Customer Reviews

Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Syncopation is much more than a nicely graduated reading text. Used skillfully, and with a good teacher, this classic can go a long way towards teaching the elements of limb independance and co-ordination. Superimposing ostinato patterns over the "as written" notation reveals a world of possibilities.

Bass players, as well as others, can derive benefit from the complexities of reading the syncopated figures in this book. Each exercise places quarter notes in each measure so that the student can always see the relationship of the downbeat to the exercise.

Drummers, get this book, get Stone's Stick Control, get a good teacher, and you will be well on the way to the ranks of the musically monstrous.

If you're a beginner and just learning how to read music (for drums) this is a great book. It is good to have a teacher go through this book with you, and maybe add in some things... it is always good and very helpful to count out loud while going through this book. The book is only snare + bass, and starts with quarters, then goes on to eights, sixteenths, triplets, and even sixteenth-note triplets. It also has a few rolls, and in the end it teaches you accents.

This book at a glance looks simple, but there is so many deferent ways it is useful. It is goo d to practice slow and then getting faster, also using one hand, or you feet. I think this book will set you mind free of pattern. It will let to do anything with either hand making you a better drummer. You have to practice this and use it a lot to get anything out of it. It is a must have for a drummer of any level.

I started drumming a couple of months ago. For 3 months I watched youtube and other drumming DVDs. I liked it but did not sound very good. About 2 months ago I got a teacher and his requirement was this book to start.

Two weeks with this book I learned more and understand more then the three months I played before. My instructor would show me how it would sound and how to practice with this book. I would go home and practice for a couple of hours a week.

You will get what you put into this book. For beginners, this book will make you better. You just have to put the time/work into using it. With a good teacher and this book, you can improve even faster.

UPDATE:

After playing drums for a couple of years now, I really think that this book is a strong selection for your library. I have since moved to other books and learned a ton of new beats and rhythms. I still find myself coming back to this book. I am using it to inspire drum fill ideas. Just moving the snare this around the toms or sometimes splitting the hits between the snare and cymbal. Very strong book if you use it.

If you want to significantly improve your independence skills, buy this book and then find an instructor who can show you the more than 40 different ways to apply it to the drum set.

Alan Dawson used this book extensively with his students. Thankfully, one of his students has documented those 40+ ways. See "The Drummer's Complete Vocabulary As Taught by Alan Dawson" (Paperback), by author John Ramsay. Ramsay did a great job of identifying (and providing audio examples) of the numerous ways you can apply Syncopation.

An excellent precursor to this book is Jim Chapin's "Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer". That book will help you develop the basic independence you'll need to dive into Syncopation. Or if you already possess the ability to play the swing ostinato while playing swung eighth notes and triplets and sixteenth notes between your snare drum and bass drum, then you can likely dive right in.

This is not a "so you want to rock" book you find at the music store chain, this is to drumming what sanding and joinery is to a woodworker. Anybody that calls themselves a drummer has this hurdle to climb, a must for a serious drummer. My 1st teacher gave me this and "Stick Control" in the 1981 when I started taking drum lessons. I wasn't sure why I was learning to swing when the trend was rock, but I soon found myself deconstructing every song into these patterns. This book is written in jazz notation, meaning that it does not include the ride cymbal and hi-hat patterns in every bar. You should be able to play all of these patterns with a swing ride (dotted eight note) and the hit-hat on 2 and four. It sounds easy, but playing straight 8th or 16th notes on the left hand while swinging in triplet time on the right can really be frustrating. Make sure to reverse your hands after you've mastered your dominant technique, this breaks the limb dependance. My teacher told me that I should be relaxed enough to be able to play all of these patterns and recite the gettysburg address at the same time. This book unravels rhythm in a way that has been duplicated, but never matched over the years.

I love this book! Why? Because it works. I was first introduced to this book by my own teacher and mentor, Chuck Silverman; I use it every day in both my teaching practice and my own personal practice. My students soon realize that a book that looks simple at first glance can offer a multitude of skill building exercise when applying creative ideas to it.

The book is broken down into two main sections, 1) "Note-Reading Rhythms/Exercises" which contains 12 lessons and with 16 bar, 20 bar, 40 bar or 48 bar exercises at the end of each lesson and, 2) "Syncopation" which contains two syncopation sets, nine exercise and five lessons:

Section One: "Note-Reading Rhythms/Exercises"

1. Lesson One - playing quarter notes, quarter rests and half rests.

2. Lesson Two - playing quarter notes, quarter rests and half rests in unison.

3. Lesson Three - playing quarter notes, quarter rests and half independently.

4. Lesson Four - playing eighth notes and quarter notes.

5. Lesson Five - playing dotted eighth/sixteenth notes.

6. Lesson Six - playing eighth-note triplets and quarter notes.

7. Lesson Seven - playing eighth-note triplets, eighth notes and quarter notes.

8. Lesson Eight - playing eighth-note triplets, and dotted eighth/sixteenth notes.

9. Lesson Nine - playing sixteenth notes and quarter notes.

10. Lesson Ten - playing sixteenth notes and eighth notes.

11. Lesson Eleven - playing sixteenth notes and eighth notes.

12. Lesson Twelve - playing eighth notes, eighth rests and quarter notes.

Section Two: "Syncopation"

1. Syncopation set one.

2. Syncopation set one.

3. Exercise 0ne.

4. Exercise Two.

5. Exercise Three.

6. Exercise Four.

7. Exercise Five.

8. Exercise Six.

9. Exercise Seven.

10. Exercise Eight.

11. Exercise Nine.

12. Lesson One - accented eighth notes.

13. Lesson Two - accented dotted-eighth/sixteenth notes.

14. Lesson Three - accented eighth-note triplets.

15. Lesson Four - Triplets with mixed sticking.

16. Lesson Five - Accented sixteenth notes.

Ted Reed's genius is that the book is written in simple progressive skill building exercises designed to increase note and rest recognition as well as rhythm recognition. What I think is an important aspect to "... Syncopation for the Modern Drummer" is that Ted added a bass drum line played on the count (quarter notes). In my opinion, this is essential when playing any single surface exercise on snare drum or drum pad. To help create timing and independence I recommend my students play both feet on the count (1, 2, 3, 4) and use a metronome at very practice session. I also recommend that my "beginner" students study the book first "as written" before we progress into more creative ways of using this book.

Speaking of creative ways to use the lesson exercises in "Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer" here are a few:

-Use them as fills by playing each measure on a different drum.

-Play an ostinato* with the hands and left foot while the right foot plays written exercise.

-Play an ostinato with the right hand and feet while the left hand plays written exercise.

-Play a foot ostinato pattern while playing written exercise hand to hand (left hand plays small tom, right hand plays large tom).

-Interpret eighth note exercise as triplets

-Play sixteenth note exercise as accents and rests as diddles.

I give this book 5 stars.

* A motif or phrase which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice

I am currently using this book to teach my son basic drumming with a roland practice pad. It has been a fantastic help.

This book would be helpful to any beginning student learning to read music, not just drummers, since it so clearly breaks down rhythmic notation. The exercise progressions make a lot of sense, and there are quarter note guides that align the drum notes relative to the downbeat, which is very helpful for learning syncopation.

Syncopation is a classic in the drumming world. What is great about it is it goes through quarter notes, 8th notes, syncopation, 16th notes, 8ths with 16ths, triplets, accents, etc, and it does so in a way where the student can repeat the rhythm in a section, then move on to the next similar (but slightly different) one, then play a page where it combines the variations.

It is great for learning how to read and how to play popular rhythms.

Many instructors have devised numerous additional ways a student can go through the book as well (e.g., left hand plays the page/rhythms while the right hand plays an ostinato pattern).

My all-time, absolutely favorite book for developing drumming skills across almost any genre. I remember spending hours making slight variations to the exercises in this book.