Looking at an interesting book, that I’ve been using a bit recently: Joe Porcaro’s Drum Set Method. It’s uniquely practical, covering some things widely done, but rarely taught— at least they’re not detailed so exactly. […]
Author: Todd Bishop
I'm a drummer, drum teacher, Origin recording artist, and visual artist living in Portland, Oregon.
More three stroke ruff phrases
Some more jazz phrases with the open three stroke ruff— that’s the terminology for any occurence of three fast notes, in certain circles. Presented in the manner of Joe Porcaro’s Drum Set Method, in which […]
Serving the music
It’s a strange phrase, that people are fond of repeating: serving the music. Me, I like to serve the music, I’m different that way. It sounds good, very pious. And unnecessary. Most people are already […]
Transcription: Roy fours
Roy Haynes trading fours with Sonny Rollins, on Sonny’s record The Sound of Sonny, on a really dumb little tune, Toot Toot Tootsie, of Al Jolson fame. I only ever had to play it with […]
What to do with Stick Control
Kind of a big one. Blow this up and make a poster out of it… actually I should probably do that, and sell it along with my other merch… …BUT these are some things to […]
Brad’s three stroke ruff lesson
Some things I worked through with a student, based on the book Joe Porcaro’s Drum Set Method. It’s an interesting book, based on practical applications of rudiments as embellishments, fills, and for soloing. It’s rather […]
More six stroke rolls
Lots of snare drum stuff right now. Here are some more six stroke roll combinations, going a couple of steps beyond the last batch. Some patterns are helper patterns for the others, so watch out […]
CYMBALISTIC: Congratulations to Michael Griener!
Congratulations to our man in Berlin, Michael Griener for his playing on the soundtrack for The Brutalist, which just got an Oscar for best score— among numerous other awards and nominations. It’s exceedingly cool because he […]
Left handed rudiments
Collection of rudimental and quasi-rudimental patterns, starting and repeating with the left hand, that a student and I workshopped in a lesson recently. Good for strengthening your left hand, obviously; I find this orientation to […]
CYMBALISTIC: new cymbals in!
CYMBALISTIC: All right, videos are up for seven new cymbals. As I mentioned recently, I’m very excited about the way the cymbals have been trending— they vary slightly from batch to batch, and change a […]
Reed interpretation: five stroke rolls and stick shots – 02
Following up on the last thing, where we made a loose solo system adding five stroke rolls and stick shots to pp. 34-45 of Syncopation. Here we’re focused strictly on the snare drum aspect. You […]
Impure
I am interested in helping you keep your practice from becoming impure.– Shunruyu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind At the same time, they praised him when he didn’t deserve it. “I’d have games when I’d […]