Customer Reviews

On The Beaten Path: The Drummers Guide To Musical Styles & The Legends Who Defined Them (Book & CD)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a beginning, self-taught drummer who just does it for fun in my spare time. This is the only drumming book I've ever bought, though I've bought many guitar tab books in the past.

This book focuses on some of the most famous drummers of various genres, and beautifully deconstructs their styles, and even has drum kit layouts. Those blew me away! I don't know if such a thing is a standard for all drum instruction books, but if not, it should be.

Where a typical drum instruction book might be, "Here are some exercises. Do them. Now, do these slightly harder exercises." etc., this book is like, "Here is a famous drummer(Photos, bio, technical drum info). Here are three songs by them. Learn these songs by reading this sheet music and listening along to the CD."

As I read through the book, I realized that my view of drumming was a very narrow perspective: I was initially only interested in the guys I'd heard of: Neil Peart, Buddy Rich, etc. But as I read through the book, the author pulled me into the fascinating stories behind many other awesome drummers, which I would've never given proper homage to, and probably would've missed out on everything they have to offer. For instance, Carter Beauford, of the Dave Matthews band. I was never a DMB fan, but after reading about him in the "Progressive Rock" section, (Or was it the "Jam band" section?) I was intrigued, and found some videos that made me realize there was ONE reason to listen to DMB! The drummer!

I feel that with this book, I've got a very broad perspective on drumming, many choices of new techniques to learn, and it will be a long time before I outgrow this book.

However, if I did, I would like to see more from this author talking about more drummers, and more songs from the drummers presented within.

The CD which comes with this book has tracks which are the drum techniques highlighted from each artist, which you can set on repeat as you practice each of them.

I myself am a bass player, but I purchased this book as a birthday gift for my drummer bandmate, and he LOVED it. I wound up flipping through the book myself, and I was totally enthralled. This book truly makes you appreciate the various styles of drumming that have developed over the generations (punk, reggae, metal, funk, etc...), as well as the great drummers who have defined the craft.

I think this is a great gift for longtime drummers, new drummers, or anyone interested in drumming. It works as both an instructional tome and a coffee table book. Check it out.

Now we just need the author to write a book about bass-playing!

Great book, with a very professionally done CD. The author covers a wide variety of musical styles, showing in detail how to play them, and his enthusiasm really shines through. A must-have for any drummer!!

This book is the perfect reunion of the ultimate drummer family tree! There's expertise to learn from the patriarchs, and chops to challenge you from your teenage nephew. The accompanying CD is a total bonus; entertaining enough for the casual listener, yet thorough and accurate enough for the refined beatmaster. Totally entertaining, totally worthwhile!

I LOVED this book! The author's enthusiasm is contageous, and he does an awesome job profiling various drummers of different styles who influenced musical history. The author not only explains the various styles and songs that made these drummers famous, he even shows you how to play the beats yourself. This book is a great gift for seasoned drummers and non-musical people who appreciate drumming. You won't be disappointed!

I've read this book a handful of times, always interested, intrigued and educated. The author managed to squeeze tons of information, tidbits and facts into a book that appeals to both avid drummers and casual music lovers. Hopefully we'll see more books covering other drummers and styles in the future. A great writer and an excellent book!! It's no surprise that this book won the 2008 Readers Polls for the #1 Educational Book in both Modern Drummer and DRUM! magazines.

Great book. Good for teachers and students. Gives good insight into genres of music, and those who made the style theirs. Although there are some drummers who aren't in the book, e.g Jeff Porcaro, the reality is we all have personal tastes and its impossible to put everyone in! Will be a great reference book for all and won't date. Great value for money.

The author covers every popular style from Classic rock to reggae. I also like the fact that he takes a particular drummer and selects a beginner song, an intermediate song and then an advanced song. He also breaks down each rythim specifically which is very helpful.

The greats`hot chops and licks, but guess what?.. you need to read well ,so why even bother to cop other`s chops? Get out and do your own stuff, Chazz! Seriously,the author has transcribed some good stuff and I like it because coming from a jazz arena and seeing that punk has some substance to it,is enlightning to me,and the Neal Peart `scrips are some good ones ..It could use another volume though ,I would like to see the author do more, he transcribes well,something most drummers don`t do.

I was dissappointed in this product because I felt lead to believe that the transcriptions would be more than little "snippets" of songs. I wanted more transcription.