In the past few days, I worked on some exercises, new drum transcriptions, and books. Something I’ll be glad to share with you. It’s going to be a hot summer! Here’s a series of exercises to work on quarter note triplets, developing coordination and independence. We start off with the basic pattern on the snare, … More Quarter Note Triplet Exercises Part 1
Here’s an exercise to develop your independence, playing various cymbal patterns on a 3 over 4 pattern between the bass drum and the hi-hat. We start with the first basic pattern on the bass drum, then with the second one we add the hi-hat, alternating the two pedals. On the second page of the PDF, … More Polyrhythmic Independence Exercise – 3 over 4
Last month I talked about paradiddle application using the book “Stick Control”, in particular the exercises 5 to 8 of page 5. Here’s a summary of all the things discussed in the previous article. The grooves are played with the hi-hat on the downbeat. Here below the variation of the first groove (exercise 5) playing … More Paradiddle Grooves – Stick Control Application Part Two
… More Paradiddle Grooves – Stick Control Application Part 2
The rhythmic possibilities of G. L. Stone’s book Stick Control are endless. Here’s a drumset application using exercises 5 to 8 of the Single Beat Combinations section to create grooves based on paradiddles. We’ll arrange each part as follows: right hand on the ride cymbal, and left hand on the snare with ghost notes, accenting … More Paradiddle Grooves – Stick Control Application Part 1
Here’s a workout to develop your left-hand reading exercises 1 to 8 of Ted Reed’s Syncopation. The exercise should be played in cut time: left-hand plays accents and right-hand fill-ins with ghost notes. Feel free also to incorporate foot patterns. Here’s a demonstration of the exercise at 80 and 104 bpm. Try the same concept … More Left Hand Workout
Here’s a series of exercises to develop and improve your ability to play ghost notes on an 8th-note groove, using different bass drum combinations. You can apply the exercises on the ride cymbal with various left-foot hi-hat ostinatos. The challenging thing is to play the two ghost notes before and after the backbeat, so start … More Grooving with Ghost Notes
I want to thank John Di Raimo for contacting me and sharing his article about the Jeff Porcaro single-hand hi-hat technique, particularly on the famous tune “I Keep Forgettin’” by Michael McDonald. Here’s the original article, published by Modern Drummer in January 2009. These exercises are so helpful in mastering the single-hand hi-hat technique, especially … More Groove Like Jeff by John Di Raimo
In the previous months, I shared some exercises using Stick Control by G. L. Stone to play different accent combinations (single, double, and triple), using the famous pages Single Beat Combinations. All these combinations, the first 12 exercises, are now available for free in one printable PDF file. DOWNLOAD THE PDF Every single line should … More Stick Control Accent Workout
In this last part of the series Stick Control Accent Workout, I introduce the three accent combinations as shown in the preview image below. As discussed in the previous lessons, remember to play the exercises with different dynamics. This is a workout that needs some technical skills: Moeller technique, rebound, and an ability to master … More Stick Control Workout – Triple Accent Combinations
Here’s part two of the Stick Control Workout with accents. In the previous lesson, I introduced the single accent, in case you’ve missed it be sure to check it out. Now things become more complicated by adding two accents, as shown in the figure below. As discussed in the book Master Studies by Joe Morello, … More Stick Control Workout – Double Accent Combinations
Francis' Drumming Blog 