Customer Reviews

Extreme Interdependence: Drumming Beyond Independence (With Audio CD)

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

 

 

This is book is very good as long as the exercises within are understood to be a means to an end and not the end itself. You won't be learning licks or musicality with this book, but rather developing the coordination to create your own. It is a TECHNIQUE book and not an "practice-this-lick" book. The underlying concept is to develop your ability to execute any combination with any limb at any time and understand how differing rhythms work with and against each other. Some of the exercises sound terrible and would not be practical in any musical setting, but, again I want to empahsize it's about developing smooth facility and NOT about musicality. As long as one bears that in mind this book will be very useful. Also, this is not material to be ripped through. It demands concentration, memorization and consistency in one's practicing habits to be effective and should be used at the same time in conjunction with books, concepts, etc., that do focus on musicality, otherwise you could end up sounding cold, grooveless and emotionless like somebody riding a bike down a flight of stairs. I spent two months just getting the warm-up exercises down! After working consistently with this book the results ARE awesome - it gets easier and easier to play accurately exactly what comes into your head and develop new, interesting material for your musical vocabulary. Be patient, tho, the exercises can be very challenging and frustrating. I've played off and on professionally for almost 30 years and I'm guessing this book might become the "Chapin book" for the new millenium.

This book is inspiring! It has all the tools necessary to correct any coordination hang-ups one may have. Definately NOT for beginners, but an invaluable tool for those who want to reach higher levels. This book is a welcome addition to any drummer's library.

This has got to be THE BEST drum book out there! I started checking out the Extreme Warm ups at the beginning of the book and my interdependence skills behind the drum set has dramatically improved. Do yourself a favor and get EXTREME!!!

D. Jaeger's review inspired me to move ahead with the purchase of this book. I am partial to trying something when someone who has given it an honest try can point to concrete results in his analysis! I read somewhere that Joe Morello is a practicer. He believes in practicing as an art form unto itself. I was glad to read that since I am woodshedding like I've never woodshedded in my life, thus on the lookout for whatever methods will help me get better. Enter Marco Minneman and his crazy far-out book on Extreme Interdependence. The first thing that struck me was that one should be ready to not sound particularly musical when practicing these exercises. It reminds me of a statement made in a book on how to play freely and from that space where music comes through you as you get out of the way. You have to be willing to play things that sound bad. Not as an objective but as an avenue toward complete freedom in your playing. Marco's book came to me not a week after I read that statement. At the same time, may I remind you that as a drummer, every stroke upon the head of thine drum should be played with as much as technique as is in one's cache at the time. There IS a difference between how a snare drum sounds when I strike it and when my son who has not studied one minute of drumming, strikes it. It's in how you pull the stick away from the head as much as in the force with which you hit it. What does all of this have to do with Extreme Interdependence? Well, even though the exercises themselves are not written to sound "pretty" or even to "groove", we drummers should approach everything we do with musicality in mind! It's NOT three musicians and a drummer but FOUR musicians and a roadie! I breezed through exercise 1 through 8 at the beginning of the book. Then I got to exercise 9. Well, let's just say this is going to be a trip! These are brain twisting exercises until you get them under your belt. I have just about gotten number 9 down. There is a certain self-satisfaction that comes with "getting" these things down. They are so difficult at first but with patient practice and a firm belief that nothing is over your head.....it just takes time, these exercises definitely give one the feeling that one is on the road to some major breakthroughs in one's playing. It just takes a listen to someone like Antonio Sanchez to realize that that is the kind of disciplined freedom with which I want to play! Given that D. Jaeger is months ahead of me in this book and he is seeing the results in spades, I am moving ahead with those promises as results not yet seen but which will surely be mine in time! This is not a beginners book. I believe it may best yield results for intermediate to advanced level players.

In response to review #1 who found this book useless, let it be known, this book, if used correctly, is THE BEST INDEPENDENCE book I've found on the subject. This is not a "open to a page and play the groove" kinda book, one can spend a lifetime working through the millions of options and patterns, mixing things up and improving your skills. This is definitely a book you have to work at, and take small sections and practice, practice, practice...but if you do, you will be a much better player!

This book is a waste! I would advise purchasing ADVANCEED TECHNIQUES for the MODERN DRUMMER by Jim Chapin, the KING of drumming independence and the BEST DAM DRUM INSTRUCTOR ON THE PLANNET!!! After you have successfully concored the book, set your drum set up backwards and start over on page one. You will be amazed how much better you've become!

I ordered this thinking it was going to offer something musically innovative, but was disappointed, as it is really only a mechanical manual full of mindless co-ordination exercises.
As promised you will certainly end up doing things you haven't done before, but if you do take the time to actually listen to what is being played, I found no matter how I orchestrated the examples they all sounded too dull to bother with. As for the new innovations, Terry Bozzio has already covered the subject since the 80s and I might dare to suggest the `new' examples presented here would've been considered too musically dull to be included by the authors of similar publications in the past.
If you want to learn the same co-ordinations in musical context try, Louie Bellson's the musical drummer, Gary Chester's New Breed 2 and Beyond Bop Drumming by John Riley. I can't see how this book is worth the amount of effort it demands, and sadly the machine like cd performances have only increased this view. If this really is 'the future of drumming' it's not sounding good.

The first day.......I threw the drum sticks across the room I was so frustrated with the warm ups.

The second day....I took it slow

The third day.....I felt I was a better, more coordinated drummer.

End of story.

Absolutely fantastic book. Will challenge you to the utmost.

The tools in this book are immense and are greatly helpful, but you have to put in the time. Worth every cent.