The book contains more than 1100 entries on drumming, music, and professional development plus dozens of interesting and helpful images and personal insights.

The fact that “Seven Days” not only avoids that risk but transforms it into musical strength is due above all to Vinnie Colaiuta’s drumming. His groove does not sound “odd.” It sounds natural—almost as if the meter were not unusual at all.

I’ve been posting my ‘personal drum philosophy’ since March of 2012. At the time, I was convinced that I wouldn't have enough material for more than a couple of years. Here we are, 13 years later, and I’m posting article number 250!

Cymbal/snare rock grooves in odd times

I’ve been posting my ‘personal drum philosophy’ since March of 2012. At the time, I was convinced that I wouldn't have enough material for more than a couple of years. Here we are, 13 years later, and I’m posting article number 250!

You see, while drums need a bit of lubrication in certain areas, the lubricant you use must match the need. Grease is rarely good for a snare drum.

I encourage all rock drummers, in particular, to explore Tony’s playing to learn how he influenced much of what we play.

It took a long time for my ears to settle down and to find ways of coping with a pretty debilitating condition (tinnitus, hyperacusis, recruitment). Today I can do a bit of playing and that has enabled me to teach again, and that’s where I think I’m really meant to be.

One of the most important but often overlooked steps in the transcription process is playing what you have written down.

In researching for my Missing Rudiments book, I found many alternate stickings for ruffs.

It’s an old joke: How many drummers does it take to change a light bulb? The standard answer is three: one to change the bulb and two more to discuss how Steve Gadd would have done it.

There are eight “missing” diddle (paradiddle) fundamental stickings in the list below: The tap diddle, right paradiddle, left paradiddle, five-a diddle, triplet diddle, ruff-a diddle, seven-a-diddle, and the paradiddle-diddle-diddle.

Here is an excerpt from Mat’s new book. It looks simple at first glance, but it’s not. Several of the exercises tripped me up.

A highly rated technique is pickle juice. The process calls for covering the cymbal with the juice and a dash of salt. Then you just watch the magic happen -- seriously, this will turn your cymbal green pretty fast. Apparently pickled onion juice works best.

We are all individuals, and what works best for one may not work for another. But in general, you can assume that the techniques you see the better players using are some of best practices available. You just need to find the ones that work best for you.

“My first true love was a love at first sight.”

From my new book “The Missing Rudiments - ”The current modern majority opinion is that, since they can’t both be and are not the same thing, a drag has double stroke grace notes and most ruffs have single stroke grace notes. I agree with that majority in keeping it simple but with the caveat that there are other known stickings for ruffs by historically important authors, which are included in this book. So,“ruff is ruff, drag is drag, and never the twain shall meet.

I put this exercise together to get my shoulders moving a bit better.
The sweeps are done with the same hand from tom to snare or snare to
tom.

The article is based on the book, ’TAKE TEN—DRUM GROOVES FOR A WALTZ IN 10/4 TIME’ by Joel Rothman, which is due for release. Please contact Joel to find out more about obtaining the book. Email: joelrothmanpublications@gmail.com

Consider practice as basic as brushing your teeth.

It’s a phenomenon called Limb Assistance. That’s when one limb is able to perform better when it’s partnered with another limb.

The trend toward smaller bass drums was driven as much by portability as sound. Elvin Jones settled on an 18" bass drum because it fit into a cab nicely (so I’ve heard).

So you pack your bags, load up the drums and head for the big city -- just as countless other aspiring players have done. And you’re immediately faced with the more established players, the ones who really are the big fish in this bigger pond.

We all need something to make us smile, and I can practically guarantee the following will provoke a smile—perhaps even a chuckle. It's an unusual and amusing photo of the best drum student I ever had.

Here’s the playlist of the eight videos that are on YouTube so far. I have eight more in the can that will be uploaded soon. Enjoy!

It was an after-hours open stage club in the heart of the jazz district, and our budding jazz band had arranged to play a set -- our first venture outside the practice room. The resident drums were just awful.