Drum Lessons, Drum Sessions, Audio Recording - Joe The Drummer

Those nice chaps at Hudson

Joe The Drummer — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:35:32 +0000

So I managed to lose the insert from my copy of Tommy Igoe’s Great Hands For A Lifetime DVD. I was gutted. Tommy’s video is the absolute best thing I have ever seen for learning good fundamental hand technique for drum kit drummers. I am recommending all my students get a copy so we can work through the exercises together.

So I wrote to Hudson to see if I could get a copy. I was expecting maybe a downloadable version for me to print or to be sold a replacement but very kindly they sent me a new poster and card gratis. Thanks a lot for such good service.

Here is a taster from the DVD to whet your appetites:

The Fundamentals Of Jazz Part 01

Joe The Drummer — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:41:44 +0000

The lovely Andrew Hare of the Melodic Drummer blog demonstrates the Jazz ride cymbal beat with the help of Art Blakey.

Murray Spivack: A Lesson With Louie Bellson

Joe The Drummer — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:58:00 +0000

As a teacher I find myself having to deconstruct the familiar techniques used in drumming in order to explain them to my students. I find myself fascinated with the different types of grips and strokes and realise the process of honing one’s knowledge about the subject is never ending.

Murray Spivack: A Lesson With Louie Bellson is a DVD I recently stumbled upon which shows drum legend Louis Bellson recieving a lesson from the hugely influential drummer and teacher Murray Spivack who explains his approach to grip, fulcrum and stroke to Louis as if he were a beginning drum student.

I loved watching this video which softly reveals tremendous insight into our relationship with a pair of drum sticks and which demonstrates Spivack’s method “from the horse’s mouth” so to speak.

This is not going to be of great interest to beginners or people looking for a Jojo Mayer style of workout but of great interest who want an opportunity to see two old masters do their thing.

The Melodic Drummer Blog introducing the Jazz Shuffle

Joe The Drummer — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:40:37 +0000

Check out this great post about the Shuffle. I recently discovered the Melodic Drummer blog which is heaving with great lessons and exercises to help us develop our Jazz skills.

In today’s post we are going to discuss how to play one of my favorite grooves of all time, the shuffle! The best thing you can do to start learning how to shuffle is to get acquainted with it’s sound. Starting a blog post about the shuffle with anything other than “Moanin’” is borderline heretical, so start listening and playing along here.

Definitely worth a subscribe.

Master Drummer Ari Hoenig on Making Mistakes

Joe The Drummer — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:36:34 +0000

Here is a splendid video from Ari Hoenig on how to make mistakes. Or, in fact, how mistakes aren’t. Or how mistakes art.

One lesson is that, whatever the circumstances, make sure you have plenty of sticks around.

Three Camps – Some old fashioned drumming from the days of yore.

Joe The Drummer — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:25:55 +0000

I came across this whilst searching for rudimental exercises. I don’t know much about the ancient art of snare drumming and marching bands. This performance is wonderful, I imagine playing a rope drum must feel more like playing a floor tom than the kind of snare i am used to hitting. This chap has great hands!

A great drum lesson from Steve White

Joe The Drummer — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:26:01 +0000

Check out this fantastic lesson from the one and only Steve White.

Steve demonstrates a great exercise to improve your stick technique and help you develop your facility around the kit.

This is great drumming

Joe The Drummer — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:57:01 +0000

The amazing and unforgettable Otis Redding whose drummer has unbelievable energy, groove and taste.

A great post on establishing good practice habits from musicianwages.com

Joe The Drummer — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:02:19 +0000

Establishing Good Practice Habits as a Professional Musician

One of the most difficult duties of a professional, freelance musician, is finding time to practice. Yet practicing should be at the heart of the musician’s daily routine. Much like a professional athlete needs to constantly maintain their level of fitness, so must musicians keep their skills sharp. Yet unlike an athlete, musicians’ skills can continually improve over decades before peaking, making for a long, fruitful career. It’s just a matter of focused practicing.

Read the rest here.

Breaking It Down – A Simple Guide On How To Work On Coordination

Joe The Drummer — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 07:24:57 +0000

Here is a very insightful post from Inspired Practice about working on coordinaton. Sometimes I think that a teacher is just a person who isn’t afraid to say “slow it down” a lot.