Music for Drummers and Music for Woodshedding

This blog is devoted to music from which drummers can pick up grooves and understand how drum kit playing was rooted in jazz from which all popular music has evolved. That explains the fact that I don't cover rock drumming to any degree.

Another goal is to keep alive the names of the drummers who have unfortunately fallen into obscurity. An example is the email I received in response to earlier posts here about Chick Webb, Jo Jones, Zutty Singleton, Big Sid Catlett, etc., in which I was asked why I didn't consider drummers like Neil Peart and Travis Barker to be among the world's greatest drummers. Sorry, but not only do I not consider them to be, if asked, I am sure that Misters Peart and Barker would probably agree with my choices.

On the music selections, I personally believe that all drummers, regardless of their chosen genre, will benefit from exposure to jazz. Certainly the most influential drummers who have defined rock have benefited. Ginger Baker and Charlie Watts consider themselves to be jazz drummers. Mitch Mitchell was a jazz drummer who had the good fortune to join the Jimmy Hendrix Experience and imprint that sound with jazz-oriented playing. John Bonham's playing was - by his own admission - heavily influenced by Joe Morello (among others). So the focus here will remain on jazz.

I maintain another blog, Snare Drum Addict, that contains some material on playing techniques that are specifically aimed at drummers and may be of interest to the drummers who happen by. Some posts of interest include a series on brushwork, instructional videos, and great books and videos for woodshedding. If you are seeking that type of material, here are a few posts of interest:

• My Favorite Instructional Videos: Grooves
• Woodshedding!
• On Playing Brushes Part 1: The Vocabulary
• On Playing Brushes Part 2: Creative Writing
• On Playing Brushes Part 3: The Thesaurus
• Clayton Cameron on Tap Dancing and Brushes

In addition, that blog has articles on topics ranging from head selection to tuning to general drum maintenance, and is of specific interest to drummers (not all visitors to this blog are drummers!)

So, here, enjoy the music for the sake of the music, and learn about those drummers and other musicians who laid the groundwork for other genres. There is much to enjoy and learn and I will be continually adding to the knowledge base. Do check out the links on the left side of this page - they will lead you to some excellent blogs and sites that have amazing content.