As drummers, we have the hardest time dealing with volume. When we sit down behind a drum kit, the first instinct is to play a heavy back beat with some volume behind it, but what if there are neighbors close by? People love to tell us to play softer, and let me tell you, it’s […]…
Here at Play Drums By Ear, it’s all about drumming. And there are a lot of different types of drumming. A big part of my experience in school bands was drumline. My chops got a major overhaul playing on the line since I had to match note for note what the rest of the line […]…
With Guitar Center’s 2012 Drum Off coming up, I thought it would be cool to see who won the competition the last two years and get in the mood for this year’s competition. The contestants all work hard to get the title of Grand Champion at the event and the last two years proved that […]…
So I know I just wrote about Dennis Chambers in a recent post, but I came across a few videos that feature Chambers as an instructor. I found two videos where Chambers talks about some of the licks he uses on the drums and his influences. Then I also found a video where he plays […]…
World drum beats have played a huge part on rhythmic drumming in all sorts of music styles. Afro-Cuban percussion is one such example of world drumming and typically involves all sorts of percussion instruments including congas, timbales, cowbell, woodblock, and claves. The Songo drum beat is a mixture of all these percussion instruments and parts […]…
Playing an effective reggae drum beat on the drums takes coordination and a whole lot of feel. Most traditional reggae drum beats contradict the straight ahead rock beats that most of you are probably used to playing by now. I found a video that offers a great explanation of one of the most popular reggae […]…
Every once in a while I reminisce about my days in drum line. I used to compete on marching drums when I was younger for solo competitions and group competitions with my school. I have a lot of great memories from drum line, but I also have a lot of rudiment chops from drum line. […]…
Hi hat tricks offer some of the coolest grooves on the kit. There are many different directions you can go with hi hat cymbals, from simple beats to very complex tricks. Most drummers aren’t fully aware of all the different things you can pull off with hi hat cymbals. Even just learning how to open […]…
New Orleans is well known as a melting pot of music styles. The French Quarter has produced the foundation for great jazz, blues, funk, R&B, and many other groove-based styles of music. The most popular style of music associated with New Orleans is second line. Second line drumming is a loose style of drumming that […]…
I’ve had several questions about correct bass drum pedal technique from my students, so I thought I would write up a quick post that should help those of you interested in some help. I found a few videos online that feature different bass drum pedal techniques, including single and double pedals, that should help out. […]…