Drum Lesson Academy

This intro fill spans two beats of a 4/4 measure before playing hits on beat three and the second sixteenth note of beat four before finishing with a flam on beat one of the second bar. Ex.01 The first part of the fill is based around a paradiddle-diddle. The sticking is RLRRLL. This is followed with two notes on the kick drum, a right hand on the floor tom and a left hand on the snare drum. This takes us up to beat two. Ex.02 In this example we add two more kick drum notes on the second and fourth sixteenth note of beat two before playing the crash and snare drum in unison on beat three. Ex.03 To complete the fill we now add a left hand snare drum note on beat four and then a crash and kick drum in unison on the second sixteenth note of beat four. The fill concludes with a flamed snare drum note on beat one of the next bar. ‘Hip Today’ is from the Album ‘Waiting for the Punchline’ by Extreme. You can check out my FREE video drum lessons, contact me by email or social media, subscribe to my FREE podcast in iTunes or even gain access to exclusive content by signing up to the Drum Lesson Academy newsletter. Simply visit the website: www.drumlessonacademy.com and take your drumming to the next level.

The sticking for this fill is based around a linear five pattern, which consists of 4 hand notes and one kick drum note. You may find it helpful to practice this pattern in a continuous flow of notes Ex.01 The fill spans the first two beats of a 4/4 measure in 16th note triplets (sextuplets). Here we have the fill leading into a single crash and kick drum note on beat three. Practice slowly at first to ensure you have the correct sticking and subdivision of the pulse. 
Ex.02 In this example we have the fill in context with some time. This will create a two bar cycle. Notice how we now have ‘hits’ on beats 3, 4 and 1, which you will hear if you reference the track. ‘Hip Today’ is from the Album ‘Waiting for the Punchline’ by Extreme.

In this two part video lesson I'll teach you how to get started with linear drumming using a easy to learn pattern. I'll walk you step by step through a creative process I've found to be very effective in adopting fluid movements around the drums. Adding linear drumming to your repertoire will also give your playing a dynamic and contemporary sound. This downloadable lessons comes with PDF lesson notes plus HD and mobile/ipod video files. Part 1 £3.99 Part 2 £3.99 Part 1 + 2 £5.99 ***SAVE 25%*** Available from the Drum Lesson Academy. http://www.drumlessonacademy.com/store

In this lesson I’ll show you how to play a lick that I first heard Buddy Rich play on an album with Lionel Hampton. This versatile lick can be used as a stop or a set up for a hit or push. This lick has been widely used by many of the worlds top drummers spanning a variety of musical genres. In the top tip I answer a question posted by one of my subscribers about closing fills for songs. This lick is based around a left lead six-stroke roll but with two additional notes. The basic sticking is: RLLRRLRF, seven hand notes and one kick drum note. Exercise 1 This lick is based around a left lead six-stroke roll but with two additional notes. The basic sticking is: RLLRRLRF, seven hand notes and one kick drum note. Exercise 2 is a three bar pattern and and features a stop on beat one of the third bar. You can then fill beats 3 and 4 before repeating back to the beginning. Play the lick on beat 4 of the second bar with it's bass drum notes concluding on beat 1. Exercise 3 is a two bar pattern and features a push or a ht on '4 and'. Start the lick on beat three of the second bar with it's bass drum note playing beat 4. You then only have to play a crash cymbal/kick drum combination on the last eighth note of the bar ('4 and') to complete the push. Feel free to experiment with the voicing to come up with your own way of playing this versatile lick. Enjoy! Darren Follow this link to download the lesson PDF: http://bit.ly/DLA-03PDF

In this lesson we change the internal dynamics of a simple 16th note groove to give it added depth. Exercise 1 Our basic pattern features a 16th note flow notes played with hand to hand sticking (single strokes). 16th notes are where we subdivide the beat or pulse into 4 evenly spaced notes. In a 4/4 time signature we can use the phonetic 1 e + d 2 e + d 3 e + d 4 e + d to help us count this subdivision.  Exercise 2 voices beat 2 and 4 on the snare drum. Exercise 3 adds the kick drum on beats 1 and 3. This completes our basic groove. We are now going to make some changes to the voicing and the internal dynamics of this pattern to bring it to life. Exercise 4 voices the left hand on the snare drum. Each one of these notes is to be played as a ghost note. Ghost notes are very quiet strokes played from a low stick height. Exercise 5 has quiet notes in the hand pattern on beats 1 and 3. This effectively makes the up beat eighth notes in the hi-hat pattern stand out. Enjoy! Darren Follow this link to download the lesson PDF: http://bit.ly/DLA02PDF

In this lesson I show you 3 ways to play a 5 stroke roll to help boost your technique. The basic 5 stroke roll consists of 2 doubles and a single. (RRLLR), we then repeat the pattern starting with the opposite hand (LLRRL). The last note of the 5 stroke roll is accented, therefore we have four unaccented notes and one accented note. Exercise 1 is in 4/4 time and has the five notes of the roll being played in eighth notes. The last accented note being play on beat three of our 4/4 time signature. Exercise 2 is in 3/4 time. We have effectively removed one beat of rest (beat 4) from the equation and have therefore increase the frequency of the patten. Exercise 3 is in 5/8 time. This makes the 5 stroke roll a continuos flow of even eighth notes. Work through the different exercises slowly at first making sure that when you increase the tempo your accuracy is maintained. Enjoy! Darren Follow this link to download the lesson PDF: http://bit.ly/3ways5strokelessnote The 40 PAS Rudiments: http://bit.ly/40PASRudiments Tempo app for iphone by frozen ape: http://www.frozenape.com/Tempo/Tempo.html