This pattern comes from the song Sinister written by Kevin Mears, Music by Gari Stine and myself formerly of the band Biogenic. I received a lot of compliments on this pattern so I figured I would shoot a brief explanation of how it's played. Have fun with it and see where it goes! ... read more...

One thing I've really wanted to work on in my playing is to add more linear beats and fills to my arsenal. I hear people playing this stuff all the time and it sounds amazing but I can't seem to pull it off myself. I try to practice it and not psyche myself out but I still seem to have a hard time picking it up. Here is one linear beat and fill that I've been working on...tell me what you think and help give me some more ideas on how to overcome my learning curve. ... read more...

One problem I've continually struggled with are my rolls. Once I switched over to 1st and 2nd bass drum I really started developing a lot of bad habits for my rolls. Mainly I think it has to do with my left hand but check out this video to see what I'm doing wrong so you can offer some useful advice to correct the situation. ... read more...

Here is the extension of the unknown warm up played on the kit itself. I use this to help build up independence between my left and right foot by playing eighth notes on the hi-hat. Over the past few weeks I have made some decent progress with it (when I practice)but it still needs some work. Any ideas? ... read more...

I came up with this warm up one day while just jamming around on my drum pad.Basically it focuses on tap accents but I have yet to come up with a name for it. Since then I've been able to play it on the drum kit itself as a really cool tom pattern which will be explained in a latter lesson. ... read more...

Here is a catchy beat you tend to hear a lot in Punk Rock as well as other Rock music. When played it sounds similar to a horse gallop. No history as to who played it first but it has proved to be very popular throughout the years in many different styles of music. ... read more...

Here is an example of applying one style of music to another. In this lesson I take a jazz pattern which is played on the toms and tweak it to fit a more aggressive style of music.....METAL! In doing so you start to see how one genre of music influnces another. Other such examples are Classical to Jazz, and Latin to Rock. ... read more...

Paradiddle-Diddles help alleviate the stress of having to crank out 16th notes at high speed. By placing the 1st accent on a different tom,or cymbal, you can play what I like to refer to as the infamous "jazz fill". ... read more...

This is the overall breakdown of the Paradiddle. This lesson also gives other examples of how to play the paradiddle not only as a rudiment itself, but how to incorporate it into a beat or drum fill. Such examples can include - placing the 1st accent on the toms, or breaking it up over several toms along the kit. ... read more...

Classic flashback warm up from the good ol days of marching band. This is a triplet based exercise with emphasis on the Moeller technique. I like this exercise because it has a good feel it and you can use it as a foundation to play some great tom patterns which you'll see in the next Chuggada Chuggada lesson. ... read more...