eddypierce
Senior Member
Hi all,
I wanted to give a plug for a really cool drum book by Claus Hessler that just was released in an English edition: Daily Drumset Workout. This is a really comprehensive drumset technique book, covering all sorts of independence and coordination. To me, it pulls together a lot of the concepts that one can find in Stick Control and Syncopation, and applies them in a very methodical and practical manner. And as wonderful as the technical material is that’s presented, I find the book even more valuable because 1) it’s clear how the exercises can be expanded upon to fit various musical needs, and 2) Hessler gives very clear instructions on how to practice the material to achieve maximum benefit, which frankly is advice that can be applied to any drum material. Basically, he strongly advises that you practice a given set of material for 30 minutes per day (no more nor less), every day, with no deviation, for at least a week at a time. After a week is up, you reassess your command of the material, and if you don’t feel like you’ve mastered it sufficiently, you go for another week.
Another thing I like about the presentation is how concise it is. Almost every section of practice material is boiled down to one or two pages, so it’s easier to focus on mastering it. For example, in the initial pages on independence, Claus gives a few ostinatos coupled with just a few lines of reading material (a la New Breed or Syncopation—two to three limbs play the ostinato, and the other limb plays the reading material). But unlike New Breed, instead of having many pages of reading material, initially you’re just focused on mastering a few lines against the ostinatos (and these few lines have sufficient rhythm variation to cover a lot of independence challenges). Claus suggests that you can substitute other reading material to make it more challenging, or you can practice improvising with the “reading” limb, but it’s nice to have just the few lines of material so as not to be overwhelmed with too much.
The book also comes with “jam track” play-alongs, but I haven’t used these yet.
Anyhow, I wanted to spread the word about this, because I think it’s one of the best drum books I’ve seen in a while, and I think a bunch of folks here would find it valuable. Unfortunately, the amazon link for the book says it’s temporarily out of stock, so hopefully that’ll change soon. I ordered my copy through sheetmusicplus.com. Here’s the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Drumset...8006/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334689533&sr=8-1
Ed
I wanted to give a plug for a really cool drum book by Claus Hessler that just was released in an English edition: Daily Drumset Workout. This is a really comprehensive drumset technique book, covering all sorts of independence and coordination. To me, it pulls together a lot of the concepts that one can find in Stick Control and Syncopation, and applies them in a very methodical and practical manner. And as wonderful as the technical material is that’s presented, I find the book even more valuable because 1) it’s clear how the exercises can be expanded upon to fit various musical needs, and 2) Hessler gives very clear instructions on how to practice the material to achieve maximum benefit, which frankly is advice that can be applied to any drum material. Basically, he strongly advises that you practice a given set of material for 30 minutes per day (no more nor less), every day, with no deviation, for at least a week at a time. After a week is up, you reassess your command of the material, and if you don’t feel like you’ve mastered it sufficiently, you go for another week.
Another thing I like about the presentation is how concise it is. Almost every section of practice material is boiled down to one or two pages, so it’s easier to focus on mastering it. For example, in the initial pages on independence, Claus gives a few ostinatos coupled with just a few lines of reading material (a la New Breed or Syncopation—two to three limbs play the ostinato, and the other limb plays the reading material). But unlike New Breed, instead of having many pages of reading material, initially you’re just focused on mastering a few lines against the ostinatos (and these few lines have sufficient rhythm variation to cover a lot of independence challenges). Claus suggests that you can substitute other reading material to make it more challenging, or you can practice improvising with the “reading” limb, but it’s nice to have just the few lines of material so as not to be overwhelmed with too much.
The book also comes with “jam track” play-alongs, but I haven’t used these yet.
Anyhow, I wanted to spread the word about this, because I think it’s one of the best drum books I’ve seen in a while, and I think a bunch of folks here would find it valuable. Unfortunately, the amazon link for the book says it’s temporarily out of stock, so hopefully that’ll change soon. I ordered my copy through sheetmusicplus.com. Here’s the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Drumset...8006/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334689533&sr=8-1
Ed