TOTAL nerd stuff here. I use the accent pages in Progressive Steps to Syncopation (pp. 47-49) with my students for convenience, but I find them be a pain. They’re thorough, but poorly balanced— so if […]
Category: technique
A little technique video
Let’s talk more about me. I just posted a little technique video in response to a forum conversation. Someone was confused about the meanings of the stroke types, and wanted evidence of my competency to […]
Three bloggers: technique
“Technique we always think of as being a thing having to do with fastness, [but] technique is, in its highest sense, is the ability to handle musical materials.” “You could get to a point where […]
Backsticking drill for switching grips
I use matched grip virtually all the time in playing, but about every 5-7 years since ~1986, I make a serious effort at getting my traditional grip happening. When I have it conditioned, I can […]
40 international drum rudiments— a frank appraisal
Here at last is my opinionated commentary on each of the 40 PAS international drum rudiments— the good are praised, the questionable are denigrated and hounded from the public sphere. The abstruse are eschewed. I’ll […]
Annals of wrong things: UNUSED POTENTIAL
Here’s a little sub-rant of my other recent teaching rant. I wrote this in January, and wasn’t going to post it— it’s kind of silly. But people seem to enjoy these, and it’s not totally […]
Very occasional quote of the day: technique
There are a few technique-related posts coming up, and after last week’s teaching rant, this quote from Bill Evans is particularly timely. Italics are mine: “Technique we always think of as being a thing having to […]
Leave them kids alone
Dumbest, wrongest quasi-educational thing I could find to illustrate this post. This little rant has been kicking around my drafts folder for awhile. I wasn’t even going to post it, but then I had another frustrating […]
Stick Control for consistency
Here’s an interesting video by Matt Patella, a drummer and teacher who knows a lot about the whole Stone/Morello world of drum technique. He talks about George L. Stone’s intentions for his book Stick Control, […]
Rudiments in 5/8
A page of snare drum rudiment practice phrases, written in 5/8, in a 3+2 phrasing. Keep this with your copy of Haskell Harr (book 2) or Rudimental Swing Solos. These can all be played at […]
Chop busters in 5/8 – 01
Hey, two odd meter things in two days. I’ve really turned around my thinking on the value of this subject— it really forces you to have a heightened awareness of rhythm, which is a good […]
Stick Control – CSD! version
UPDATE: Download link working. You’d think I’d have that part of it down. Everybody and his literal dog practices the first page of the book Stick Control, as do I— at least I teach it, […]