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I am thrilled to present the most recent DrumMantra Lesson of the Month exercise series & Community Challenge!

Each week, the Lesson Vault Community members have the opportunity to practice together online with me three times. Saturdays at 1pm (CST) we work on "The Lesson of the Month," Sundays at 1pm we work on Groove Studies with the 20th Note book, and Mondays at 1pm we work on The Foundational Series book the first half of the year, and The Primary Series book the second half.

In the Lesson of the Month for January, we worked on a 12-part exercise series I created called "Oceans: A Groove Study in 7." As you can see in the video, the groove is an ostinato between kick & snare, and every 6 bars, the ride pattern changes. It is a challenging exercise series, and it takes some work to get it happening. 

A handful of the Lesson Vault Community (LVC) stepped up to the challenge and were able to video themselves playing all 12 exercises in a row! This was not an...

When I heard Dan play this fill the other day, I knew I had to do something "DrumMantra" with it. Please enjoy this style and analysis breakdown based on my own approach to education.

This fill will be part of Dan's upcoming online course and book and I am very grateful that he granted me permission to present my approach to studying his genius.

The thing I found so intriguing about this fill was the subdivision. It is still fairly rare to hear polymetric groupings in drumming, and when you do the subdivision is usually sixteenth notes. To hear a 5:4 polymetric relationship as eighth note triplets is fantastic! What a brain-twister.

In this video, I break down the fill and then provide 12 exercises that will lead you down the path of being able to do this fill yourself. 

Enjoy!

If you would like the downloadable pdf, individual play-alongs, and an interactive experience with this lesson you can visit the DrumMantra Lesson Vault where you will find nearly 100 hours worth...

When I talk about polymeters in clinics and workshops it can garner some blank stares. It makes sense. Many drummers haven't spent much time thinking about or studying polymeters.  

I'd like to give a simple explanation for you t begin thinking about. If we hit the concept from a few different angles it will not only click, but it will also start you on a path of study that will lead to a whole new territory of rhythmic possibilities. So let's take a quick look at the polymeter.

A polymeter is two or more meters happening at the same time. These meters share a common subdivision, so in essence, a polymeter is different groupings of the same note values being played alongside one another. For example, 3 sixteenth notes being played over and over at the same time as 4 sixteenth notes are being played over and over. They begin together, then grow further apart in their starting note until finally (3 beats later in this case) they re-align and...

If you haven't gotten to know my education style yet, you will soon discover that I love looking at the inner-workings of time, subdivisions, and coordination. 

I want to show you an interesting exercise from my book, The Foundational Series. This exercise is fairly simple to understand but is a little tricky to actually do.

I was recently at the Chicago Drum Show and talked to quite a large handful of drummers from all different walks of the scene. Weekend warriors, professional players,  educators, as well as students. 

Over 90% of the people who tried this exercise, regardless of skill level, couldn't do it. Some stayed at the booth for over 20 minutes continuing to work on it (which I love seeing!).

I began using this exercise as a "litmus test" to determine where the person should start with my materials. 

Here's a video of me explaining it in detail.

Have fun!