Here are the drumming resources I’ve found helpful as a professional drummer and teacher.
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Best Drumsticks
Vic Firth SD4 Combo American Custom Maple Wood Tip Drumsticks
These are the drumsticks I use most of the time. I used to wonder how drummers like Tony Williams could play as fast as he sometimes did on the ride cymbal. It is definitely 100% easier if you use the French Grip, combined with a relatively large, heavy ride cymbal, and small, light-weight drumsticks. I’ve been using them for many years. To me, they’re simply the best drumsticks for straight-ahead, acoustic jazz. Just beware that most drummers will find them too light, and fragile for other styles of music.
Vic Firth Signature Series — Dave Weckl
I use Dave Weckl’s Vic Firth Signature series drumsticks for other types of drumming. To me, these are the best drumsticks for rock, assuming you aren’t an extremely loud player. I also like these for country, blues, funk, jazz-rock fusion and big band playing. They are my recommended sticks for beginning drummers if the student is starting on the drum-set. These are extremely versatile sticks. They have plenty of weight for practicing rudiments and stick control and getting a nice bounce off a practice pad or snare drum, but they are light enough that they won’t slow you down on the drum-set. They’re stronger than the Vic Firth SD4 Combo Drumsticks so you have less chance of them breaking when playing harder and louder. I use the wood tipped version because I like the sound better. I’ve never broken a pair of these while playing, but I generally don’t play extremely loud either.
Metronome
Korg-MA-2-Compact-Metronome – If you want to be a good drummer, I have found that practicing with a metronome is absolutely essential. I have listed this close to the top of my list of drumming resources, as the this is one of the most important tools for a drummer to own. This is the model I use. It has a headphone jack and volume control, which is very important for practicing the drums. It also subdivides into 16th notes, triplets, etc.
Here are a few of my Drum Book Recommendations
Stick Control by George Lawrence Stone
This book was written to give drummers better control of the sticks. It’s one of the first books my instructor recommended to me. If you follow the directions in the book, and practice 15 minutes to an hour a day, you’ll see a big improvement in your control and speed, no matter what kind of music you play. This is a great book for beginners as well as advanced students.
In addition, this is a great book for development on the drum-set. The possibilities for using this book on the drum-set are limited only by your imagination. For instance, you can play most of the book with a double bass rather than with your hands.
Personally I use the first few pages to keep in shape. I usually practice this book at the drum-set, sometimes with Songo or Samba bass ostinatos, or maybe a shuffle on my bass drum. This way I keep my feet in shape along with my hands.
Master Studies by Joe Morello
This is primarily a book for intermediate to advanced players. Joe Morello was a student of George Lawrence Stone. The book was inspired by things he learned from Stone, so it’s basically an extension of Stick Control. It’s primarily designed to develop your hand technique, but their are many things you can do on the drum-set with this book as well.
I probably spent more time practicing out of this book than any other. This one helped my hand development more than anything else I practiced. For years, I kept track of exactly how fast I could play certain exercises in this book. That way I could see my progress.
Sticking Patterns by Gary Chaffee
Gary Chaffee was Steve Smith, of Journey’s teacher. This is definitely a book for advanced students. Very challenging!
This is the book that introduced me to the concept of compound stickings, a very modern way of getting around the drum-set. Learning about the concept of compound stickings is definitely worth the price of the book. It changed my way of playing completely at the time I was introduced to the concept.
He has a great explanation in the beginning of the book on basic Moeller techniques. It’s also is great book for learning to apply Moeller stickings to very usable patterns, things you can use on the drum-set for soloing, etc.
Speaking of soloing, this book really developed my ability to solo over various ostinatos.
Another thing I like about this book is the fact that he has quite a bit of material in time signatures other than 4/4.
Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer by Ted Reed
This book was originally written to help improve drummer’s reading. This is a book that can be practiced in an almost infinite number of ways though, limited only by your imagination. There are many articles and videos on the internet about various ways to practice this book if you just do a search. You can also invent your own.
I keep finding more ways of practicing with this book, so I’m never bored. I use it to continue to develop my independence. I play various ostinatos with my right hand, or sometimes left just to challenge myself. With the other hand I play the solo line, and then maybe a Songo or Samba pattern with the bass. That’s one way of practicing with this book, but there are many others.
Drumming Podcasts
Working Drummer
Hosted by Matthew Crouse and Zack Albetta, this is a podcast about professional drumming. This one is really interesting because they strive to cover a wide range of players, genres, and scenes. So you’ll hear interviews with very famous drummers like David Garibaldi as well as less known, but very accomplished professional drummers playing studio gigs, road gigs and more.
Matthew Crouse and Zack Albetta are both full-time musicians with the experience and insight to ask the often-overlooked questions. If you really want to know what it’s like to be a professional drummer, this one is for you!
Drummer’s Resource
This drumming podcast founded by Nick Ruffini features in-depth conversations with some of the world’s greatest drummers. Topics covered include how they balance touring life with their home life, how they approach recording sessions, what makes a song feel good, and much more.
Past guests have included David Garibaldi, Keith Carlock, Antonio Sanchez, Benny Greb, John Riley, and countless others.
The podcast is available on Spotify and other major platforms.
Drum History
The Drum History Podcast founded by Bart van der Zee provides an in-depth look at how drumming evolved through the years. Some of the episodes are about specific drumming companies like Ludwig. Others are about specific players like Buddy Rich. Very fascinating listening!
Again this podcast is available on Spotify and other listening platforms.
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