4 comments about Mel Bay Studio: Jazz Drum Cookbook.

1. An easy to follow progression of fundamentals leading to solos, this is a great book for staring your jazz studies. It does follow the one primary basic ride sound, but by the end I would think one would be able to improvise fairly well around that pattern.



2. I recently received this book and I've been working on it for more than a week. It's somehow surprising that this book is not widely known in the drumming community (at least here in Italy).
   I find this book excellent. It contains many coordination exercises on 1, 2 and 3 voices (all combinations of snare drum, bass drum and hi-hat), both on swung eighths and triplets, against the jazz ride pattern. The exercises are of gradually increasing difficulty so the book would be perfect both for the beginner or the advanced jazz drummer. The review solos at the end of each chapter are musically pleasant.



3. I absolutely love this book, it's a fantastic resource if you're looking to get into jazz drumming. Every percussion instructor I've ever had has recommended this book to me, and for good reason.
   One of my friends actually learned jazz drumming over the summer just by spending hours and hours with this book.



4. I really like this book.
   It broke down jazz drumming so perfectly by the time anyone finishes they'll be havin' jazz drummin' fever.
   Seriously.
   No Joke.
   It was also recommended by my drum teacher Larz.
   So that's how you know it's good.

4 comments about Mel Bay The Tomás Cruz Conga Method, Vol. III.

1. I have to get right to the point. I've been practicing the Congas for about 10 months now. I have bought many kinds of practice and learning aids, but nothing come close to these DVD's. I wish I had them in my posession when I started. I've been working with volume 1 for just 1 week and I've learned more from this 1st one than I have from all other material I have and I have plenty. Including the Giovanni Hidalgo DVD's. Not saying they are bad, He's just to fast and doesn't seem to have the patients to slow it dowm long enough. Tomas Cruz Takes his time and really teaches. Many excersizes and practice drills in the first including many tombao patterens. From extreme basics to advanced this is by far the best learning material one could invest their money in. I mean the best!!!! You won't be disapointed if you really want to learn.



2. It's a good book for advanced level since there are no slow explications about the patterns.



3. Cons: None
   
   Pros: As mentioned by the first reviewer, no other conga method compares to Tomás Cruz's methods. He really walks you through, step by step and stroke by stroke on how put the rhythms together.
   
   This Vol III is the advanced one, so I wouldn't pay much attention to the second reviewer.



4. Just like the editorial review says, this is for Timba rhythms, they are usually not that honest. I own books I, II, and they are excellent, my friend owns this one, and there's very little you can get from it unless you are going to play Timba. The problem with Timba is that is not that popular at least here in the United States, it is a rather agressive, more street-like, louder, with elements of rap, hip-hop, etc, new type of sonority, like a branch off from salsa. Timba usually appeals to the younger generations of cubans that have come in the recent years. The rest of the people though, tend to appreciate and dance more to classic Salsa, Son, or Puerto-Rican, NY style, or Colombian Salsa. So, while this book does exactly what it is intended to, be advised that you won't play that very much. Instead I recommend more to get a solid grounding and thorough command of the rhythms in vol I, II, which is what you will most likely play and will build you up as a percussionist.

2 comments about Drum Backbeats Encyclopedia.

1. Book is well written and includes some very helpful playing examples on the cd thats included. Easy to follow along with and has lots of backbeats I would have never tried on my own. Nice job John. I'll have to check out your other book as well.



2. This book, including audio CD, contains many great drum beats and advice on how to recognize and create them. It builds from solid basics into advanced techniques such as hi hat splashes and ghost notes. It is a good place to start when you want a new beat but have trouble starting out. This book will give you some ideas that you can work with to create something truly interesting.
   
   The CD could be organized a little better to reflect the order in the book itself, however, this only set me back a few minutes and isn't a great worry. All individual beats in the book contain the track number to help you with this, but the first few are organized differently, probably because you will spend a lot of your early time on this section.
   
   All drummers should have a copy of this book in their library. Especially those still learning and let's face it, when do we stop learning? Only when we stop playing.

4 comments about Modern School for Xylophone, Marimba & Vibraphone.

1. When I first bought this book, I was looking for it for one reason: becuase it was inexpensive and had a solo that I was interested in playing. But boy, it is good for a whole lot more than that. It has 2- 4 mallet parts that are fun to learn, and each have their own "spunk" in them!! I highly recommend this book for intermediate and professional mallet players!!



2. I worked through this book in the late 60's while studying with Tony Cirone at San Jose State. I remembered it fondly and now that I am teaching my son mallet instruments, I am going through it again.

   There are many newer xylophone books out and several that lead to a higher level of difficulty, but no other combines the studies of technique, repertoire and musicality like Modern School for Xylophone...

   This is THE book all mallet players should master before anything else.




3. This book is great for working towards building mallet excellence. I am a high schooler and have recently discovered this masterpiece and I have done nothing but grow stronger in my mallet technique since the exercises have become regulars in my work-out progression.



4. mallet players looking for a good challenge and/or good workouts will really benifit from this book. it is not easy, but it is well thought out and will make a huge impact on your playing. the ending solos are great fun. There is even a Bach concierto which is quite the challenge. buy it!

2 comments about Pop/Rock: Drum Play-Along Volume 1 (Hal Leonard Drum Play-Along).

1. I purchased the Pop Rock, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, and Funk volumes of this series. Funk has not yet been released, but this review applies equally to the three volumes I've received.
   
   I love play-along sets like this, but have never been happy with 'sound-alikes'. (Liberty DeVitto's book is excellent, because you get to play with Billy's band.) In this case, the musicianship is of such a high caliber that you can really settle into the grooves and feel like you're playing along with the original artists.
   
   You can't please everybody, but Hal Leonard has done a great job at choosing songs that feature good grooves and interesting drum parts. No Reply At All, Peg, and Rosanna just feel so good to play along with. I cannot wait for the Funk volume with James Brown and Tower of Power, among others.
   
   There are no vocals and no click except for a count-in, when warranted. Those are not negatives. The lack of a click threw me in 'Come Together', for example. With no vocals to fill those breaks, it took some concentration to nail the downbeat of the next section. That's excellent in my opinion, and can only help to improve my own internal click.
   
   I can see where this would be a useful addition to any drum instructor's repertoire. Some students find it easier to stay motivated when playing along with 'songs they know'. It's also a useful tool for practicing your engineering skills. Record yourself playing along and experiment with different drum tunings, micing, eq, effects, etc., to try and get the best recorded sound possible.
   
   I hope this series gets a strong reception in the drum community. That's very selfish of me, because I would like to see these sets just keep coming. Throw some more Police, Steely Dan, Rush (none yet), Zeppelin (none yet), etc., into the mix. Keep the same quality and strong selection of songs, and I will be a customer for as long as you keep releasin' em.



2. I have to agree with all that was said already. A good selection for the beginner (Hurts So Good) to intermediate (Rosanna). And well produced too.

4 comments about Funky Primer for the Rock Drummer.

1. one of the best books to learn drumset from! starts from basic sticking exercies and gets more complex as you progress; exercises incorporate snare, bass drum, open and closed hi-hat, and ride cymbal if you wish.
   
   if pursued properly, the method offers an increase in speed and endurance of a drummer's hands and feet, knowledge of rock-oriented rhythms, basic independence of the hands and feet, and the mastering of soul and jazz-rock beats of famous 20th century drummers.



2. This is a really good book not only for beginning drummers, but for those interested in independence. The book does a very good job of introducing independence between limbs by not throwing it all at you at once. So it lets you get the hands down in a pretty significant way before throwing in the feet. Also there are some hidden gems in here. I noticed only after the fact that some of the hand exercises were excellent introductions to latin playing. So when I began to get into latin music I already had much of the coordinations needed.



3. very good book to learn to play with. starts out easy enough for someone whos never sat in a drum kit. progresses at an easy, yet challenging pace. not alot of words, just alot of drumming. perfect for me.



4. When I started playing the drums back in 2001, I had a friend that had been playing for nearly 25 years at the time. He immediately turned me onto this book: A Funky Primer for the Rock Drummer. I took one look at it and basically "judged it by its cover", as the saying goes. It appeared old and I wondered how much it could really offer to improve my playing.
   
   I was wrong to judge it so quickly. After about 2 weeks of working out of this book I saw huge gains in my ability to play beats and my improvisation had increased significantly.
   
   I took the book a page at a time. I found a beat in the book that looked like it was within my level of ability. I set the metronome to 60 beats per minute (bpm) and played through the beat for 2 minutes straight. If it was too simple, I moved on to a more challenging beat. Once I found one I again set the metronome to 60 bpm and played for 2 minutes. If I had trouble, I remained at the tempo until I could play it flawlessly for 2 minutes straight before increasing the tempo further and further until arriving at well over 110 bpm. This little practice technique proved invaluable seeing as how there are literally hundreds of variations of the rock beat in this book.
   
   Additionally you will find a hefty rudiment section to improve your sticking ability. There are enough variations here to challenge even seasoned drummers who want to improve their hand dexerity, coordination and speed.
   
   This book can be as helpful as you make it. The key to using this book and getting the most out of it are to practice with discipline. Work on areas of the book a section at a time. There are practically no instructional paragraphs in this book, its up to you to be able to read drum notation (you can find it on the internet if you don't already read it) and to apply the beats and rudiments found here to the drumkit.
   
   This book changed my drumming forever and gave me a solid foundation from which to build on. I have used many other drum books since this one and always come back to A Funky Primer. I recommend this book to beginners just starting out, intermediate players who want hone their skills and tighten up their playing, and for professional drummer who are perhaps teaching students. This is a great book. Highly recommended!

5 comments about On The Beaten Path: The Drummers Guide To Musical Styles & T Legends Who Defined Them (Book & CD).

1. I am a beginning, self-taught drummer who just does it for fun in my spare time. This is the only drumming book I've ever bought, though I've bought many guitar tab books in the past.
   
   This book focuses on some of the most famous drummers of various genres, and beautifully deconstructs their styles, and even has drum kit layouts. Those blew me away! I don't know if such a thing is a standard for all drum instruction books, but if not, it should be.
   
   Where a typical drum instruction book might be, "Here are some exercises. Do them. Now, do these slightly harder exercises." etc., this book is like, "Here is a famous drummer(Photos, bio, technical drum info). Here are three songs by them. Learn these songs by reading this sheet music and listening along to the CD."
   
   As I read through the book, I realized that my view of drumming was a very narrow perspective: I was initially only interested in the guys I'd heard of: Neil Peart, Buddy Rich, etc. But as I read through the book, the author pulled me into the fascinating stories behind many other awesome drummers, which I would've never given proper homage to, and probably would've missed out on everything they have to offer. For instance, Carter Beauford, of the Dave Matthews band. I was never a DMB fan, but after reading about him in the "Progressive Rock" section, (Or was it the "Jam band" section?) I was intrigued, and found some videos that made me realize there was ONE reason to listen to DMB! The drummer!
   
   I feel that with this book, I've got a very broad perspective on drumming, many choices of new techniques to learn, and it will be a long time before I outgrow this book.
   
   However, if I did, I would like to see more from this author talking about more drummers, and more songs from the drummers presented within.
   
   The CD which comes with this book has tracks which are the drum techniques highlighted from each artist, which you can set on repeat as you practice each of them.



2. The author covers every popular style from Classic rock to reggae. I also like the fact that he takes a particular drummer and selects a beginner song, an intermediate song and then an advanced song. He also breaks down each rythim specifically which is very helpful.



3. Great book. Good for teachers and students. Gives good insight into genres of music, and those who made the style theirs. Although there are some drummers who aren't in the book, e.g Jeff Porcaro, the reality is we all have personal tastes and its impossible to put everyone in! Will be a great reference book for all and won't date. Great value for money.



4. I was dissappointed in this product because I felt lead to believe that the transcriptions would be more than little "snippets" of songs. I wanted more transcription.



5. I've read this book a handful of times, always interested, intrigued and educated. The author managed to squeeze tons of information, tidbits and facts into a book that appeals to both avid drummers and casual music lovers. Hopefully we'll see more books covering other drummers and styles in the future. A great writer and an excellent book!! It's no surprise that this book won the 2008 Readers Polls for the #1 Educational Book in both Modern Drummer and DRUM! magazines.

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!

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.