Odd, Rare, Super-Advanced, Drum Books

Not all rare, not all super-advanced, but hopefully there are a couple that are new to some here. Emphasis on global styles. Two of these are recent finds from a COVID book binge. -Alex

I've heard of that Clave Matrix book. It was written by David Penalosa, who lives in Northern California where I grew up and went to college. He's a conga player/teacher who was acknowledged as an expert in all forms of Afro-Cuban music.
 
It's a good book for getting deeper into all the rhythmic subtleties that generic Afro-Cuban books don't get into. On the academic side for instructional books, which I like. Also have his Rumba Quinto book. I like them both and I do not play hand percussion.
 
Here are some less well-known books (some of them fairly rare) that I find interesting:

Alex Duthart Book 1 - The Maestro, by Alex Duthart
The Sturtze Drum Instructor, by Earl Sturtze
Encyclopedia for Snare Drum, by Forrest Clark
Speed and Endurance Studies, by Nick Ceroli
Power, Speed and Flexibility, by Ray Reilly
Drumset - Advanced Studies, by Bob McKee
4's: The Complete Guide to Learning Syncopation, by Brian Alpert and Dave Palamar
Eclectic Drums, by John Perett
Modern Approach to independence Vol. 1 and 2, by Nick Ceroli
Book of Today's Drumming, by Norman Grossman
Advanced Coordination for Drum Set and Hand Percussion, by Rick Dior
Omni of Drum Technique, by Sal Sofia
The Broken Eighth Note Feel, by Skip Hadden
 
I've heard of that Clave Matrix book. It was written by David Penalosa, who lives in Northern California where I grew up and went to college. He's a conga player/teacher who was acknowledged as an expert in all forms of Afro-Cuban music.

It's a good book for getting deeper into all the rhythmic subtleties that generic Afro-Cuban books don't get into. On the academic side for instructional books, which I like. Also have his Rumba Quinto book. I like them both and I do not play hand percussion.

"Understanding Clave and Clave Changes" is another interesting clave book. It's all about internalization; singing, dancing, etc. while playing clave. Great stuff to practice when you can't get behind a kit.
 
"Understanding Clave and Clave Changes" is another interesting clave book.

That's a serious book. I've been meaning to get more of that whole series.


Nice, looks like an original 80s edition. We had one of those kicking around the perc dept at the U. of Oregon then. Marsh also did a clinic on it.

Here are three reading guides-- not sure if any are still in print:

IMG_0283_sm.jpg
 
I've heard of that Clave Matrix book. It was written by David Penalosa, who lives in Northern California where I grew up and went to college. He's a conga player/teacher who was acknowledged as an expert in all forms of Afro-Cuban music.

I have that book. It’s good, but it was supposed to come with online audio but the website has been shut down and now there’s no way to access it, which is disappointing.
 
Yeah, it's really good. I haven't checked out any of the rest of the series. Have you seen any of them?

I have Kevin Moore's Beyond Salsa Percussion Vol 3 - Drums and Timbales: Timba Gears.

Good amount of conceptual discussion and some interesting technical information. The notation is a bit crazy, and there's not much of a method, but lots of unique Timba grooves and transcriptions.
 
I was hoping to go through the Book of Rhythm by Blake Fleming in the future. Might be worth checking out the examples to see if it interests you.


 
A mix of other sources to get more out of clave (or other rhythmic timelines/concepts):

  • Listening to music
  • Search for some Percussion Theses papers:
    • ex: Syntax of Clave - Bertram Lehmann
  • "Clave" - Jerry Leake
  • "Drum Gahu" - David Locke
  • "The Geometry of Musical Rhythm" - Godfried Toussaint
  • Studying bass tumbaos and piano montunos
  • Ed Uribe's book and Dafnis Prieto's (personal favorite instructionals)
  • Thinking deeply about and finding ways for your own drumming to evoke
    • call and response
    • tension and release
    • syncopation and symmetry
    • repetition and uncertainty
    • etc
 
Difficult:
Conversations In Clave - Horacio Hernandez
I put that book down about as quick as I picked it up.

Rare:
The Company of Fifers and Drummers
Has some fun historical pieces in it.... the original Ed Lemley "Crazy Army", a piece by Gus Moeller, the snare part for Yankee Doodle, etc

Looks like you can get it direct now! Hope everyone found some good books during the pandemic!
 
From the Dahlgren Family themselves!

The publishing website that had these is no longer. If you want the information to get some Dahlgren books send me a DM.RenderedImage.JPG
 
That's from Really Good Music or Really Good Publishing-- it was run by the pianist Geoff Keezer's dad, and he passed away in '20 or '21. They put out a bunch of interesting books by Marv Dahlgren. You may be able to get them by contacting Keezer directly:



From the Dahlgren Family themselves!

The publishing website that had these is no longer. If you want the information to get some Dahlgren books send me a DM.View attachment 116155
 
Back
Top