Here is the follow-up to last week’s introduction to independence against the “e-and-a” cymbal ostinato. These 16 exercises offer every 16th note bass drum possibility before two and four on the snare drum. The “e-and-a” cymbal pattern is laid on top of these grooves so you can work on the mechanics of developing this independence. […]

I’ve been writing a lot about independence lately. That’s because I’ve been thinking about groove and pocket and how to make stuff feel really good. I’ve also been thinking, as I often do, about how to sound different from other drummers. To combine these two thoughts, working on independence with unusual cymbal patterns began to […]

Last week I saw a Drumeo video where Gavin Harrison described and demonstrated “The Paradiddle Challenge.” I love drumming puzzles and I really liked the idea. In the video, Gavin mentioned that he had actually gotten the idea from reading an interview with Gary Husband, who described it in print. Inverted paradiddles have always excited […]

Today we get to Part 3 of our journey into independence with what I’ve been calling the “1E-A2-AND-A” cymbal ostinato. Look at the notation below; that’s what the pattern looks like on paper. I really like this cymbal rhythm. It’s very different from what most of us are used to playing on the hi-hat or […]