Rudiment Training With Drummer Jeff Queen

Closeup of Snare Drum and Sticks

A big part of my drum set training growing up was playing in drum line.  Playing and marching with drums taught me the rudiments I needed to know to be a clean and diverse player behind the set.  You’ll find that I teach a lot of rudiments in my course because they translate well to the drum set.  One of the great drummers to come out of the marching drum scene has been Jeff Queen.  Queen has made a series of instructional videos for marching snare drum that work very well behind the drum set.  If you can incorporate these drum rudiment lessons into your drum set playing, your technical playing will advance quickly.  I put together a series of video lessons from Queen that, while he plays them on a single snare drum, will translate very well to the drum set.  Enjoy these videos and then take a look at some of his solo stuff, it’s really cool.

Like any performance, a warm up routine is key to playing the drums.  Take a look at some of Jeff Queen’s warm up tips here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EySajk7DvA&feature=related.

As you learn to play drum rudiments, you’ll want to practice them at faster paces.  Jeff Queen gives some good advice to play faster rudiments.  Check it out here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4nx71PLwxQ.

Drum rolls have plenty of great applications on the drum set.  Whether it’s rolling on your snare, or cymbals, or up and down the toms, drum rolls sound cool.  Jeff Queen has some advice for long drum rolls here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWXJQzE6GI4.

Besides the major drum rudiments, there are a series of hybrid rudiments as well.  Jeff Queen teaches us how to play some of these hybrid rudiments here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc_FlAh4hO0&feature=related.

Lastly, Jeff Queen produced a video explaining the Moeller method of drumming.  There are a lot of old big band drummers that used the Moeller method for really fast playing.  Hear and see more about the Moeller method here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZECYbwhBd0.

Drum rudiments are our friends.  It may take some time to really get the hang of them, but in the end they will pay off tremendously.  Practice these drum rudiments and watch your drumming skills improve dramatically.

Thanks,

Chris