Good source material is vital both for teaching and learning to play drums. As well as the commercially available material for sale on my shop page here is some downloadable material that you may find useful.
(You can get Acrobat Reader here!)
Learn To Play Drums
Home produced source material of a whole range of grooves plus genres downloaded from the (now defunct) Guildhall Exam site.
'Going Up' by Jonathan Chappell
This was written for a concert at one of my schools. It was played by one pupil on kit with three others playing the rhythm patterns on djembe and cahon. The dance faculty organised some jazz dancing to it which gave it a visual element. It is around the standard of the old Guildhall Grade III.
You are welcome to use this piece but please credit me as composer if you play it at a concert or other event.
'One To Go' by Jonathan Chappell
This was written for another concert at
another of my schools. The new director of music was very keen on developing
orchestral percussion so we produced a piece played on Bass Drum and Cymbals and
Snare drum along with timps and some rototoms, tambourine and tenor drum. The
"drum kit" bit is a good visual as the cymbal player held her cymbals together
and the snare drummer played them a la hi hat!
Listen to 'One To Go' as a percussion ensemble solo.
Modern Techniques for the Progressive Drummer by Max Abrams
This fine book by Max Abrams and Published by the Premier Drum Company was a standard teaching book when I was a very young drummer. Long out of print I have scanned my old copy and gained permission from Premier (who still hold the copyright) to distribute it free of charge to my pupils.
Boxed Set of Max Abrams 78 Records
Titled "Drum Tonics"
Mr N Grange of Norfolk sent me these as they
had been found in a loft and he didn't want to just throw them away. The
accompanying book has been supplied separately by Harvey Bard. Together they make an amazing historical
record of Max Abrams instructing and playing rolls and flams, drags and
ruffs.
The discs were played on a Goldring Lenco CL75
with Shure M75EJ cartridge with a sapphire 78 stylus. Output from the quad
pre-amp goes to an Edirol UA-1EX usb-audio interface thence to a PC running 'Audacity'.
The tracks were passed through a Low Pass filter at 2000hz and had click and pop
removal. They sound better through a sound system than through laptop speakers!
(I am assuming that as they are a historical
document, copyright issues will not arise. Should Parlaphone's curent copyright
holder wish to press their case I shall remove these files.)
Download MP3 (around 3meg each) R Click - 'save as'
Boxed Set of Max Abrams 78 Records
Titled "Drum Tonics"
Download the Drum Tonics Booklet as a pdf
"FOREWORD.
Through the enterprise of The Parlophone Company, it has been possible for these instructional records to be available for your tuition.
To those who have been unable to afford the cost of personal tuition from a competent teacher, these discs should fill a long felt want.
The Parlophone Company have made it possible for you to acquire the complete set at the very modest figure of Ten Shillings and Six Pence, which I am sure you will agree is very reasonable, and within the reach of all.
The instruction contained in these records is worth pounds to any Drum student, and if you practise diligently all the exercises therein, you should become really efficient on the Drums in a very short time.
Remember, practise makes perfect : a good technique is not acquired in a week or two, so have patience. Progress will be made very rapidly if you study these records carefully and if you find your drumming has improved, these records will have been worth while.
I wish all enthusiasts every success."
MAX ABRAMS
Born Glasgow, Aug. 11, 1907; Died Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, Nov. 5, 1995
New Drum Solos by Bill Douglass edited by Roy Harte
Another long out of print work originally published by the Swing House Inc in California. It is a goldmine of soloing recipes and ideas. It even includes an advert for Autocrat Drums of Kentish Town London England!
Music Manuscript Paper
No need to buy! Just download music manuscript paper and print what you need as you need it.
