Lesson of the Week \

Allison Miller: The Melody Puzzle

Allison Miller reminds us that learning the melody of a song will improve our time, phrasing, soloing and most importantly, listening skills.

Lesson of the Week \

Terence Higgins: Pushing The Paradiddle

“Locomotive, locomotive!” Remember that old mnemonic for the paradiddle that our beginning music teachers taught us? Well, the diddle has come a long way since then.

Lesson of the Week \ Practice Pad \ Metal \

Matt Byrne’s Metal Secrets: Double Trouble

This lesson is going to focus on the rudiment that we metal heads tend to overlook — the double stroke.

Lesson of the Week \

Stanton Moore: Crescent City Spirit

Stanton Moore currently plays with the New Orleans funk band Galactic. They have two albums out on Capricorn Records. Moore also has released a solo album called All Kooked Out on Fog City Records. The Magnolia Special Over the years playing in New Orleans I’ve come up with several grooves that work well in a variety of situations.

Lesson of the Week \

Joe Porcaro: Developing A Four-Bar Jazz Solo

There are many musical elements that a drummer can use to invent and develop a musical drum solo. Some of these include rhythmical motif, musical thought, tension, and release. The following solo applies these musical elements.

Lesson of the Week \

Matt Byrne: Hi-Hat Beats For The Left Foot

This month’s lesson involves moving notes you might normally play with your hand on the hi-hat down to your left foot. It’s a great way to spice up beats and give them a somewhat different feel. Ex. 1 shows upbeat eighth-notes played with your left foot. Ex. 2 shows your left foot playing against your right hand with sixteenth-notes.

Lesson of the Week \

Schnalle Method: Paradiddle-diddle Fills

Paradiddle-diddles are a handy little pattern. The main reason is that, as you can see in Ex. 1, the paradiddle-diddle ends with two double strokes. When executed cleanly, it’s actually less work than all singles and you get new melodic content. They can of course be played right- or left-hand lead, but here we are using them with a right-hand lead.

Lesson of the Week \

Killin’ With Korn:  Ray Luzier Clinic Part I

Lesson of the Week \

Funk Seasonings — Part Two And Three

This issue’s installment continues to deal with funk basics and contains the last two parts of a three-part series.

Lesson of the Week \

Kate Schellenbach: Pure Pop

Kate Schellenbach has played drums with Luscious Jackson, Kostars, Indigo Girls and the Beastie Boys.