Whether we are aware or not, all professional musicians are entrepreneurs. Being a pro musician is the same as being a business owner. We teach music, play gigs, compose and arrange songs, practice, work with clients, hire others, and a thousand other tasks. Thinking of ourselves as not only musicians but business owners might sound strange, but it has the power create positive change for our careers.

Being a self-employed entrepreneur is tough. Without the security of working for a large business, there is a lot to be covered alone. Almost all musicians are responsible for their own taxes, health insurance, debt collection, research and development, and operating/material costs.

Needless to say, it’s tough out there for musicians. But if we can realign the way we think about our business, it can get easier. However, running a business might not come easy to many musicians. We think of ourselves as artists first and usually handle the business side of things later. Maybe there is a better way.

The Power of Books

One easy way for a musician to grow their non-musical skills is by reading a few books. Reading someone else’s words can help give a completely new perspective on a topic. The topic of entrepreneurship and business has been covered to death, and you might think you’ve heard it all before. However, reading grants us a new perspective, and there is a lot of material to draw from.

Musicians are good at practice and repetition. Learning new skills is in our blood. What we have built as musicians will only make what we read even more powerful. By combining our skills and dedication to music with the knowledge contained in a great book, we have the opportunity to not only become better musicians, but to create a thriving business that can support our love for the arts forever.

This may force you to take your eyes off your music method books for a bit. They will still be there when you come back. I promise. The skills found in the books below are essential for your success as a well-rounded musician, and you should take the time to practice other aspects of your career.

Below I have compiled a list of non-music books that I have found very useful in changing my mindset from strictly music to entrepreneurship.

The War of Art – Steven Pressfield

Every musician has experience the pain of feeling stuck with their art. We plateau, we get lazy, and it feels like we can no longer produce music that used to flow so easily. Steven Pressfield’s masterpiece, The War of Art addresses these very issues by placing them under an all encompassing persona: resistance.

Pressfield identifies and personifies resistance, then reveals how to eliminate it. his words are heavy and convicting, but are essential to hear for every artist. If you’re looking for an illuminating glance into your own artistic mind, I’d start with The War of Art.

I actually revisit The War of Art a few times every year. No matter where I am in my journey as a musician, I always get something different out of every read. If you choose one book from this list, let it be this one.

The Obstacle is the Way – Ryan Holiday

Coming from one of my favorite modern authors is The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph. This book goes very well with The War of Art and is a guidebook for how to turn obstacles into advantages. Musicians know a lot about obstacles.

Written by Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is the Way could be considered a philosophical text more than anything. Holiday draws heavily from the writings of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Stoic philosophy. Examples of war generals, world leaders, record breaking pilots, and business magnates are found as case studies for how to win over tough situations.

I have found myself feeling stuck with my career choices plenty of times. No matter what I try, at some point, a big problem always gets in the way. At first, it’s easy for me to think that this problem is the end and that it’s time to move on. However, after reading The Obstacle is the Way, I’ve began to change my thinking.

As the chairman of the X-Prize Foundation, Peter Diamandis says, “a problem is a terrible thing to waste”. Seeing opportunities in problems is an essential skill for every musician. Something in our lives/careers will eventually go wrong and we need to be prepared for it. Even better, we need to start thinking of obstacles as a guide for what to do next.

For more of the writing of Ryan Holiday, I also recommend some of his other books, Ego is the Enemy, and The Perennial Seller.

So Good They Can’t Ignore You – Cal Newport

You have already heard that a successful career starts with you following your passion. The advice is so common, you’ve probably given it to someone else. But is passion really what creates lasting musical careers? Or is it actually hard work, consistent practice, and building skills?

in So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Cal Newport dispels the myth of passion by revealing that a love for what you do is earned and not simply stumbled upon. In order to earn your passion, you need to be as Comedian Steve Martin puts it, “so good they can’t ignore you”.

Newport’s writing is humbling and will cause you to look at your music career with a new set of eyes. By using concepts like career capital, and deep work, Newport makes the case for hard work and dedication being what fosters passion. None of us knew immediately that we wanted to be musicians, but the idea was built up over the years of practice that we put in.

As a drummer, there are many times when I think to myself, “why am I still doing this?” Sometimes it’s after 5 hours of getting nowhere during practice, or the long and exhausting gigs that only pay $20. No matter what, these dark days will inevitably come. However, So Good They Can’t Ignore You provides an excellent blueprint for keeping yourself on the right track and reshaping why we do what we do.

If you can’t get enough of Cal Newports writing (I definitely can’t), then I would highly recommend his book Deep Work, which discusses how to focus and get things done in a distracted world. Something everyone needs.

This is Marketing – Seth Godin

If musicians are entrepreneurs, then it’s time to start acting like we run a business. And based on the hundreds of ads we see everyday, for a business to be successful, their marketing has to be good. This is Marketing by Seth Godin is a fantastic guide for how any business (or musician) should approach the topic of marketing.

If you’re thinking that marketing doesn’t apply to musicians, think again. When someone looks you up for a potential gig, when a friend hires you sub for them, or when other musicians are saying your name, marketing is at work.

This is Marketing approaches the topic in a completely new way. Rather than a step by step guide, Godin’s focus is on reframing the way we think. His approach is ethical, empathetic, and emphasizes producing good work instead of trickery and sales tactics.

All musicians should know how to market themselves. At least a little bit. Whether or not we know it, we are selling ourselves as a product. Choosing what story we tell about ourselves and our music is important. Someone could be looking you up right now, and if you don’t know what they are going to see, you could be losing potential work.

While I would consider This is Marketing to be a complete collection, Many of the same ideas can be found in Seth Godin’s other books: Purple Cow, and Tribes, which I would also recommend.

Atomic Habits – James Clear

Would you be surprised if I told you that we have very little control over what we do from moment to moment? Or that every day of our lives are run by a series of cascading habits moving on autopilot? According to Atomic Habits by James Clear, this may be the case.

You probably haven’t noticed how you brush your teeth the same way every day, or how you put the same leg first into your pants each morning. How many times have you been driving to a gig only to arrive and think “I don’t remember how I even got here”? One after the other, our habits unfold and subconsciously guide us throughout the day.

Atomic Habits is an illuminating look into our habit systems and how they can either make or break us. As James says, “we don’t rise to the level of our training, we fall to the level of our systems”. And like it or not, if our systems are not set up for success, we are doomed to fail.

Atomic Habits is about breaking bad habits, replacing them with good ones, and eventually improving ourselves. James makes the case for how tiny habits are the agent for massive success if we can only gain control of them.

Musicians should be seeing the potential for Atomic Habits immediately. Imagine if you could reprogram yourself to practice an hour every morning. How about habitually sitting down to compose every afternoon without fail? I highly recommend Atomic Habits to every musician out there. It’s easy to understand, practical to implement, and can make you feel near superhuman.

Since reading Atomic Habits, I have started to put better systems in place for myself. I now write and practice drums more than I have in years. The best part is that while my productivity has been steadily increasing, I almost haven’t noticed. These new routines have become a part of my life. A habit if you will.

Jab Jab Jab, Right Hook – Gary Vaynerchuk

If you don’t wake up at 3:00am, call everyone “bro”, and charge through the day like you have an IV of cocaine dripping directly into your bloodstream, you may not relate to Gary Vaynerchuk. He’s a man on 10 at all times, is known to be abrasive, and will inevitably make you feel like you are never enough (Read this hilarious VICE article for a better look into Gary’s world). But Gary’s got something only a select few of us have: non-stop hustle. While this sort of dedication to “getting stuff done” is near impossible to live up to, it can produce a book that might help us normal folk learn something.

Say what you will about Gary Vaynerchuk, but his book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook does an excellent job of covering a topic every musician should at least be aware of: social media. Someone is going to look you up on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc, and it helps to to know what they are going to see.

It might not be essential, but for those of us that use social media as a form of marketing, it’s important to get a decent grasp of what’s going on. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook can be used to help craft your online identity.

Vaynerchuk’s strategy revolves around providing constant and free value to your audience with hopes of asking for something from them later. Inside the book, Vaynerchuk provides loads of examples from both large companies and smaller independent creators using social media both the right and wrong way.

Think about when you are on Facebook and that one guitar player will not stop posting about his gig next week. does their continual posting make you want to be in attendance? Probably not. So how can we ask things of our audience without alienating them? Questions like this are answered in Vaynerchuk’s book.

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is a solid guide for how you should be using your social media accounts. Whether or not you find social media to be a strong point of your marketing as a musician, it is still helpful to understand the various ways the platforms can be used to increase your exposure.

Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert T. Kiyosaki

I can hear some of you rolling your eyes already, but let me explain. How many times have you heard a musician say that they are destined to be poor? If only I had a nickel for every time I’ve said it…

Money isn’t everything, and using wealth as a gauge for success can be damaging. I know many incredible musicians that don’t make much money at all. Are they successful? Absolutely. However, considering how skilled they are as musicians, the fact that they can’t even afford to pay their rent or repair their instruments is sad.

The idea that musicians are poor is a stereotype that refuses to be broken. But this doesn’t have to be the case.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki isn’t the most detailed of finance books, but for any musician interested in gaining control over their finances, it is a great starting point. The reason is because Kiyosaki makes the case that financial success is really about mental state more than anything else.

According to Kiyosaki, those that are financially successful view and interact with the world in a fundamentally different way. Their viewpoint is what guides every decision they make and turns the act of generating money into a breeze. Kiyosaki explores the concept of multiple income streams, which all musicians today should be very aware of. For a musician, there is no such thing as one single income stream anymore. The sooner we catch on, the better.

Rich Dad Poor Dad was the first book on finance that I ever read. I might disagree with how Kiyosaki’s insists on calling people “losers”, however his book made me believe that I had a chance to defy my negative thoughts and be financially savvy. Since reading this book, I’ve read many other books on finance, eliminated my debt, have savings built up, and invest regularly.

Having financial security is an amazing feeling. I may not be rich by any measure, but the fact that I know I’ll be able to pay my rent next month is a huge comfort. I wish for every musician to quit thinking they are destined to be poor and to begin taking control over their financial life.

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle – Tom Venuto

Diet and exercise is something that needs to be taken very seriously. Heart disease is the world’s biggest killer and is still on the rise. We have a lot to worry about in our lives, but without our health, it is all pointless anyway.

Musicians are not usually the most athletic. We are artists that dedicate our free time to practicing our craft. However, practicing music usually requires staying in stasis for long periods of time, and hopefully we all know that being still for too long is awful for our bodies.

Exercise can be intimidating if we don’t know what to do. But considering the alternative of poor health and injuries, I’d say it’s worth learning a little about it.

Personally, I don’t care which book on exercise you read, just read something. But if you’re looking for a good starting point, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto is a fantastic read. Venuto (An award winning bodybuilder) creates an inspiring case for how anyone can gain control over their body through a detailed look into the fundamentals of fat loss, muscle gain, food, supplements, and of course exercise.

I started reading Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle in my early 20’s. At the time I didn’t care about “working out”. I was young and blessed with a speedy metabolism. However, I read the book on a whim and was immediately inspired to change how I thought about my body.

Today I do some form of exercise daily, attempt to eat healthier, and in general, feel amazing. I rarely get ill, have never had a drumming injury, and most importantly, feel good about myself.

Everyone should live a long and happy life, but it has to begin with our body. You don’t have to be in incredible shape, but being in good health can make life much more enjoyable. Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is very informative, detailed, and best of all will inspire you to take your health seriously.

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These books are just a starting point. As entrepreneurs, musicians need to start taking the other aspects of their business seriously. Being the best player in the room might seem important, but without a good handle on many other aspects of our lives and business, we may never realize our full potential.

What non-music books have helped you build your career? Leave a comment down below with some of your favorites!

During my college days, learning to drum was simple. My only job at the time was to get better at my instrument, and this single focus made it much easier to grow skills quickly. I had hours of free time dedicated to practicing, I was surrounded by music, and there were world class instructors and musicians all around me.

At the time, my life revolved around drums and I had the time and exposure to practice and grow as a musician. These days, that is no longer the case. I now teach drums full time, and between building this website and a busy gigging schedule, I’m left with little time to practice drums.

As I’ve explained many times, your drum skill is directly related to the amount of practice time you put in. But for the majority, if you aren’t going to school for drums, the amount of time you have available for practice is small.

Most of you are not attending college for drumset, however, many of you still wish to be a better drummer. Balancing practice time between work, family, friends, and the thousands of other commitments we have can be difficult.

So how can a drummer squeeze the most value out of their precious little practice time? There are many different ways to approach a short practice session, but two of the most effective methods are by using compound and isolation drumming exercises.

Do You Even Lift, Bro?

Maybe it’s because I like to exercise, or maybe it’s because I think fitness is a language many of us understand, but I like to compare practicing music to working out. The similarities between exercise and practice are many. Destroying yourself in order to build new strengths, showing up even if you don’t want to be there, and building neurological pathways are a few of the many ways that the two activities are mutual.

Just like there are many different ways to work out, there are different styles to practicing drums. Some may seem better than others, but I prefer to look at it as some methods are more appropriate than others. For example, if you were training for a weight lifting competition, you may not want to focus your exercise time on long distance running. This same approach applies to practicing drums.

Know Your Goals

If you need to learn 100 songs for an upcoming coverband gig, practicing your double strokes may not be the best use of your time. Or if you have an upcoming gig with a fusion band, you may want to practice building chops and odd time playing instead of trying to memorize the drums to Boston’s More Than a Feeling.

Knowing your practice goals is a key factor in determining how you are going to approach each session. Even if you’re not working towards something, it’s important to at least put that in your mind. Think, “I don’t have anything specific to learn, so today’s practice session is going to be a general, all around maintenance session.”

Make a Plan

It doesn’t have to be very detailed, but making a rough plan of how your practice session is going to go will keep you on track. When I am on my way to the practice room, I will make a mental note of what I’m trying to accomplish, how much time I have, and how I’m going to spend that time.

The more detailed you can plan a session, the more you’ll get out of it. Going in without any plan will only waste your precious time, and keep you off-track. If time is of the essence, careful planning is going to help your practice sessions be more fruitful.

Compound Vs. Isolation Exercises

If you have spent some time in the gym, you probably already understand the concept of compound and isolation exercises. Each exercise has their advantages and disadvantages, and it’s important to know when and where you’d want to do each one.

Consider a bench press vs an arm curl. The bench press is considered a compound exercise. It is focused around the chest, but has the advantage of hitting the shoulders, arms, and abs all at the same time. On the other hand, the arm curl is an exercise that only focuses on the biceps. Each exercise has their place, but it’s important to know when to do them.

Overall, since compound exercises hit many different muscle groups at once, I would consider those exercises a better “bang for your buck”. On the other hand, isolation exercises are a great way to pinpoint weaknesses and specific areas. Depending on your goals, you can now figure out which exercise is best for what you want to accomplish.

But that’s enough about working out. We’re here to discuss drumming and not lifting weights. So let’s get to the topic at hand and discuss the difference between compound and isolation drumming exercises.

Isolation Drumming Exercises

If you’ve followed the advice above, hopefully you have already made a mental note of how long your practice session is going to be, and what specifically you need to work on. If there is an immediate task at hand that requires something specific, this would be a perfect time for isolation drumming exercises. An isolation exercise would be something that is geared to a very specific aspect of your drumming.

These days, when I step in the practice room, more often than not I have something specific I need to work on. It could be memorizing songs for a gig, learning a chart, or practicing a style of drumming. In most cases, I usually have a singular goal in mind.

Because other commitments tend to take up my time during the day, I no longer have the luxury of limitless practice time to work on everything. I now need to be choosy with what I practice. My practice time is precious, and if something specific needs to be worked on, I will use isolation exercises.

Some examples of isolation exercises include:

• memorizing songs
• learning a specific drum groove
• practicing a singular style of music
• working on a specific technique
• working on rudiments
• learning a chart
• patterns and fills

For many practice sessions, isolation exercises are a necessity and are the best way to spend your time. I prefer isolation exercises if I have something very specific I need to work on. Maintaining all of my focus on a single task provides me with the greatest results.

However, there are also times when there is nothing specific that needs to be worked on. In this case, I prefer to go with the more general approach and focus on compound drumming exercises.

Compound Drumming Exercises

If we’re assuming that we have a short amount of practice time available, it’s important to get the most out of the little time we have. If our session has no immediate tasks that need to be worked on, compound practice exercises are the way to go. Compounding an exercise is when we take any normal exercise and simultaneously add something else to it. This is a great way to double the effectiveness of any given exercise.

For example, practicing your double stroke roll would be considered an isolation exercise. This is because our focus is only on double strokes and nothing else. However, if we were to open up a snare method book (How about Pratt’s 14 Modern Contest Solos) and read through one of the passages, we would be tackling double stroke rolls along with many other rudiments. This turns your double stroke practice into a compound exercise. The idea is that we can cover a lot more ground and improve on multiple weaknesses with less time.

Compound drumming exercises are easier said than done. For many of us, we’ll need to build up the skills to even begin to tackle some of these exercises. However, there are plenty of ways to add compound practices into our every day routines and it’s worth taking the time to learn how to do it.

Use a Metronome

Adding a metronome to whatever you practice is one of the easiest ways to get more out of your time. If you don’t already use a metronome for the majority of your practice sessions, now is the time to start. Not only will it help you keep time, but it is a great way to turn any regular exercise into a compound exercise.

By adding a metronome to your already existing practice routines, you get the benefit of adding strict time skills to whatever you are playing. Using a metronome helps keep you in time, but it also aids with spacing notes properly, and gives you benchmarks for your technical limits.

If you can get into the habit of taking notes, using a metronome is a great way to add some structure to your practice sessions. I like to take notes of the tempos I was practicing at. This way, when I come back the next day, I already know what tempo I peaked at last time and have something to aim for.

Don’t forget that practicing things slower is also important. It’s not always about speed. I also like to take notes on how slow I can play things as well. This way I can identify what tempos feel awkward, and where things start to feel uncomfortable.

Add Foot Ostinatos

If you’re working on exercises for your hands, one of the best ways to get more out of your time is to add a foot ostinato underneath. In drumming, an ostinato is a repetitive pattern that continues to play unchanged. Ostinatos can be played with any voice on the drums, however they are commonly played by the feet.

An example of a simple foot ostinato is the Bossa Nova foot pattern:

By using repetitive foot ostinatos like the bossa nova, we can turn any exercise played in the hands into a compound exercise. Personally, I rarely do any type of hand warmup without playing some type of foot ostinato underneath. When in a time crunch, this is hands down the best way to cover a lot of ground quickly.

As an example, we could play the first two exercises of stick control on the snare while playing the bossa foot pattern underneath:

Compounding foot patterns with hand exercises helps build timing between the hands and feet, coordination, and is important for limb independence. I will admit, to get to the point where you can comfortably add foot patterns to whatever you are doing with your hands will take some time, but it is worth the extra effort.

Depending on your skill level, there are many different patterns that can be tried with the feet. I start most students with just quarter notes on the bass drum. Once that is easy enough, you can add the hi hat on 2&4. Eventually, you can move to more elaborate patterns such as left foot clave over a tumbao kick pattern.

Add Ostinatos to Reading Exercises

If you are working on your reading, a great way to add a little more difficulty to the practice is by adding ostinatos over top. This gives you the added benefit of not only working on your reading, but also practicing your independence and coordination as well. Add a metronome, and you’ve got yourself a winning combination.

As an example, let’s assume you are reading a passage of 8th notes:

One way to compound the exercise would be to move the reading to the bass drum and add a hand ostinato over top. If we turn it into a rock pattern, we also get the added benefit of having something a bit more fun to play.

Here is a simple rock hand ostinato that we could try:

When played over top of the previous 8th note reading passage, it would look something like this:

Adding different ostinatos over your reading should become standard practice. This concept becomes especially important when you want to take the plunge into jazz drumming. So go ahead and give it a try.

Click here for a list of some ostinatos that you can try on your own.

Putting it All Together

When short on practice time, our goal should be to accomplish as much as we can with the time we have. Firstly, being prepared before you begin is extremely important. Know how much time you have and what needs to be worked on.

If there is something immediate that needs to be learned, then focus on isolation exercises to accomplish the task at hand.

However, if there is nothing pressing to work on, using compound exercises is a great way to maximize your time. By adding different patterns over top of whatever we are practicing, we can compound our exercises and get more value out of our time.

Remember that you should always be using a metronome no matter what you are doing.

How do you practice if you are short on time? What are some of your go to exercises? Comment below and let me know!

I’m willing to admit that I watch a lot of YouTube. I don’t pay for Netflix or even use a friend’s password. I also don’t own any video game systems. This leaves me with little options for digital entertainment other than YouTube’s free services. Thankfully the site has a lot to keep me occupied.

If I’m not careful, I can waste huge amounts of time doing nothing on YouTube. As a way to combat my tendency to go down unproductive YouTube rabbit holes, I started watching drum videos. Drum videos act as a more “constructive” way for me to waste my time. From what I’ve found, some of YouTube’s drum channels are good, and some are not.

If you’re a new drummer, you’ve probably spent some time cruising the internet for drum tutorials and lessons. This is an awesome (and affordable) way to get some really great information. Unfortunately, if you’re new to drumming, you also have no idea whether or not the information found is any good.

So what are the best drum-centered channels on YouTube? Below is a list of the channels that I regularly watch and find to be the top of free drumming entertainment and information on YouTube. Let’s check it out!

1. Sounds Like a Drum

Drum tuning is the worst! Well not actually, but I’m sure a lot of drummers out there feel that way. After watching countless hours of drum tuning videos, it’s safe to say that Sounds Like a Drum is by far and away the best channel on YouTube regarding the subject.

Designed for drummers and sound engineers, Sounds Like a Drum features videos that go in-depth with regards to drum tuning. There are dedicated videos for each individual drum as well as plenty of tips and tricks for achieving any type of drum sound.

The tutorials on Sounds Like a Drum are not too long, are easy to understand, and the information is exceptional. I’ve referenced their snare tuning videos several times. I highly recommend the sections on bottom head tuning, as I have learned things that have never been mentioned to me before.

2. Drum Center of Portsmouth

Buying drum gear is the worst! Well not actually, but it is a totally over-marketed and confusing world to enter. People ask me all the time what sort of drums they should buy. I ask myself all the time what sort of drums I should buy. There is a lot out there to know and research, so it’s important to get your information from quality sources.

The Drum Center of Portsmouth is definitely my favorite YouTube drum channel when it comes to the retail side of drumming. Located in North Hampton in New Hampshire, the videos come directly from the floor of the drum center itself. These guys carry a shocking amount of gear. They also don’t appear to have strong allegiances to a specific brand, so their videos cover a wide range of available kits and cymbals without being to “sale-sy”

Drum Center of Portsmouth’s videos are highly detailed and come with a lot of audio and visual representation. They cover drums, snares, and cymbals, and review many of the rare boutique drum companies. They have a huge backlog of videos, and chances are they have reviewed whatever drum gear you’re currently interested in. Keep an eye out for their fun shootout videos comparing similar drums head to head.

The guys at The Drum Center of Portsmouth are hard workers, know their stuff, and are decent drummers. I highly recommend Drum Center of Portsmouth’s YouTube channel for all of your drum retail needs.

3. Mike’s Lessons

Learning to play drums is the worst! Definitely not true, but it’s probably the most covered drumming subject online. If you’re new to drumming, finding solid learning material is overwhelming and the bad info might only make things worse. I see students all the time that have used free YouTube videos that have all sorts of holes in their playing.

On the other hand, go to the right sources, and you’ll find yourself with a wealth of golden drumming information. Mike’s Lessons by Mike Johnston is one of those solid sources. I love this guy! I love his drumming and I love his positive attitude.

What separates Mike Johnston from other online instructors is the fact that he is currently on the ground teaching. Many of the internet’s current “drum gurus” have never actually taught a lesson to a real person before. This creates untested information that may or may not be effective. Mike teaches hundreds of students every year, and that feedback is sent straight back to you in the form of his videos.

Mike is a positive guy who genuinely wants drummers to learn something. His YouTube videos are not necessarily for beginners, although I’m sure you can find plenty of great courses available on his website. Lastly, the content that he puts up is extremely high quality, so if you just want to watch some sweet hi-definition drumming, Mike’s your ticket!

Lastly, if his videos aren’t enough and you just need more Mike Johnston in your life, I highly recommend The Modern Drummer Podcast featuring drum talk with Mike and Modern Drummer Magazine editor Mike Dawson.

4. Drumeo

If you’ve ever spent time around the YouTube drumming world, you have most likely already seen a Drumeo video. These guys are everywhere! With over 1000 videos on their YouTube channel alone, they dominate a pretty large chunk of the educational drumming market.

Drumeo is run by Jared Falk, who can be regularly seen giving lessons on the channel. However, because of the size and budget of the company, they are able to land top notch drummers and have filmed quality content over a huge range of styles and topics. The amount of free content that Drumeo offers is insane. They also offer even more lessons on their website.

The only downside to the Drumeo channel is that due to its size, it can take a while to find a video or topic that you are really searching for. But the good news is that almost all of the content they publish is high quality and has valuable information. In terms of free drumming education, you really can’t get much better than Drumeo.

5. Jeff Randall

I first met Jeff Randall back at the University of North Texas. His drumming would always amaze me. He was known for his pocket and groove, and his performances never disappointed. Since then, I’ve seen him grow his social media presence to big numbers and now he’s quite the well known influencer in the online drumming community.

Jeff’s YouTube channel has grown into a solid collection of helpful drum tutorials. He covers topics on classic drum fills, grooves, staying in the pocket, and drum maintenance. All his videos look slick, have great information, and are totally worth a watch.

One of the best things about Jeff’s channel is that he is currently on the ground as a working drummer. What’s presented on his channel are useable bits of information that you know he has personally tested on stage himself. Jeff also stays true to the rock and funk genre and covers a lot of interesting grooves that you might not find anywhere else.

6. rDavidr

If you’re a drummer that also happens to enjoy DIY videos, then you’re gonna love David Raouf’s YouTube channel: rDavidr. David’s channel features a collection of handy projects where he alters his drum kit or studio by hand. If you’re like me and love watching people build things with power tools, rDavidr is for you.

David’s videos are always and interesting and unique collection of DIY drum projects that few people would ever think up. He can make custom cowbells, cut massive holes in his cymbals, or turn a $40 snare from Amazon into a masterpiece. A lot of his videos also feature him creating storage options for all of his gear, which is perfect for the OCD or those that are organizationally obsessed.

As a bonus, David’s videos are well made, feature plenty of drumming, and always fun. Perfect for the handy drummer, or someone looking for a drum project on a budget.

And there’s my list of my favorite drumming YouTube channels. Which channels do you like to watch? Did I miss anything? Let me know down below!

It’s a common pain for every drummer. You’ve practiced the same drum lick over a thousand times at all tempos. You swear you could do it in your sleep. But when it comes time to bust it out on stage at your sweet coverband gig, you completely blow it.

Considering the amount of time that went into practicing that damn lick, you are left wondering what went wrong. So what happened?

Archilochus put is best when he said, “we don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training”. And as I’ve already mentioned: drum skill = time spent in practice. But sometimes, no matter how many times we run through drum licks or patterns, they never show up in a live context.

Drumming Integration

In most cases, the missing link between practice and performance is what I call drumming integration – the act of absorbing the drum material you practice so deep into your muscle memory that it becomes a part of your everyday playing. Naturally, integrating what you practice is easier said than done.

At first glance, when asked how to integrate a drum pattern, our first reaction would be to practice. This is certainly correct, but it doesn’t give us a complete picture of HOW to do it. We know we need time and repetition to learn something, however if you don’t know what to aim for, you’ll end up wasting a lot of that time.

To help paint a better picture, let’s look at something everyone understands: language.

Si señor

Have you ever spent months learning a language on the computer only to find yourself panicked and stuttering when trying to converse with a native speaker in real life? As frustrating as this is, it happens to me all the time.

I have tried to learn Spanish a number of times. I’ll be flying through the questions on Duolingo and getting things near perfect. But when encountering a native Spanish speaker, I am embarrassingly bad.

There are a lot of reasons for this, lack of confidence, different accents, lack of practice, but all the reasons basically boil down to the fact that I have not completely integrated the basics of Spanish into my vocabulary.

“The Carrot is Purple”

If we go back to English, we can learn how to integrate language a little better by taking a word we all know very well and dissecting it. Let’s try the word “carrot”.

At first glance, carrot is a pretty simple word, but let’s do a little analysis and find out what we really know about the word:

A carrot is a root vegetable. It has a number of vitamins and minerals that make it healthy. It grows from the ground and contains a leafy top. It is usually orange in color, crunchy in texture, and ranges in taste from sweet to bitter.

The word “carrot” contains six letters and two syllables. It has a harsh K sound at the beginning and ends with a quick T sound. It kind of sounds like two separate words, “care” and “rot”, put together.

Soon you find out that carrots also come in vary colors like red and purple, and that they range hugely in size and flavors. Not to mention the amount of varying species, types, and foods that would be considered cousins or relatives.

How about all the ways you can cook a carrot? How about all the ways you can say carrot?

You probably have never really thought about a carrot this way, but that’s because the word has been built into us since childhood. Internally, we already know all of these things about carrots because they were integrated into our being at an early age. But hopefully this has painted a picture of what it takes to integrate NEW things into our bodies.

Integration of Drumming Material

At this point it should be getting more clear that the reason the material we practice doesn’t show up when we perform live is because we don’t know the material as well as we thought. Repeating a pattern 10,000 times is the same as saying the word “carrot” 10,000 times – After a while, it loses all meaning.

I’ve developed a three stage method that I personally use to help me take what I practice straight to performance. This method will help you to know what you’re practicing on a deeper level and engrain it inside your muscle memory. It also has the added benefit of being a fun way to practice.

In order to work on each stage, we’ll need something to practice. As an example, let’s take a rudiment everyone knows and loves and give it the ol’ 1-2-3: The Single Paradiddle.

Let’s begin.

Stage 1: Technically Correct

The first stage to drumming integration is playing things technically correct. It is the stage that most would consider “practicing”, since it’s literally just repeating what’s on the page. Unfortunately, this is also the stage that most drummer’s stop at. Considering that playing things technically correct is only 1/3 of integration, it makes sense that there would be trouble performing down the road if we stopped here.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s begin with stage one and learn how to correctly play a paradiddle:

We know that a paradiddle is a rudiment, which are traditionally played on the snare drum. So practicing on the snare is a good starting point.

From the looks of it, we can also see that the paradiddle is a sticking pattern (Series of rights and lefts). There are eight notes in total that are all played equidistantly as 16th notes. The last thing to notice is that there are two accents evenly placed at the beginning and in the middle after 4 notes.

Now that we’ve looked it over, let’s play it. Overall, the single paradiddle is a simple rudiment to play. As long as the notes are evenly spaced apart, it’s just a matter of wrapping your head around the sticking pattern. Once the pattern is down, the next challenge is adding the accents and getting them to pop.

After some time, you should feel pretty confident about the paradiddle. Next, you’ll want to attempt it at varying tempos to know your technical limits when playing it.

Once you’ve practiced the paradiddle to the point of being able to play it at both slow and fast tempos while maintaining a strong accent, you will have completed stage one. Basically, all you needed to do was get the rudiment under your fingers. This applies to everything you are trying to practice, be it grooves, patterns, licks, or entire songs.

If you were to stop at this point, your memory of the paradiddle would eventually fade and you would have trouble pulling it out in a live pressure situation. Oddly enough, this is when most people will move onto the next exercise. But, there is a lot more to go before the single paradiddle becomes a part of you, so let’s move onto stage 2.

Stage 2: Exhaust the Possibilities

Now that we’ve learned how to play the single paradiddle technically correct, it’s time to move onto stage two and explore every way we can apply the rudiment. Stage two is the mat of integration practice and is the most time consuming. It’s only limits are your imagination and technical capabilities.

In short, in stage two you want to take whatever you are working on and put it through as many different scenarios as you can think of.

To avoid fatigue and overwhelm, it’s important to set the rules of how you are going to practice the scenario beforehand and stick with them. I find most drummers will come up with some common ways of applying patterns and rudiments that work for them and repeat them for most things they practice.

Let’s see how we can mess around with the single paradiddle.

Move it Around the Kit

A good starting point and one of the simplest approaches to learning a new pattern is to move it around the kit. If we were playing a drum beat, you could start moving between the hi hat and ride cymbal, or replacing the snare drum with a rack tom. But what can we do with the paradiddle?

First off, we could move the paradiddle from the snare drum and try it on different drums and cymbals. After that, we could split up the hands and place them on different drums. For example, we can assign any R’s to the floor tom, and any L’s to the rack tom. As you can see, these two steps are already pretty exhaustive, but we’re just getting started.

Don’t forget that you can use your feet as well, so be sure to try out a paradiddle between your kick and hi hat, or on a double pedal.

Add Accents and Articulations

If you are more than comfortable moving the paradiddle around the drums, you can start to mess with the accents. Try adding or subtracting different accent patterns to the paradiddle. Have you ever played a paradiddle with the accents on the “e”, or the “a”? It’s quite challenging and yields some cool results.

For changing accents I created a very simple grid that I follow. It’s one of my most common practice tools, and you can check it out here.

If you’ve been moving the accents around on the snare drum only, next is your chance to try these accent patterns around the kit as well. Don’t forget your feet!

You can also try other articulations, but for some patterns like the paradiddle, it might not make sense. For example, unless you are an advanced player, thinking about the difference between staccato and legato notes while playing a paradiddle on a snare may only turn into a massive headache. However, for some of you, this can open up a lot of new creative avenues.

Alter the Rhythm and Phrasing

By this point, we’re already getting to know the paradiddle quite well. You might have already discovered plenty of new use cases that you’re trying as we speak. But there is always more to experiment with, and one of my favorites is changing the rhythm and phrasing.

At the moment, we’ve been playing the paradiddle as steady, equally spaced 16th notes. But what happens if we try the same pattern as triplets? quintuplets? A combination of both?

Some of the examples might start getting weird, but that’s alright. Practice is supposed to be messy.

As another example, you could try playing a paradiddle in ascending and descending rhythms of the note tree, or move it into different time signatures to see how things line up. There is no limit to how rhythms can be worked with, so I would suggest picking a few ideas that sound cool and sticking with those. You can always try more later.

Once you’ve explored a few different rhythms, you can now layer them on top of some accent patterns and can move it around the kit. Don’t forget your feet!

Add Dynamics

Similar to accents and articulation is adding dynamics. This is the icing on your practice cake and is what separates the amateurs from the professionals. Being able to take all of the concepts above and apply control in the form of volume is going to be a challenge.

Dynamics also cover their own broad range from super soft all the way to ear splittingly loud. You can try each method at it’s own dynamic, or you can combine them by adding crescendo’s and decrescendo’s. Again, the only limit here is what you can come up with.

Stage 3: Improvisation

By now, you’ve taken the single paradiddle farther than most drummers ever have or ever will. You have also earned a familiarity with the rudiment that will start to pay dividends in all your future playing. Considering it’s versatility, working this hard on the paradiddle is time well spent.

But we aren’t done yet.

In order to fully assimilate the paradiddle into a your vocabulary, we need to get to the final stage of drumming integration, which is improvisation. Step one was all about playing the rudiment correctly, then step two was exploring every which way that rudiment can be played. Now stage three is all about thinking ahead of yourself and learning how to organically manifest what you’ve been practicing in a live context.

For those of you that have never practiced improv, it’s easier than you think. Just make up stuff as you go. The challenge lies in thinking ahead and drawing from what you’ve already been working on. When you run into a wall, take a moment to step back and think about the different things you’ve been practicing, then try again.

Improv and creativity can be practiced in a few ways. One is free form. Without rhythm or time, try freely playing paradiddles around the kit with different accents as fast or slow as you like. Or bring back the time and phrasing, but try increasing and decreasing your volume at will. There are few rules to free form improv, just as long as you’re still playing a paradiddle (In some form of another).

A second way to practice creativity is with a more rigid approach. Try the paradiddle as fills between beats, or trade with yourself between a grooves. For example, I frequently practice trading 4’s between myself. I will play 4 bars of a beat in any given style and then practice improvising whatever exercise I’ve been working on for the next 4 bars.

This sort of trading is perfect if you have another drumming friend to work with. Nothing is more inspiring that trying to steal licks and ideas from one another.

After some time, you will start to see what appears to be sticking and what you’re forgetting about. If you happened to be working on something that you thought was really cool that you want to start showing up in your playing, go back and try to add it into your improv sessions.

Practicing creativity has no definite end, but the more time you dedicate to it, the easier being creative becomes in the moment. Ideas will flow better and you’ll find accessing previous practice material easier and more immediate.

Putting it all Together

Hopefully you agree that the only reason we have issues with manifesting our practice material in live situations is because our methods need changing. Spending time in the practice room is extremely important, but it’s just as important to have a clearer picture of how we are going to spend that time.

This three stage practice approach should answer a lot of questions and open up plenty of new ideas for how you can approach your material.

Do you agree with my approach? Are there other methods of practice or exploration of an exercise that I forgot to mention? Let me know down below!

One of the most common questions I get from students is “When should I start learning jazz?“.

Ever since I can remember, jazz drumming has been stigmatized as being the epitome of drumming skill. And rightly so. Jazz is hard! It appears that the word has gotten out to even non-musicians that learning to play jazz is a feat in itself.

Is jazz actually the most difficult style of music for a drummer to play? Maybe, but probably not. It all depends on where you’re from, what you listen to, and what you grew up with. But that doesn’t seem to stop public opinion on its difficulty. Even the movie Whiplash echoes the sentiment with the main characters struggles and determination being all consuming.

Given its apparent difficulty, it makes sense that aspiring drummers everywhere are interested in learning to play like Elvin Jones, Max Roach, and Tony Williams. Jazz and bebop is super fun to play and is one of the most rewarding styles of music I’ve ever pursued. However, when it comes to actually learning the style, when is the right time, and where should a drummer start?

Why You SHOULDN’T Learn Jazz

It’s Hard and Takes All Your Time

Knowing your motivations for pursuing any subject is an important first step. For most students, I would assume they are interested in learning jazz because it’s known to be difficult to learn. But is that enough?

I was thrust into the jazz studies when I first attended college at 17. At the time, I was unaware of who even Miles Davis was, let alone having any knowledge about the style at all. I had long black hair and played exclusively in the hardcore/screamo niche.

Given that the school was known for its jazz studies program, I’m still surprised I was accepted. I somehow tricked the school into allowing me in by imitating my drum teacher when he showed me how to play “swing”. I guess my performance was convincing.

At the time, I was a decent drummer, but really only in the rock styles. I recall very well having to demonstrate, in front of the class, reading 8th notes from Syncopation while playing a swing ride cymbal pattern. I completely bombed. My instructor later told me that he was disappointed and thought that my understanding of the style was going to be better. Sadly, I admitted that I was only copying what I had seen before. I really didn’t understand anything about jazz.

The reason I’m telling this story is because after that moment, pursuing jazz drumming became all consuming for me. It ended up taking years and years to learn properly. And I’m still practicing! I was basically trying to learn a new language, and it took a while.

Had I just stuck with rock drumming, I probably would have continued to be good at it, land a great gig, and I’d be on a completely different path. So for those drummers looking to get into the world of jazz, you should be aware how much of your time needs to be dedicated to the study. Casual practicers need not apply.

Jazz Doesn’t Pay

Jazz, known as “the hardest style of music to play”, is notorious for being the worst paying. Jazz gigs today pay the same as they did back in the 80’s. Unfortunately, living expensive have increased since the 80’s. The sad truth is that many jazz musicians are not making a lot of money.

Dedicating 10 years to intense study of a style, going out and giving the best performance of your life, and following it up with a $100 payout kind of sucks.

Obviously there are outliers (ahem…Kenny G), and those that are entrepreneurial and run a few different ventures have the opportunity to live well. But, choosing to only perform bebop in the clubs of New York is probably a poor financial decision. A musician would be much better off pursuing rock, country, or coverband gigs, as those are more plentiful and pay significantly better.

No One Understands What is Going on

When people say, “I love jazz”, what they usually mean is, “I like to feel classy and show off how elevated my tastes are”. There are a huge amount of songs, artists, and styles encompassed in the word of “jazz”. For the average listener, some of it is digestible, but the majority sounds like a complete mess.

This is a bit unfair, since many people do genuinely love and understand jazz music very well. Even if they aren’t musicians. However, the numbers don’t lie, and jazz music just isn’t killing it with mass population.

Most people can listen to Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and admire the music, but show that same listener The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman, or John Coltrane’s Interstellar Space, and they might not be so enthusiastic. Jazz music has a knack for alienating your average listener and making them feel stupid for not knowing what’s going on. No one wants to feel stupid.

Many years ago, this was a different story. People had fewer options of what to listen to and even fewer ways to enjoy it. Jazz was more influential and could be heard on any given night on the radio, TV, or at a club. Today, pop is king. Be it music, TV, or movies. There is just too much material for a person to sort through, and the more popular stuff is what slips through. These days, humans want things to be simple and easy to understand, and jazz music can be too much of a strain for the average listener.

I notice this first hand whenever I play live. When I look into the audience at a jazz gig, most people just sit there and watch or talk amongst their friends. But when I play a pop or rock gig, people smile, cheer, clap, and dance along to the music. The overall enjoyment level is greater. Why? Plenty of reason, but a big one is because everyone understands what is happening.

Why You SHOULD Learn Jazz

It’s Rewarding

Despite the difficulties of jazz drumming, it has brought a wealth of experience to my life that I wouldn’t trade for anything. The huge amount of hours spent in practice has granted me more than just drum expertise.

Due to its high difficulty, learning to play jazz also increased my ability to read music, improvise, control my dynamics, coordination, and tone production, along with a ton of other skills. As a result of those skills being built, the doors to an ever increasing amount of gig possibilities started to open. This was a huge reason for how I was able to land a cruise ship gig and tour the world.

For me, jazz is one of the most rewarding ways to communicate with other musicians. At a typical jam session, I find there is a huge difference between how rock and jazz sessions go down. Firstly, jazz players use “standards”, or popular tunes to play with each other. Improvisation is key, and many times beautiful and spontaneous music is created. Rock sessions usually require prior knowledge of a song before you can jam, and even then very little improvisation can happen. I’ve never been to a jam session where someone requests More Than A Feeling, but I have been at plenty where someone wanted to play How Deep is the Ocean.

The constrains of playing rock music can be difficult when you begin to explore the unlimited possibilities of jazz. Modern jazz grabs elements from all styles of music and encourages the breaking of rules and stereotypes. Basically, the only limitation to jazz music is how far your creativity and technique will allow you to go.

Jazz Does Pay

Earlier, I explained just how poorly jazz music pays. But what I find remarkable is that it pays at all. There are times when I’ve had the time of life playing with great friends and after the gig someone hands me money. All I can think is, “I would have done that for free”.

I still am blown away when I make money to participate in something I love doing. It’s usually not a lot, but I’m only half complaining.

On the other hand, when I play coverband music, 9 times out of 10 it feels very much like a “job”. The gigs are long, I have to lug a lot of heavy equipment, and I’m usually tired, sweaty, and sore by the end. After, I definitely feel like I’ve earned my wage. However, it is the exact opposite when I perform jazz. Gigs are generally short, the people are fantastic, and many venues now have house kits that I can use. Not only that, the music that comes out is rewarding and fulfilling.

When I receive payment for a jazz gig, I experience nothing but gratitude.

The Pursuit of Mastery

No matter what we learn, we follow a path with many ups and downs. In the beginning, learning is faster because everything is new. After a while things seem to even out and progress feels slower. Without direction, it’s very common for a musician to hit a certain point and stay there. This is called a plateau.

Plateaus can be tough for a musician to deal with, and for many, is where the learning stops. I’ve met drummers who are great at one particular style, but fall apart when pushed out of their comfort zone. A lot of times, their attitudes towards additional study of other styles also becomes defensive. This is because they stopped trying to learn. They are not pursuing mastery of their instrument.

There is nothing wrong with being good at one thing. In fact, for many drummers, pursuing mastery of one single style is a better choice. The difference is in those that don’t stop trying to learn as opposed to those who stop learning when they’re “good enough”.

Taking the time to learn jazz drumming expands what you already know and will only make you a better drummer. Remember that you do not have to become strictly a jazz drummer. What’s most important is the desire for mastery of your instrument and a positive attitude towards learning.

When Should a Drummer Start Learning to Play Jazz?

I usually don’t begin intense jazz studies with my students until I’m confident that they can handle the task. Jumping in too early can be frustrating for the student and might lead to a decreased desire for practice. However, once a drummer has a decent grasp of their instrument, I can introduce the basic concepts to them.

Things like ride cymbal patterns, swing vs straight, and chart reading can be introduced early. This will set your students up with some expectations for the later on. Most importantly, I will introduce them to a few albums that they can start listening to. Without ever hearing jazz, they are going to have a very hard time understanding how to play it.

If students are struggling with the basics, then more practice needs to happen before they are ready. But When is the right time to take the next step and dedicate more time to jazz study? Here are a few things that I like to see from a student before we jump in completely:

Basic Independence

The first thing I look for is independence between all 4 limbs. Can you play stickings on the snare while playing repetitive patterns with the feet? How about reading 8th and 16th notes on the bass drum or snare while playing a continuous pattern on the hi hat?

Jazz drumming requires a high level of independence. You will be moving all 4 of your limbs independently from one another constantly. Confidence with independence is a key starting point.

Can You Swing 8th Notes?

If you’re considering more intense jazz study, you should already know about triplets and have the ability to switch between them and other subdivisions at will. Since swing 8th notes come directly from the triplet, it’s important to have a good feel for that subdivision.

I like to test whether a drummer knows how to swing 8th notes at all, and then from there I check if they can move back and forth between straight and swing 8ths.

The concept of swing as it relates to jazz is a very large topic, but if you can’t swing simple 8th notes yet, you might need a little more practice before you jump in.

How is Your Reading?

Famously, Buddy Rich, one of the baddest drummers of all time, didn’t know how to read music. Considering his skill and influence in the world of drumming, this is surprising for sure. But, I would call Buddy an outlier. The majority of successful jazz drummers read music, and they do it very well.

I like to emphasize reading for my students. I think it’s a very helpful skill to have. Not everyone responds well to reading music, however it becomes important for studying on your own. It might be easy when I am side by side with a student and showing them how to do something, but when they are alone, the sheet music is what’s going to remind them of what to do.

When it comes to jazz study, the ability to read music is key. This is because there are a lot of techniques and examples to learn, and just using your ear and memory is going to take a lot more time. It is so much simpler for me to give a student page 38 of Syncopation and tell them to read it on snare and kick rather than them trying to memorize it.

When it comes time for a student to begin learning jazz drumming, their ability to read music is extremely important. I usually check this by giving them a few 8th note reading examples and asking them to play it in both swing and straight feels.

The better you are at reading, the easier study will be.

What Do You Listen to?

I’m mentioning it last, but actually listening to jazz music is vital. If a student comes to me and asks to learn jazz seriously, I ask them what they listening to. If they say Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, I’m happy (There’s a lot of bummer choices they could be making), but they’ll need to try again. Dedicating serious time to listening to jazz will be your biggest practice tool.

The old saying goes, “If you can’t hear it, you can’t play it”. This couldn’t be more true for jazz. Understanding any style of music requires dedicated listening time to be able to manifest it into your own playing. Jazz drumming is very nuanced and can only be understood through listening.

I suggest starting with some digestible albums like Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, and Ballads by John Coltrane. There are over 80 years worth of material for you to listen to, but much of the foundational drumming can be found in the bebop and cool jazz styles from the 40’s to the 60’s.

It also doesn’t hurt to learn about the important drummers in the style. Check out guys like Jimmy Cobb, Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, and Roy Haynes. Learning by listening to the masters is the way to do it.

Lastly, find out where the jazz music is being played live in your city. Listening to music is a great way to learn, but actually watching it happen in front of you is even better. Not only that, by watching live music, you are supporting your fellow musicians and will be making important contacts for when it’s time to get out there and gig yourself.

Putting it All Together

If you’re now listening to jazz regularly, have proper 4-limb independence, have an understanding of swing vs. straight, and can read 8th notes with ease, you are probably ready to start learning jazz drumming.

It may be tough to learn at first, but we are here for the pursuit of mastery, not to have things come easy.

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When did you first start learning to play jazz? Were you properly prepared, and did you find the practice helpful in your overall drumming skill?

Let me know in the comments down below!

All musicians need material to practice with. For drummers, one of the best sources of practice material are drum method books. These method books contain exercises, patterns, and strings of notes aimed at improving drumming ability.

However, there are thousands of drum books to choose from. With more coming every year, how does a drummer know which ones to pick?

Books that Stand the Test of Time

Written in 1876 by Mark Twain, the novel Tom Sawyer is considered a classic novel. As far as classic novels go, that’s not very old, however people still read it today. At over 140 years old, Tom Sawyer has stood the test of time.

Modern drumset playing is a slightly younger than Tom Sawyer, but nonetheless has its share of classic books. Any professional drummer will tell you that they have spent some time in the pages of a few common ones. Below are the drum method books that I personally believe should be a staple for every drummer:

Syncopation – Ted Reed

An obvious first choice for drum method books is Progressive Steps to Syncopation by Ted Reed. I would assume that many drummers would also put this at the top of their list. Syncopation is one of the most versatile and simple drum books available.

This is my desert island book.

At first glance, Syncopation appears to be a simple snare drum reading book. It begins with beginner level reading and progresses its way to more advanced rhythms, syncopation, and accents. Overall, the beauty of Syncopation is its simplicity.

As one of the very first drum books I owned, I have applied this book to nearly every style, and I still use it today. A hallmark of a classic method book is its versatility for multiple styles and use cases. For myself, the heart and soul of Syncopation are the 8th note reading examples found in the middle. What really shines is how musical these rhythms sound. It’s almost as if they were composed with each page having a life of its own.

Modern Reading Text in 4/4 – Louie Bellson and Gil Breines

If you’re a fan of Syncopation, I would suggest that you check out Modern Reading Text in 4/4. It’s like Syncopation but on steroids.

Overall, this book is very similar to Syncopation, however the reading difficulty is increased. I would describe the rhythms in the book as less musical, but a real test for your reading skill. This book also features an expanded 16th note reading section that goes very in depth.

Modern Reading Text features plenty of rests, ties, and strange reading situations that will make you look twice. As much as I love Syncopation, I think an intermediate drummer would get more value out of Modern Reading Text in 4/4 as it provides more of a challenge.

As a bonus for those interested in exploring odd times, Louie Bellson and Gil Breines also wrote a follow-up book titled Odd Time Reading Text, which is worth checking out.

The New Breed – Gary Chester

If you haven’t gathered by now, I consider rhythm reading to be an essential practice tool. The ability to read rhythms is so important due to its versatility and how it helps develop coordination and independence.

Learn to read music and you’ll have practice material for life.

When it comes to reading 16th notes, The New Breed by Gary Chester is unparalleled. The reading found inside the previous two books tend to lean towards the swing and jazz style, while The New Breed contains material that can help increase your rock and funk skills.

The New Breed covers every 16th note reading pattern you’ll ever come across in a progressive manner. Personally, I often use it to develop my bass drum skill and accuracy. Inside the book, Chester lays out a massive list of different patterns that can be applied over top of the rhythms inside the book. Used properly, The New Breed is a drummer’s best friend.

Stick Control – George Lawrence Stone

Probably considered the most popular choice for drummers, Stick Control For the Snare Drummer by George Lawrence Stone is another classic. In my opinion, the reason for the book’s success lies in its first three pages. It’s here that you’ll explore one of the most essential tools for drummers: stickings.

This drum method book is a fairly simple collection of lefts, rights, rolls and flams in various patterns and rhythms. As with all of the books mentioned so far, drummers will need to be creative in how they use what’s contained in the book. However, the applications are limitless, and getting control of stickings is important.

While Stick Control is not directly related to rudimental drumming, those interested in developing their snare chops will certainly want to explore the book as well.

Master Studies – Joe Morello

Stick Control is a must have, but for those looking to take snare concepts to the next level, Master Studies by Joe Morello is the way to go. Joe Morello was considered to be one of the world’s top drum educators and was highly sought after for his snare technique. Morello studied under George Lawrence Stone and the material found in Master Studies is a continuation on what can be found inside Stick Control.

For drummers who are on the search for beastly snare drum chops, all the material you’ll ever need is found inside Master Studies. It contains plenty of similar material to Stick Control, but fills in a lot of the guesswork for how to apply it. There is also an expanded accent section, which I consider to be another essential technique for drummers. If you’re on the search for some good warmups, Master Studies also provides some great options. Those who have tried the Stone Killer will know.

Future Sounds – David Garibaldi

If you want to develop your funk and ghost note chops, look no further than Future Sounds. Written by the master of groove himself, David Garibaldi, Future Sounds features a ton of ways to develop a groove and pocket so deep it could sink a ship.

Much of the material found in Future Sounds is a collection of drum grooves that can be used to develop dynamic control and coordination. A lot of the grooves are linear in nature and are a continuation upon what is found in Stick Control and Master Studies, however the information is laid out in a more familiar format as it’s now played on the drums themselves.

Through variations on stickings, accents, and coordination, the material found in Future Sounds will turn any drummer into a funk machine. As a bonus, it’s also a very fun and challenging book to play through.

The Art Of Bop Drumming – John Riley

The heart and soul of jazz drumming can be found inside the pages of Syncopation, however it requires a bit of guidance to apply correctly. Some drummers may wish for a more direct approach to jazz studies. This is where John Riley’s The Art of Bop Drumming comes in.

Solely written for those drummers moving to the world of jazz and bebop, The Art of Bop Drumming is a great collection of exercises and techniques found in the style. As we all know, jazz drumming isn’t easy, but this book can help ease you into it.

The Author, John Riley, is one of the world’s top educators and an absolute monster drummer on his own. Riley’s take on the subject is considered by many to be the essential tool for understanding the complex world of jazz drumming.

With plenty of recorded examples as well as play-alongs, The Art of Bop covers everything from coordination, to chart reading and small group playing. I personally used this book quite a bit when I was first trying to understand jazz playing and I can attest to how helpful the pages inside can be.

For those looking for even more jazz material, John Riley has a follow-up book titled Beyond Bop Drumming.

The Jazz Drummer’s Reading Workbook – Tom Morgan

Many drummers may not have heard of this book, but The Jazz Drummer’s Reading Workbook by Tom Morgan is by far the best big band drumming method book I have ever used. As a bonus, if you use the included play along tracks, it’s also the most fun book to play through.

The Jazz Drummer’s Reading Workbook is a collection of various big band charts and reading examples. Going through the book is an excellent way to work on setups and chart reading as it lays everything down in a simple to understand progression. All of the material found in the book is backed up with drum-less tracks that can be played along with. if you can’t think of any ideas, the same examples can be heard with drums played by Tom Morgan himself.

I was first introduced to this book when I attended the University of North Texas. I was fairly new to big band and didn’t understand how to approach chart reading and setups. This book was an extremely helpful resource and was an integral part of me landing the gig with the One O’Clock Lab Band.

14 Modern Concert Solos: For Snare Drum – John S. Pratt

This choice might be slightly controversial, but 14 modern Concert Solos: For Snare Drum by John S. Pratt is one of the best books for rudimental development that I have ever used. The book features 14 snare solos that are sure to test your snare technique.

14 Modern Concert Solos is slightly more advanced and should only be used by drummer’s that have a good grasp over the PAS 40 rudiments as well as some decent reading chops. Each solo varies in difficulty level, but all of them are a challenge to bring up to the requested speed.

In my opinion, grabbing a snare drum solo book is a fantastic way to develop your hand technique. All of the rudiments will be covered, and it has the added bonus of providing you with a clear beginning and end to your practice. Practicing material from other method books can sometimes seem endless, but a snare solo has an actual ending. You can always play the snare solo better, but having a clear beginning and end gives a feeling of completion. Sometimes this can relieve some of the mental stress associated with practice.

More solos can be found inside Charley Wilcoxin’s The All American Drummer, among many others.

Basic Drumming – Joel Rothman

My last choice of essential books for drummers is Basic Drumming by Joel Rothman, or the “big pink book” as many young students call it. This book is a massive collection of so many concepts that it’s pretty incredible what Joel was able to fit inside.

Basic Drumming covers an impressive amount of topics from reading, to stickings, rudiments, independence, and basic grooves and patterns.

This book might not be as useful for those at an intermediate to advanced level, but it is an excellent tool for teaching young students. All of the concepts discussed can be covered in greater detail through all of the books previously mentioned, however Basic Drumming has the advantage of having everything in one place, which is why I have included it in this list.

If you are a drumming instructor, Basic Drumming is an excellent source of teaching material that can prep your students for later success. It is also a great starting point for those looking to begin playing drums.

Honorable Mention

With so many great drum book options available, it was tough to pick only 10 favorites. In the end, I decided to go with the books that had the biggest impact on me and my drumming development. By no means are these the 10 absolute best books for every scenario though.

Below is a list of books that I have used that are also incredible resources:

Advanced Funk Studies – Rick Latham

An excellent collection of funk grooves that includes many linear examples.

Afro-Cuban Rhythms for Drumset – Frank Malabe and Bob Weiner

World music is a massive topic to cover. No single book will be able to handle every style perfectly. However, Afro-Cuban Rhythms is an excellent resource that covers a lot of world styles and topics in great detail. If you’re exploring Afro-Cuban drumming and music, this is an excellent starting point.

4-Way Coordination – Marvin Dahlgren and Elliot Fine

Drummers know how difficult coordination and independence can be. However, proper coordination is extremely important for progress. 4-Way Coordination is most certainly a classic book, and is an excellent way to get all four of your limbs moving independently from each other.

Four Volume Patterns Series – Gary Chaffee

The Patterns Series by Gary Chaffee is actually four separate books:

1. Rhythm and Meter Patterns
2. Sticking Patterns
3. Time Functioning Patterns
4. Technique Patterns

Each book in the series is a journey through an advanced understanding of time, meter, and coordination with all methods developed by Gary Chaffee himself. The pages of these books have helped out countless drummers and appears to be the source of power for a lot of today’s chop masters.

Realistic Rock – Carmine Appice

I’ve actually never used this book, but I figured I’d probably get punched in the face if I didn’t give it a shout out. Much like Basic Drumming, Realistic Rock appears to be an excellent jumping off point for those beginner drummers as its rock-centered focus helps build essential fundamentals. There is also some double bass action in it.

And that’s my list. What are your favorite drum method books? Did I leave something out? Let me know below!

“The only difference between you and myself is that I’ve had more time to practice.”

This was said to me by one of my drum professors when I was complaining about my progress with learning the drums. At the time, his words didn’t speak to me as much. But that was a while ago, and younger musicians are known to be impatient. We want to be good, and we want it now.

Many years later, things are starting to make more sense. It seems like everyday now that another one of my peers lands an amazing gig, makes more TV appearances, and continue to crush it. This wasn’t happening back when we were in college, or even after graduation. So what could be the cause?

The answer is simple. More time has passed.

The Simple Equation for Success

In all my years of drum education, I’ve seen one constant factor in determining how successful a student will be at learning the instrument: Practice. Young or old, experienced or not, the students that learn the fastest are the ones that practice the most.

After observing this, I came up with this simple formula to determine how quickly someone will learn:

Drum Skill = Time Spent in Practice

I see the majority of my students every week, and it’s the ones that put in the most practice time that end up learning the quickest.

The Myth of the Prodigy

When people learn that I’m a drummer, I often hear, “I always wanted to play the drums, but I’m not musically inclined”. At some point, they bought into the myth that learning to play an instrument is only for those that were born with natural talent. This bums me out, as it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

In all the students I have taught, I would estimate that only about 1% of them appear to have a natural talent for the instrument. Truth be told, everyone learns at their own pace. Some faster than others. But very rarely do I get someone that can play everything as I show it to them.

The idea that all musicians started out at prodigies is a myth.

There are a lot of musicians out there, and there is certainly no way that all of them were born child prodigies at the instrument. Every amazing drummer once started out knowing nothing. The only reason anyone is good now is because they put in the time and practiced.

Why Some Students are Better Than Others

If you were to bring me two young students of the same age, neither of them having played drums before, but one of them had two years of piano lessons prior, I would bet my life on the kid with the piano training to learn faster from the start. This is because that student has already put in more practice time than the other.

At the same time, if the student with no previous musical training practices 20 minutes a day, while the other put in 30 minutes once a week, the seemingly disadvantaged student will quickly surpass the other. This is because that student is following the formula: Drum skill = time spent in practice.

Habits and How They Slow us Down

For those lucky enough to have spent some time in music lessons, the idea of practice is understood. Others might have a harder time adjusting. Practicing music is like failing over and over again until you get it. For many, the idea of failure is uncomfortable. So they give up.

In many ways, practicing music IS painful. This is why so few do it. They have built a habit of avoiding the uncomfortable. So when someone sits down to practice, they quit the second they make a mistake.

Bad habits can form very quickly. But, so can good ones. Forcing oneself to confront their lack of understanding over and over will lead to a habit and attitude of deliberate practice. You might even come to enjoy it.

Practice as an AntiFragile System

You might have heard the buzz word ‘antifragile’ before. This concept was developed by Nassim Taleb and describes something that increases in strength and capability as it experiences stress and failure.

Weight lifting is an anti-fragile system. You push hard and tear up your muscles making you sore the next day. But this destruction leads to new muscle growth and an overall healthier system.

Practicing music is very much an anti-fragile system as well. You sit in a room alone and play your instrument poorly over and over again seemingly getting no where. However, with time, your skills increase, and you become a better musician.

Follow the formula and success will follow.

Try it For Yourself

Hopefully you are no longer convinced that all of your favorite musicians were born with their instrument in their hands. However, for the skeptical, remember that I also started out as a terrible drummer. Everyone does. The only way to really test this theory is try it out yourself.

Practice is always the number one determining factor when it comes to how good someone can become.

It’s worth mentioning that the formula never changes, no matter your age or skill level. If you plateau, more practice will help you push through as well.

Or course, not all practice time is equal, and there is a large difference between deliberate and passive practice. But learning how to practice will be left for another discussion.

Let me know how it works for you.