Customer Reviews

The Rhythm Book : The Complete Guide to Pop Rhythm, Percussion and the New Generation of Electric Drums

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

 

 

Very helpful book. It explains a lot about how and why the rhythms in different music styles work, and how accents and syncopation help to create grooves and add flavors. It gives some history, explains drum kits and basic drumming concepts (including the basic truth that drummers have just four limbs, even though electronic drums can play any number of parts). It also describes the basics of drum programming (in sequencers such as Cakewalk Home Studio as well as with drum machines, etc.)

I'm a singer/songwriter and home recordist. Although I have a good ear, I never learned to read music fluently, so all the examples in music notation put me off at first. Of course music notation is a standardized and compact way to express rhythm, so it's worth working through the explanation so you can tap out and follow the examples. Note that these are percussion staffs, where the "pitch" of the note represents a different drum (e.g. snare vs. kick), not a note (C, F, etc.)

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I'm a guitarist wanting to program drums. This book was very helpful to understand drumming and rhythm. It gives the basic rhythm of each musical style but more important than just showing the typical pattern it gave me an understanding of what is happening, why it works, etc. It seems that there are very few books in this niche. This book is also interesting as a history of the evolution of rhythms and drumming.
If it had many more examples of drum patterns I would have given it 5 stars. On the other hand, armed with a basic understanding of a rhythm, I can find drum tabs on the internet. This book is excellent in every other respect.

There are lots of books with hundreds of drum parts. This book has drum parts only by the dozens, but they are all well thought out and explained, giving the logic of creating the beats in plain clear language, such as why dropping the 3 beat makes the back beats and the 1 beat much stronger. Similar treatments are given across the range of popular music, country, reggae, jazz. Any drummer whose still learning will get a lot out of this book. This book was originally published as The Billboard Book of Rhythm in 1989 and includes a history of rhythm and percussion in music. The edition has updated (to 2000) info on drum programming in all its aspects. Even without an interest in drum programming, this book is a treasure trove for any musician who wants to understand rhythm and percussion.