1 comments about Standard of Excellence Comprehensive Band Method: Drums & Mallet Percussion (Standard of Excellence - Comprehensive Band Method).

1. I'm not a band director, but I've played in a lot of bands, and can say this series avoids dryness while allowing a sensible progression in musicianship for the whole band. I especially like the fact that the percussion book includes snaredrums and bells equally. For an alternative check out the Rubank method.

5 comments about The Healing Power of the Drum.

1. I have read "The Healing Power of the Drum" and highly recommend it!
   Let me also interject- I am very discriminating with regard to the books I recommend; to be perfectly honest, this is the first time I have ever posted one of these online reviews... but I really wanted to let people know -- this book is an absolute must-read.

   The Healing Power of the Drum has taught me so much about how drumming can benefit one's health. It helped me with my father (who has been suffering from Parkinson's disease for 18 years) and it also supplied the tools I needed to get through the recent death of a close friend.

   As a Rehabilitation Trainer, I deal with a lot of people who are trying to recover from what are often devastating circumstances. Many are trying to regain not only their physical, but also their mental strength. To help my patients understand the benefits of the mind/body connection, I give each of them a copy of Friedman's book. I would be hard-pressed to find a single one of them who has not benefitted from this book in some way.

   I recently saw Mr. Friedman on a Discovery Channel Health series, as an expert on drumming and wellness. I found his ideas, as in his book, to be not only extremely inspiring... but also very easy to implement. The bottom line, Mr. Friedman provides innovative ideas and solutions in the arena of complementary medicine and rhythm that real people can use in the real world.




2. At a time when the concept of rhythm and drumming is being embraced as a health strategy, Robert Lawrence Freidman captures the current landscape of who's who in developing both the science and practice of drumming for healing purposes.

   From music therapists and professional percussionists to scientific researchers and medical doctors, Robert has interviewed them all and highlights their work in this excellent book. Also included are Robert's ideas about using drumming for stress reduction and a wonderful resources in the back of the book on activities using rhythm and percussion for health and wellness.

   Excellent Excellent Excellent.

   Boom - Ba - Boom - Ba - Boom - Boom - Boom. Makes you want to play and helps you understand why.




3. This is a must have book in any person interested in the field of percussion, music therapy, or wellness. As a drummer and psychotherapist Robert Friedman guides the reader through the experience of using the drum as a tool for therapy and healing. What has been known for centuries by other cultures of the world comes to life in Friemdman's book. He uses stories from expert percussionists such as Layne Redmond and Babatunde Olatunji as well as noted music therapists Barry Bernstein and Christine Stevens among many others to convey that the drum is a powerful and useful tool in therapy. Friedman inculded many helpful sections such as drumming with specific populations such as At-Risk Adolescents, Senior Citizens, Autism, Down Syndrome, and many others. A section on specific drumming activities is included as well as an extensive list of drum related resources. This book is a pleasure to read and learn from. On a personal level I appreciate that several times in the book Friedman recommends consulting a music therapist to assist with therapeutic drumming interventions. He clearly recognizes and supports the use of music as a vital part of the therapeutic process and guides the reader to many sources where they can explore their rhythmic spirit. This book should be required reading for anyone entering the healthcare field. I personally recommend this book to my percussion students and fellow music therapists and know that many more would benefit from reading this wonderful work.



4. I first heard about the healing effects that drums can have about six weeks ago. I had bought a Woman's World magazine at the market, and saw an article in it about a lady who suffered from depression,and was feeling so much better, after she had used Christine Steven's healing drum kit system!Wow! What a unique concept! I am a very "amp-ed" up person,and I wondered if the drum could help me unwind at night.I ordered the kit through Amazon, and use it nightly! I LOVE IT!!So,when I saw this book, I KNEW I had to order it. This is quite remarkable,how simple drumming can have so many health benefits! If you are the least bit curious about this topic,may I suggest you pick this item up? It is an easy read, informative, and it surely does make you think! I can see what listening to my drum CD's have done for me this past month...I am more relaxed, and lulled into sleep, PLUS....my blood pressure was LOWER than usual this week, at the Clinic! Have you had your daily dose of Vitamin D {drum}????



5. This is a very intriguing book that discusses how drumming / rhythm making can relieve stress, inspire confidence, create connection, promote teamwork, purge anger / frustration, build (or repair) relationships, and unlock positive energy in human beings, and thus, open doors to genuine wellness and happiness for those who are willing to participate. The author celebrates the drum as a special instrument that, like no other, possesses the almost magical ability to feed the yearning / wounded human spirit that is often lost (neglected) in today's fast-paced, often-depressing, technology driven world. In the first chapter, Friedman states, "Through providing a channel back to our deeper nature, the drum concurrently provides those who use it with a link to others. The drum seems to have the capacity to unite all individuals who choose to experience it together. Despite race, religion, color, creed, background, or ideology, all are joined together through this ancient instrument's calling. The drum, therefore, becomes a vehicle for transporting all who utilize it across boundaries, to an experience of wholeness and community" (page 8). So, perhaps, according to this author's ideas, drumming is the great glue that holds humanity together; it's a language that all can understand. The forgiving drum allows the freedom of individual expression and the binding of togetherness to happen simultaneously--the balance of opposing tendencies in human experience, an intimate embrace of both the Apollonian and the Dionysian souls; drumming can potentially offer a catharsis. [I liked the author's allusions to Taoism as he explained these points.]
   
   While there can be debatable points in the book, the information does provoke thought and self-analysis in how one is affected by the rhythms of the world and personal rhythms. In my opinion, the following sections themselves justify the price of the book for their enlightened, useful ideas:
   
   Chapter Three: The Ancient Calling
   [I especially liked the given quote by Mickey Hart that Friedman offered on page 23: ""If you could see your DNA, you'd see what your inside rhythm looks like. You are rhythm. You are made of flesh, blood, bones, and rhythm. Rhythm is what keeps you alive."]
   
   Chapter Four: The Personal Experience of Drumming
   [This section describes how drumming can have profound and lasting effects on one's life.]
   
   Chapter Ten: Practical Techniques & Rhythm Activities
   [Simple ideas to get one started with drumming activities are here.]
   
   Chapter Eleven: Drumming Exercises from Musical Therapy
   [Most helpful is the section, "What are your life rhythms?" if you answer questions honestly. ]
   
   Rhythm and Percussion Resources
   [An excellent lists of people, products, organizations, and contacts. Beginners will find this section especially helpful.]
   
   Things I would have liked to see in book but didn't: 1) I wanted to see more specific details and examples in Chapter Nine: Skeptics and Visionaries; and 2) I would like to see more pictures of people / different populations drumming and drum / percussion instruments themselves.
   
   Nevertheless, the book begs to be read and discussed. It would be appropriate for educators, therapists, youth group coordinators, trainers, parents, healthcare providers, motivators, and anyone who wishes to explore new avenues of personal, professional, and social development. The book might make an intriguing, interdisciplinary choice for a supplemental textbook in college sociology, wellness, communication, humanities, and music appreciation courses.

2 comments about Classic Rock: Drum Play-Along Volume 2 (Drum Play-Along).

1. Sheet Music seems totally accurate as does the play along CD. Great song selection as well. Recommend it highly.



2. Just received Hal Leonard's "Classic Rock Volume 2 Play along drum issue".
   First the possitive remarks: very nice worked out tabs, very good sound alike cd tracks which you get with drums (to listen to) and without the drums (off-course to play along)...as expected!
   Greatest miss on this cd is that you have to sing along too with the tracks, because vocals are missing. This makes the whole issue a bit disappointing (at least for me), because i miss the feel of playing along with the complete band. Very strange. If you're not bothered with the missing vocals, this thing is it!!!
   
   Theo Bien

3 comments about Elementary Drum Method.

1. I teach percussion privately, and I require all my beginning students to buy a copy of this book. It introduces the new percussionists to time signatures, rudiments, sticking methods, and playing auxiliary percussion instruments. It is a simple yet effective way to get started in percussion, and is a lot more interesting to play than _Stick Control_!



2. I've taught percussion now for about 15 years, and this book teaches all the important rhythmic concepts within about 11 pages. It will definitely give a beginning student a sense of accomplishment, and will keep them interested, which is the most important thing! It also has a list of all 26 major rudiments and has plenty of useful exercises.



3. Even though the graphics in the beginning leave something to be desired and could easily be updated, this is my favorite beginning drum book. For one thing, it contains the 'rudiments,' which I find an important part of the learning process. The rhythmic concepts and technical aspects (flams, drags, etc) are introduced in a logical order that the student can easily grasp.

5 comments about The Line.

1. Courtney Brandt is quite the up and coming author, writing an entertaining and engaging story that highlights the band world as well as much of the drama during teenage years.
   
   A good read - it'll leave you either reminiscing about band days long ago or psyching you up for the next season.



2. THE LINE is a novel for all those band geeks out there. If you are a percussionist, you'll feel right at home as the Forrest Hills High School drum line prepares for a new season of football games and competitions.
   
   Lucy has spent weeks preparing for her audition to be a member of The Battery. Once she makes it, she finds out that being the only girl on the line has special challenges. Especially when the hot cymbal player she's been crushing on leaves no doubt that he's interested in a relationship. Lucy will have a boyfriend to take her to the homecoming dance!
   
   But, of course, it's not that simple. Lucy has also met another guy and can't stop thinking about him. That fact that he's the Captain of the rival drum line makes the situation even more complicated. Is it possible to date two guys from different schools? Should she tell them about each other? What if they find out that they are competitors, not only for Lucy, but on the drum line competition field as well?
   
   Once Lucy opts for truth, she realizes it's not fair to the boys who both want to date her exclusively. Who will she choose? Nevada, the flashy cymbal player from her own line? Or Sam, from the rival line, who liked her even after finding out who she was? Will Lucy find out the secret that has fueled the rivalry between the two drum lines? And who is that mysterious cyber-buddy that's always on-line for her?
   
   The beginning of this book is a little slow starting, with a fair amount of telling. But don't let that discourage you. Lucy will draw you in. The fun tension between the drum lines and the boys will make you want to read on. You will inevitably pick who you want Lucy to choose and you won't be disappointed. It took me back to my band days, those bus trips, the pranks in the band room, and the rush you feel when you compete with high honors. My 12-year-old daughter took this book away from me and read it in a day. She and I agree that this book was a fun read with a highly satisfying ending.
   
   Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger



3. The items were easy to order and arrived in the timeframe stated. Very happy with the service and item that was purchased. Would definitely use this buyer again.



4. I am a sophomore in high school, I am on the drum line, and I play 2nd bass. The Line is the most amazing book I've read. This book captures what being a girl on a drum line is like. It's freaky how much I have in common with Lucy. 5'4" burnett, girl, 2nd bass drumer, I feel the same way about my boys on the line, I feel the same way about the whole 'for a girl' thing. Its so weird, it was partly like reading about me. I can relate to so much of this in the book, except the whole dating two guys at once and having to choose thing.
   
   This is deffinetly my favorite book ever. I love how its about a girl durmmer that plays bass and works hard for evreything and wants to keep going. I love how there are deffinitions to different things at the begginging of each chapter. I love the whole story line, its amazing.
   
   I recommend this book to everyone, drummer or not. It is truely an amazing book. Every time I picked it up I didn't want to put it down, I got so into it.
   
   
   go out, buy it, and read it!!



5. The Line is a well spun story with the most intriguing subtleties. The search for a young girl's identity, her power, and her sense of place are the overriding themes in this delightfully feminist story of a high school girl in a marching band. There is something here for everybody. Courtney has created an endearing character in Lucy Karate who gains her strength and stands up in the face of intimidation. Great job on this work of literature!

5 comments about Drums For Dummies (For Dummies (Lifestyles Paperback)).

1. This book spends too much time on all different types of drums rathar than concentrating on what I, and a majority of people who buy this book want it for: To play your standard rock band drum set. Also, if you don't have any music foundation, such as reading music, forgot this book. It spends a very short time teaching you how to read sheet music and if you don't understand it then the rest of the book is useless. I came close to throwing it in the garbage several times but keep coming back to it, figuring I'm missing something but I've yet to figure this poorly organized and written book out. Maybe this is the 'Dummies' style as I've never read one before. I found more helpful and free information on the net.



2. Drums for Dummies
   
   
   
   
   If any of you are drummers that want to learn how to play the drum set or just wont to master your training. I thank this book is good book for you. Its called Drums for Dummies. It doesn't just try to teach you the drum set; it tries to teach you how to play other percussion interments as well. It comes with a CDROM to let you hear it so you know if you are doing it right. It adds on just little at a time. I will admit it is a little confusing, but I am twelve years old and I cane understand it. It taught me how to play now let it teach you.



3. It's not reasonable to expect to learn a musical instrument from a book, much less a single book. This is a useful book for anyone just starting out or thinking of starting out, to help explain the lingo, to show the variety of drums one can choose from, to provide some advice on how to choose drums, and how to tap out a few basic rhythms. It would also be useful for music directors, band teachers, or composers who are not drummers but want some basic understanding of what drums can (and can't) do. Beyond that, to be a drummer one needs a teacher and many hours of practice -- there are no shortcuts.
   
   This book, unlike the "Idiots" competition, devotes a lot of space to all sorts of drums, not simply rock kits. It also covers basic drumming patterns for a number of different styles. A demo CD is included. If you can't read music, you should plan on supplementing this book with enough study to be able to.



4. I own several Dummies books. As usual the Dummies series has managed to turn out a book for... Dummies. Even though I have no drumset I still managed to learn the basics. However the author is quite "talkative" but I think that kept me from falling asleep on the book. Good buy!



5. This book was exactly what we expected. It is very informative and my husbands drum instructor is using it for lessons. Good Buy !!

5 comments about Mel Bay The Bongo Book.

1. This is a very good book/CD set. Not great, but very good. The CD that accompanies it is extremely helpful in finding the tones and timing, but a little more instruction would have helped. Had the CD been a DVD/CD with a few instruction tracks on it, I doubt you could beat this set-up.

   There are a lot of good exercises in here, and the notation (which in the percussion world seems to be written in as many variations as there are players) is easy to follow. If you have to pick one starting instructinal book, you will not go wrong with this one!




2. I bought this book shortly after I started playing bongos about 6 years ago, and it is still a great source of rhythm patterns and overall inspiration. You can find rhythms in this book that will apply to any style of music. It is true that there is not much on technique. But I suggest to anyone who is frustrated to just keep trying! Read this section over and over, LISTEN closely to the CD, get your hands on those drums and eventually it will click. (If you still need help, get on the usnet group rec.music.makers.percussion.hand-drum or do a Google search in this group. Any question you can think of has been asked and answered already :-)

   There is even a section on re-skinning a bongo head. You do-it-yourself'ers and drum tinkerers will LOVE this. It's easy and fun to put on a new head -- especially if you put goatskin on the macho (small bongo head).

   If you have some bongos, thinking of buying some, or know an aspiring bongocero, this book is a MUST.




3. I'm a guitar player. Recently someone I respect suggested that if I studied a precussion instrument it would improve my guitar playing. Initially I wanted to study congo drums but realized quickly that they were not only very expensive, but a little intense for the condo in which I live. I settled on bongos both for their portablility and for their less intrusive tone. Now the challenge was how to learn them. I've had a lot of pleasure learning guitar from DVD and video tape so my first thought was to find a DVD that taught bongo drumming. Unfortunately the two offered on Amazon had fairly poor customer comments. I always go by the customer reviews because customers have no axe to grind. I find the truth generally come out in these reviews. Finally I hit on Trevor Salloum's The Bongo Book which had rave reviews. I was so enthusiastic I bought the 'better together' deal and also got Beyond Basics. Let me tell you, it's going to be months if not years before I need that second book. I've never worked with a more comprehensive music book than The Bongo Book. The Martillo and its variations are challenging and also so much fun to play. I go into another world while I'm hammering these tattoos. I just love it. I'm currently on page 15 of 37 musical pages and I already feel like I'm a bongoseros. I've really become obsessed with these things! I've never been attracted to drums before. I'm doing this entirely as an educational adjunct, and it's absolutely changed my image of myself. I'd recommend that anyone learn these little drums before they take up any other instrument. Rhythm is the foundation of all music and once you've got this you can apply it to everything, be it music, dancing, loving or fighting. It's really infectious. There are a couple of suggestions I'd make for future editions: The included CD was among the reasons I initially opted to buy the book but I found this CD not to be very useful or even necessary. I expected it to be a CD I could play along with, but it isn't really. It amounts to a demonstration of how each of the drummed measures is supposed to sound. If you know how to count a musical measure, you really don't need these demonstrations. And if you don't know how to count a measure, these demonstrations are not going to help you to play them. More useful would be a two-page explaination of how to count 4/4 time, 1 and 2 etc, and-a, e-and-a, trip-pel-let etc. I already knew this from studying guitar so had no trouble adapting, but a complete musical beginner would find this kind of explaination useful and essential. This way, the CD could contain play-along rhythms which would be more fun and interesting. I'm buying Jack Costanzo and Armando Peraza CDs to play with and as an example of how the bongos sound in context and this would not be as imperative if the CD contained more of that type of information. Another wonderful thing about this book are the interviews at the end with famous bongoseros, a great opportunity to learn about the significance of this instrument in jazz and popular music as well as the great recordings of bongos that have been made during the 20th Century. I recommend this book without reservations. Learning to count musically is not a great challenge. You can learn the entire concept in under an hour if you don't know how to do it. Salloum's stroke notation is brilliant and easy to memorize and use. For me, I couldn't be happier with a learning tool than I am with The Bongo Book.



4. The item description doesn't say that this book is for beginners. But based on the reviews I read it seemed like a good book for beginners. That was a horrific assumption. I don't blame the publisher for this, I blame other reviewers who lead readers to believe this is a good book for beginners.
   
   From the beginning this book uses all kinds of terminology that I've never heard of before (and I have played some keyboard, drums and guitar). Which leads me to wonder who this book is for because, in my opinion, anyone who can understand the terminology probably has no use for such a book.
   
   I do fault the publisher for the terribly exposed, grainy photographs. I also fault the publisher for allowing several interviews with bongo players which, in my opinion, do not belong in a book like this. The whole book just feels cheap as if it was quickly thrown together.
   
   As an absolute beginner what I would have liked to see is a more detailed explanation of technique along with photos (this book has a few photos, but most of them look the same, and the photos do not correlate with the techniques described in the text). I would also have liked to see more description of how to read the notation used in the book. And while I understand musical timing due to my previous experience an absolute beginner will have no clue as to what tempo the notes should be played, this is not described anywhere in the book.
   
   This is a very poorly executed and frustrating book about bongos. It borders on useless for a true beginner. If you are a beginning bongo player do not buy this book it will not help you learn to play the bongos and will give you nothing but frustration.
   
   I have no idea how a book like this ever made it to print.



5. Serves its purpose well. It is the thinnist book I've ever seen, but hey it's about music. WHat more can you say. It isn't really worth the money. Get the CDs over this I recommend videos over both.

1 comments about Rock Band Modern Rock Edition - Drum Play-Along Volume 19 Bk/Cd (Hal Leonard Drum Play-Along).

1. Note that Enter the Sandman is not on this CD or book, as is described on the Amazon product description. Otherwise the book is typical Hal Leonard quality, which is pretty doggone good, note for note transcription.
   Instead they have sub'd in 'When you were young' by The Killers.
   
   Comes with Amazing Slow Downer for OSX and Windows, at least a version tied to the CD... worth buying the full up ASD for $39, since the slow down is of higher audio quality and you can open any MP3s from the hard disk.
   For $10 this book is a great value.

1 comments about The Amazing Jamnasium: A Playful Companion to Together in Rhythm (Book & Enhanced Cd).

1. This handy guide is full of activities that can be used by drum circle faciltiators and music educators. A great complement to Together in Rhythm.

5 comments about The Essence of Afro-Cuban Percussion and Drum Set: Includes the Rhythm Section Parts for Bass, Piano, Guitar Horns & Strings.

1. This book and CD provide the aspiring conga/drumkit player with the historical and technical abilities to begin an exploration of Afro-Cuban techniques. If you spend a year or two going through the exercises in this book, you'll come out the other end with technical skills (especially independence related) that will amaze you. More importantly, it is very likely that your groove will be much deeper when your done and that will produce benefits in whatever style you happen to be playing in.



2. An absolute wealth of information on Afro-Cuban percussion, this book is encyclopedic in its content and very effective in delivering examples of rhythms, grooves and variations. A must have for any serious student of Afro-Cuban percussion, buy this book.



3. If you're looking for reference or study books for afro-cuban percussion, Ed's book is very good. It contains rhythm scores for several important instruments such as congas, timables, bells, bombo, guiro, clave and pailitos, as well as scores for many different song styles for these instruments. Styles include son, son montuno, bolero, yambu, guaguanco, columbia, guiro, abakua, mozambique, songo, bombo, and calypso. Ed also includes many hand exercises that are worthwhile, I'm a guitarist of many years, and learning hand independence and percussion rhythms and rudiments has been invaluable for me. I practice on congas, cowbells, claves, drum sticks (pailitos) and bass drum several times a week, and regulary use this book as reference for different songstyles. There is of course much more to the book (and of course no one can include everything) but for what I use it for I consider it a great reference book from a very talented teacher.



4. Really a masterpiece! It learns you everything about afro cuban drumming/percussion. I like especially the background information and it pays a lot of attention to playing together. Most afro cuban methods don't learn you anything about playing together, this method really does. It will give you lesson material for years!



5. This is a very good book, packed with concise information on latin rhythm section. It is not for beginners, as you need to be able to read music and know the basic technique for instruments, but it is a very good reference for anyone wanting to play in a latin band (and not only percussionists, but bass, piano and horn players as well should have a look at it). It covers all the classic popular styles up to songo and delves a bit into some of the folkloric genres too. Can't say anything about the drumset section, as I'm only learning the percussion.
   I'm giving it four stars only because the bongo section is disappointingly short compared to congas and timbales. There's more to this instrument than just couple of martillo variations!