Skip to content

Drum Lesson

Offbeat 8th Note Groove Snare & Bass 16ths

Here’s an addendum to the recent video about offbeat 8th note grooves. Let’s add some 16ths on the snare and bass. Once you’ve got the hang of all that, try combining snare and bass 16ths. You can have hours of fun with this. The objective is to internalise these patterns and then learn to mix them up. Don’t forget you can vary the snare and bass 8ths too as demonstrated in the previous video. Maybe you can do that in… Read More »Offbeat 8th Note Groove Snare & Bass 16ths

Offbeat 8th Note Groove

Offbeat 8th Note Grooves

Once you’ve got the hang of a reasonable amount of standard 8th note rock vocabulary, it can be fun and useful to learn a whole load of variations for the hahat/ride pattern to allow you to spice up your grooves. One very common and popular option is to play offbeat (or upbeat) 8ths on the hihat or ride which means we’re playing just the &’s. It takes a bit of thought to get the hang of the coordination but if… Read More »Offbeat 8th Note Grooves

Learn to Play Zigaboo Modeliste’s Groove on Sailing Shoes

Zigaboo Modeliste is one of the true forefathers of funk drumming and in this YouTube video I explain the groove he plays on Robert Palmer’s Sailing Shoes. The song was written by the great Lowell George and was on the Little Feat record of the same name. Palmer’s version of Sailing Shoes appears on his 1974 debut album, Sneaking Sally Through The Alley. The song is brought to life here by Palmer’s energy and the Meters’ awesome funky backing as… Read More »Learn to Play Zigaboo Modeliste’s Groove on Sailing Shoes

Train Beat Snare Drum variations

Train Beat Lesson – Basic Snare Drum Variations

Here’s my latest video about the train beat. I made on years ago intending to follow up with a series of snare and bass drum variations. I wasn’t very productive YouTubewise though and it’s been waiting for me to get into the process seriously. The Covid thing has been a strong motivator for me to produce regular video content and so the world is about to get more Train Beat related video education content stuff. Here are a couple of… Read More »Train Beat Lesson – Basic Snare Drum Variations

Live, Loud & Drum Healthy Vol. 1

I watched this video recently on YouTube by a bloke called Jai Es who talks about a lot of stuff I think is very important for drummers and not discussed as often as it should. It’s a great run down of fundamental drum technique with a great deal of focus on posture, relaxation, attitude and flow. Jai addresses the mental and spiritual aspects of musicianship and drumming in particular as well as discussing the importance of maintaining your health in… Read More »Live, Loud & Drum Healthy Vol. 1

Playing Ghost Notes In A Shuffle Groove Like Reelin’ In The Years

I’ve been listening to Steely Dan’s Album Can’t Buy A Thrill a lot lately and two songs really stand out. One is Dirty Work, a very laid back, greasy and dark tune with a funky groove. The other is Reelin’ In The Years which bounces along beautifully, driven by Jim Hodder’s light and fluffy shuffle with ghost notes. It’s so good I’ve listened to the song about fifty times since Sunday. Shuffles are interesting. Despite being a very common feel,… Read More »Playing Ghost Notes In A Shuffle Groove Like Reelin’ In The Years

Drum Intro For Tony Allen’s Go Back From His Latest Album

Damon Albarn is a pretty lucky guy since his rock star status allows him to play with musicians of the calibre of Tony Allen. Having said that, he’s quite good at songwriting and Go Back from the album Film Of Life is really good. On the album version of the song is this intro which I just realised is absent from the radio version of the song which is available on Youtube. I guess it’s a good reason to get… Read More »Drum Intro For Tony Allen’s Go Back From His Latest Album

Trash Can Endings – Another Cool Lesson from Rob Brown

I just came across this video by Rob Brown on a subject I’ve not seen covered much before – the big rock ending or Trash Can Ending (not a term I’ve heard before but will adopt, albeit as Dustbin Ending). I tend to leave it to chance which is a bit risky because there’s the possibility of making a horrible mess. Rob’s ideas here are clean, sound great and can be combined to great effect. I am going to get… Read More »Trash Can Endings – Another Cool Lesson from Rob Brown

Ash Soan’s Reggae Delay Effect

Here’s a quickie – Ash Soan is releasing short videos with little ideas to try out, lots of fun and interesting things. This one demonstrates his way of producing the effect of the delayed cross-stick or hihat sound that is very common on reggae recordings. Ash has an app for Android and Apple gadgets called Drum Hub where you can access more material, it’s worth checking out.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy