Drums For Dummies

Jeff Strong has been a drummer for more than 40 years. His professional experience includes a variety of styles including jazz, rock, Latin, country, blues, and R&B. Jeff has taught drumming for more than three decades and is also the author of Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies, 6th Edition.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Conventions Used in This Book 2What You’re Not to Read 3Foolish Assumptions 3How This Book is Organized 3Part 1: Setting a Solid Foundation 4Part 2: Digging into the Drumset 4Part 3: Dressing up Your Drumset Skills 4Part 4: Pounding Out the Beat: Traditional Drums and Percussion 4Part 5: Choosing, Tuning, and Caring for Your Drums 5Part 6: The Part of Tens 5Appendix 5Icons Used in This Book 5Beyond the Book 6Where to Go from Here 6Part 1: Setting a Solid Foundation 7Chapter 1: Drum Basics 9Picking a Drum Apart from Head to Shell 10Exploring How Drums Create Sound 11Deconstructing the Drumset 12Appreciating the Old-timers: Traditional Drums 15Swingin’ Sticks and Slapping the Skins 16Chapter 2: I’ve Got Rhythm 19Developing a Sound Vocabulary 20Adding Some Drumming Definitions 25Becoming One with the Pulse (and I’m Not Talking Heartbeat) 27Feeling the Meter 28Embracing Odd Meter 29Chapter 3: Tapping into Drumming Techniques 31Talkin’ Technique: What You Need to Know 31Perfecting your posture 32Preventing injuries 32Hitting the drum: It’s (not) all in the wrist 36Speaking Softly and Carrying Big Sticks 37Holding the sticks 37Understanding drumstick strokes 40Painting a Variety of Textures with Brushes 43Getting to know brush styles 44Getting a grip on brushing techniques 44Forging a Foundation with Rudiments 47The single-stroke roll 47The double-stroke roll 48The paradiddle 49The flam 49The ruff 50Getting the Most Out of Your Practice Sessions 50Starting slowly 50Counting out the rhythm 50Thinking it through first 50Toughing out practice 51Knowing when to stop 51Chapter 4: Getting a Handle on Hand Drumming Techniques 53Taking Matters (and Tones) into Your Own Hands 53Opting for Open Tones 54Basic open tone stroke 54Thumb stroke 55The open slap tone 55Bass tone 56The rim stroke 57Mastering Muted Tones 58Basic muted tone 58The closed slap stroke 58The palm stroke 59The heel-tip stroke  59Venturing into Some Alternative Strokes 60Brushing stroke 60Drone tone 61The snap 61Trills 61One-handed rolls 62Keeping Your Options Open 63Part 2: Digging Into the Drumset 65Chapter 5: Settling In Behind the Drumset 67Setting Up Your Drumset 67Sitting on the throne 68Positioning the pedals 69Securing the snare drum 69Placing the tom-toms 70Adjusting the ride cymbal 71Angling the crash cymbals 71Raising the hi-hats 72Putting Your Foot Down 73Beating the bass drum 73Playing the hi-hats 75Working Out: Exercises to Improve Your Hand- and Footwork 75Chapter 6: Rolling into Rock Drumming 81Harnessing the Backbeat 82Mastering the Basic Beats 83Eighth-note feel 84Sixteenth-note feel 84Half-time feel 86The rock shuffle 90The half-time shuffle feel 92Dressing Up the Basic Beats 94Mixing up the hi-hat 94Moving the backbeat 96Adding syncopations 99Incorporating fills 100Chapter 7: Beating the Blues 105Finding the Pocket and Staying in It 105Playing Blues 106Slow tempo 106Medium tempo 108Fast tempo 110Filling in  or not 111Understanding Blues Song Structure 113Chapter 8: Rallying Around R&B and Funk 115Playing R&B Grooves 115Keeping time 116Adding ghost notes 118Opening and closing the hi-hat 122Getting Funky: Exploring Funk Drumming 123Incorporating syncopation 123Syncopating the snare drum beats 125Including ghost notes 126Opening and closing the hi-hat 127Chapter 9: Swinging into Jazz 129Getting Into the Swing of It 129Varying the tempo 132Tackling different textures 133Adding to the beat 134Expanding Your Horizons 136Riding the cymbal 137Adding accents 138Incorporating the snare drum 140Including the bass drum 142Mixing up your accents 144Telling Your Story: Soloing 149Making two-bar phrases 149Creating four-bar phrases 150Blending Styles: Jazz-Fusion 151Playing Fusion Rhythms 152Knowing that more (not less) is more 153Forgetting swing (at least for now) 153Dealing with odd meter 154Chapter 10: Looking at Latin and Caribbean Styles 157Building On Traditions 158Playing Afro-Cuban Rhythms 159Bolero 159Cha-cha 160Mambo 160Nanigo 161Playing Brazilian Rhythms 162Samba 162Bossa nova 163Playing Caribbean Rhythms 164Reggae 164Calypso 168Filling It Out 170Chapter 11: Ratcheting up Your Rock Drumming 171Building on a Solid Foundation 172Exploring Some Great Drummers and Their Grooves 173Peeking into the pop drumming of Kenny Aronoff 173Checking out punk’s Travis Barker 176Catching up with the jazz influence of Carter Beauford 178Discovering rock legend John Bonham 180Looking at Dave Grohl’s alternative drumming 183Jamming with a drummer’s drummer: Jeff Porcaro 184Examining Spüg’s heavy rock style 187Finding Your Own Inspiration 189Part 3: Dressing Up Your Drumset Skills 191Chapter 12: Getting Into the Groove 193Getting the Feel of the Music 193Playing Musically 194Understanding song structure 196Fitting your playing style to the song 196Choosing the Perfect Rhythm 197Getting hints from other musicians 197Using the music as a guide 198Adding Your Personality 200Choosing the bass drum part 200Selecting the snare drum part 200Picking the cymbals 201Electing embellishments 201Chapter 13: Expressing Yourself with Fills and Licks 203Enhancing Your Drumming with Licks 204Increasing Your Impact with Fills 206Marking the phrase 206Supporting dynamic variation 206Playing Some Fills — From One Beat to Four 207Creating Your Own Fills 212Fitting the musical situation 213Syncopating 214Rolling 215Chapter 14: Flying Solo 217Soloing Basics 218Keeping time 218Playing musically 218Thinking melodically 222Pushing the limits 223Part 4: Pounding Out the Beat: Traditional Drums and Percussion 225Chapter 15: Handling Hand Drums 227Embracing the Variety in Drums 228Beating the Bongos 228Playing position 229Understanding the rhythms 230Carrying On with the Congas 231Playing position 232Understanding the rhythms 234Discovering the Djembe 235Playing position 236Understanding the rhythms 237Uncovering the Udu 238Playing position 239Understanding the rhythms 240Deciphering the Doumbek 241Playing position 242Understanding the rhythms 242Touting the Tar 243Playing position 244Understanding the rhythms 245Tapping the Power of the Tambourine/Riq 246Playing position 247Understanding the rhythms 248Partying with the Pandeiro    249Playing position 249Understanding the rhythms 251Chapter 16: Singling Out Stick-Played Drums 253Bopping to the Bodhran 254Playing position 254Understanding the rhythms 254Detailing the Djun Djuns 256Playing position 257Understanding the rhythms 257Rubbing the Cuica 258Playing position 259Understanding the rhythms 259Striking the Surdo 261Playing position 262Understanding the rhythms 262Rapping the Repanique 264Playing position 265Understanding the rhythms 265Tapping the Tamborim 266Playing position 267Understanding the rhythms 267Tinkering with the Timbales 269Playing position 269Understanding the rhythms 270Chapter 17: Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Exploring Other Percussion Instruments 273Ringing the Agogo Bells 274Playing position 274Understanding the rhythms 275Twisting and Shaking the Afuche/Cabasa 276Playing position 276Understanding the rhythms 277Keying in to the Clavé 278Playing position 279Understanding the rhythms 279Clanging the Cowbell 281Playing position 281Understanding the rhythms 282Scraping the Guiro 282Playing position 283Understanding the rhythms 283Movin’ to the Maracas 284Playing position 285Understanding the rhythms 285Experimenting with Shakers 286Playing position 287Understanding the rhythms 287Tapping the Triangle 288Playing position 288Understanding the rhythms 289Chapter 18: Jamming with World Rhythms 291Demystifying Polyrhythms 292It Takes a Village: Using More Rhythms for Better Sound 292The Rhythm Nations: Playing Well with Others 293Exploring African polyrhythms 293Checking out Cuban polyrhythms 296Banging out Brazilian polyrhythms 297Part 5: Choosing, Tuning, and Caring For Your Drums 303Chapter 19: Decision Time: Selecting a Drum of Your Own 305Choosing a Drumset 306The drums 306Other hardware you have to buy separately 308The cymbals 309The sticks 310Choosing a Traditional Drum 310Natural or synthetic drumheads 311Shell type 312Hardware style 314Branching Out: The Extras 314Keeping time with the metronome 314Carrying it all in cases 315Knowing Where to Find Drums 316Chapter 20: Tuning and Maintaining Your Drums 317Checking Out Tuning Basics 318Tuning a drum with lugs 318Tuning a drum with a rope system 319Tuning the untunable 320Choosing and Replacing Heads 320Knowing when heads need replacing 320Choosing replacement heads 321Replacing your heads 323Caring for Your Drums 323Handling hardware 323Cleaning cymbals 324Storing and transporting safely 325Part 6: The Part of Tens 327Chapter 21: Ten Ways to Expand Your Drumming Horizons 329Checking out Classes 329Visiting Clinics 330Attending Workshops 330Exploring Drum Circles and Jams 330Perusing Books and Videos 331Getting Online 331Reading Magazines 332Joining a Band 332Forming Your Own Band 333Playing Open Stage 333Chapter 22: Ten Tips for Finding a Drum Instructor 335Test Driving a Teacher 335Knowing Where to Look 336Understanding the Costs Involved 336Exploring a Teacher’s Playing Style 337Gauging a Teacher’s Willingness to Teach to Your Interests 337Starting Where You are 338Getting a Sense of History 338Honoring Yourself 339Understanding Expectations 340Knowing When to Move On 341Appendix: How to Use the Website 343Index 359