. The first with a metronome, the second with Steve White setting the pulse.

Both runs were brilliant and it was announced that we had set a new world record.

All that was left was to pack up and head for home.

What a great day.

Finding a Drum Teacher (Part 2)

In part one I wrote about ways to find a drum teacher, but how do you know that the teacher you find is
the best teacher for you

Quick Tip – Reading drum charts

Drum Charts are easier to read, and make more sense, if the music is the right way up.

Finding a drum teacher (part 1)

So you’ve decided you need to find a teacher but how do you find the right teacher for you?

In this post I will look at how you can find a teacher in your area.

1. Speak to other drummers.

If you know other drummers who have lessons ask them about their teacher; a recommendation is always a good way to find a teacher.

2. Ask at your local music shop.

Most music shops keep a list of local teachers, and some provide lessons.

3. Search the Internet.

Use search engines (google, bing, yahoo, etc.) to find drum teachers in your area or look at specialist websites such as Drumsense or musicteachers.co.uk

If you like this post, or if you have any other ideas about finding a teacher please leave a comment.

 

Quick Tip: Glockenspiele

If you aren’t using all of the notes on your glock put a towel or fleece blanket over the end you aren’t using. Then you can put your sticks, triangle, tambourine, etc, on the glock silently.

I think it’s important to add that many of the skills and techniques I use in my playing and teaching have been learnt from books and listening to / watching other drummers.
However, it would not have been possible for me to do this if I hadn’t had lessons from some excellent percussion and drum kit teachers who have all contributed to my style and technique which I constantly evolving.

RhythmInside

You’ve got your drum kit and you’ve just realised that playing the drums is not as easy as it looks; so what do you do?
You can either find a drum teacher or have a go at teaching yourself, so which option should you choose?

Why choose The DIY method?

If you search on the Internet you will find a wide choice of teach yourself books and DVDs as well as websites and YouTube videos that will show you how to play.

Books and DVDs can cost a lot less than a drum lesson and many online lessons are free, also you can work on them at your own pace, this is great for busy people who can’t always make a regular time for drum lessons.

This makes self teaching look like a very good way to go but in reality it can, in the long term, be a very…

View original post 489 more words

Learning to play the drums: DIY or get a teacher?

You’ve got your drum kit and you’ve just realised that playing the drums is not as easy as it looks; so what do you do?
You can either find a drum teacher or have a go at teaching yourself, so which option should you choose?

Why choose The DIY method?

If you search on the Internet you will find a wide choice of teach yourself books and DVDs as well as websites and YouTube videos that will show you how to play.

Books and DVDs can cost a lot less than a drum lesson and many online lessons are free, also you can work on them at your own pace, this is great for busy people who can’t always make a regular time for drum lessons.

This makes self teaching look like a very good way to go but in reality it can, in the long term, be a very costly decision, both financially and physically.

At this point some people may be wondering why I’ve stated that teaching yourself can be costly to both your finances and your physical well being and I will get on to answering that in due course.

The biggest problem with programmes that allow you to teach yourself is that in order for them to work you have to have some prior understanding of music and be able to understand from text and pictures the physical mechanics needed to play the drums correctly.

This is where having lessons with a good, experienced teacher is vitally important.

A book, DVD or Internet lesson can’t look at what you’re doing and correct any problems that you have with posture, technique or musical knowledge and understanding.

It is important that you get all three of these right from the beginning of your playing a they are the key to a players development and longevity.
Posture and technique go hand in hand in ensuring a drummer is able to remain problem free for the whole of his career.
A small problem in your posture or technique can lead to long term problems with your back, shoulders, hips and the muscles throughout your body. These are easily sorted out by a good teacher before they become the norm, however, once you get your posture and technique established it can be more difficult to correct because you have to change your bodies muscle memory map at the same time as retraining it to use a new system.

A good teacher will also show you how to read drum notation correctly so that you can follow any drum chart and play any pattern. It is at this point that the many different drum kit tuition books become a usable tool that any drummer can learn from.

I have a pupil who is learning to play the bongoes, he has a lesson every 6-8 weeks. In his first lessons we worked on getting his technique correct and now when he contacts me for a lesson it’s usually because he doesn’t understand what the notation he is looking at means. We go over the rhythm patterns and how they fit with rhythm he has learnt previously and he is then able to go away and continue to work from a teach yourself to play book.

This is how it should be when you learn the drums as well, if you choose the right teacher they will bring your technique, skills, knowledge and understanding of reading and playing drum notation to the point where you can go away from your lessons and make progress on your own leaving your teacher free to correct errors and teach you new skills.

Whether you choose to find a teacher or to learn from a book I hope you enjoy your time playing.

If you agree,or disagree, with anything said in this post please leave a comment.

What’s it all about?

When I was a teenager I, like most young musicians, wanted to play in a band and live the rock and roll lifestyle.

As I got older I realised that I had a talent for, and enjoyed, teaching Drum Kit and Percussion, so I went to university and qualified as a teacher, safe in the knowledge I could go back to playing at any time.

Since leaving university I have had spells working as a Primary School Teacher, Special Needs Teacher and Peripatetic Instrument teacher by day, while teaching drum kit and percussion in my spare time and playing in amateur and semi-professional music groups covering a wide range of musical styles.

Sometimes juggling my many hats, (parent, husband, school teacher, drum teacher, player and part time Bassett Hound) can be quite a trick, and in this blog I will record some of my days to give a taste of that life, and maybe inspire other drummers to help bring on the next generation of players.