Drumming

If you’re feeling perplexed about how to get that egg-rolling-down-a-hill feel you get in Brazilian music, check out this great video from Edu Ribero.

I recorded this for one of those video montage thingies they are all doing these days. My colleague Rodrigo and me are doing a free online music class demonstrating the bits for some of our favourite songs. We will be inviting the attendees to contribute to group projects involving playing and recording. The classes will take place every Thursday at 17.00 on Zoom. Please contact me if you’d like to join in. Here’s a PDF with the beat written out… Read More »Can’t Hurry Love Beat

I love David Bruce’s videos. He talks about Western Classical music composition and theory, the history of music and the broad influences incorporated into modern music making. Even when the topics are beyond my comprehension, I enjoy watching his videos and picking up what I can. This video about the evolution of percussion in Classical composition is reeally interesting. Take a look:

This is a great video by drummer Ari Hoenig about learning to sing the music that you play. The idea here is presented in relation to jazz songs but whatever music you’re playing, knowing the song is going to make you play like a real musician.

Check out the amazing Brian Blade playing with the Hamburg Radio Big Band. Blade’s touch, feel and musicality are just incredible. What a beautiful thing to watch and listen to.

I love the Sounds Like A Drum channel on YouTube. These guys really know their shit when it comes to making drums sound great. They explain everything from the way drumheads work, how to choose snare wires and fit them, how to tune for different sounds and styles, how to attain exotic sounds and so on. All of their videos are worth watching. Here’s a playlist featuring the essential tuning basics just to get you started. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYTmGAbCD30Mr1z_pgp3ypw

A student of mine wanted to learn how to play to Sunflower by a chap called Post Malone. It’s a hand-to-hand sixteenth note groove. I wrote a bunch of variations to help develop facility with these sorts of patterns. If you find it useful, enjoy. I recommend playing the hihat accents throughout but you may prefer not to. Download the PDF here.