“A kid who doesn’t have to whack the drums to me is kind of missing something. He is going to buy a bunch of pads and not even know what it is like to lay […]
Author: Todd Bishop
Songo brushup
I have some dates coming up where I need to use a Songo-type groove (the chart says “samba”, but it’s really not)— which I don’t have to play that often, so I’m brushing up on […]
How not to hit a drum
Hey, it’s been awhile since I’ve watched a drumming video, and rendered the tidal wave of complaints and irritations that come with it, so here are some comments I wrote when someone made me watch […]
Rhythm cycles
Here’s a page to print out and staplegun to the wall by your drums: a summary of some major practice rhythms, and their inversions. Sometimes you don’t need a readable page, you just need a […]
Rock fills with Reed – 01
Bringing these recent right hand lead Reed tweaks into some basic day to day rock vocabulary. I’ll illustrate these using the tom ruffs we looked at recently— try them with any of the other things […]
Confidence
“Hello. Good evening. Hope I’m Funny.” -Richard Pryor, That N___’s Crazy “So who’s that big dumb ass out there on the hill?” “That’s Steve Carlton. He’s maybe the greatest left-hander in the history of the […]
Solo ideas in 3/4
We’ll be seeing more with this format— solo and fill ideas for a certain amount of space between cymbal/bass drum accents. It’s the normal frame for fills, but I don’t see fill studies written that […]
Half time funk shuffle – 01
Here’s a page for my students, working through the basics of a half time funk shuffle groove. It gets mentioned a lot more online than it comes up in real life, but it’s a thing. […]
CYMBALISTIC: Germany tour wrap up
CYMBALISTIC: Hey, I’m back home and recovering from a very successful Germany excursion, and about to resume regular posting! I’m never sure how things are going to go, but I ended up selling almost all of […]
CYMBALISTIC: BECKEN DEUTSCHLAND 2023 – LET’S GOOO!
CYMBALISTIC: OK everyone, I’m heading to Germany today, with a case of wonderful Cymbal & Gong cymbals for your approval, enjoyment, and merriment. The deets: I will show cymbals in Frankfurt on Wednesday, Berlin on Friday, […]
CYMBALISTIC: playing some 22s
CYMBALISTIC: OK, I got a couple more cymbals before heading to Germany tomorrow. Demonstrating some 22″ Holy Grails for our man in Berlin, Michael Griener. And my new little 14″ China is in there, too. All […]
Elvin isolated
Obviously I’m posting really lightly lately, getting ready to head to Germany next week, so: here are some recordings Elvin Jones plays on, with his drums isolated. Enjoy! Here’s Passion Dance, from McCoy Tyner’s album […]