Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Realistic Rock Drum Method

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I used the first edition of this book, when I began playing (back in the 70's). It was innovative---cutting edge, and also appealed to a wide range of students ranging from relative beginners to experienced set players. After college I quit playing, but recently began practicing again. I picked up the new edition of Realistic Rock. It did not disappoint. All of the great exercises are still there from the original, and the author has added a CD and made additions to update it for the present rock drumming scene. It still remains at the top of my list of great books for the drum set. Beginning and intermediate drummers will have well over a year's (maybe two years!) worth the material, and advanced rockers can also benefit greatly. Anyone capable of mastering this book will end up one heck of a rock drummer!

This book is outstandingly well-compiled, and is especially excellent for the beginning drummer. Even for an intermediate player, these beats are worthy to know.

The page formats are inviting to the reader, and are easy to follow, to boot. The excersizes methodically become more difficult, and their layouts are set in a way that encourages rapid development. Included are two audio disks, that are very useful for the audio for drummers that learn by the ear. Hearing the music really helps a drummer get a feel for how a piece is supposed to go. This book will have you master, there's no other way to say it, COOL rhythms in no time, and with no hassle at all (impress your friends!)! I'm teaching myself, am making quick progress, and have had no problems. Feel free to ask me about this product!

Not to mention, this book was rated the 11th best drum book according to the Modern Drummer magazine of '93. ^_^

This course will keep me busy for a long time! There's lots of great matereal, and the exercises are awesome! Really a great way to tune up drumming skills! I also recommend the companion video for the book, it helps clear up some of the hardest rhythms... This book isn't for those seeking higher wisdom of drum theory, but if you are ready to pick up your drum sticks and rock the house, this course will show you how.

Mr. Appice's book has certainly been around for a long time has been used by many teachers (including myself). The biggest drawback of this book is the choice to layout the exercises in a format where each instrument has it's own line rather than using a traditional five line staff. The probelems are these:

1) While the initial exercises are fairly easy to read, later in the book when the toms begin to be incorporated it actually becomes more confusing than traditional notation would be.

2) The use of a non standard staff reinforces the notion that percussion instruments are not to be taken seriously, and that drummers don't really need to learn to read.

3) Someone who begins in this book with no prior experience will have a hard time moving to other texts which do use traditional notation.

4) Someone with previous experience and with properly taught reading skills tend to find the non-standard format annoying if not confusing.

I began this book when I first began to play drums almost 20 years ago. Now, I use this book to teach all of my students. It presents drumming in an easy to read format, including explanations of rhythms, how each note divides into another, a 3 line staff - one each for HiHat/Cymbal, Snare drum and Bass drum, and CD's so that the student can either play along or always have a model in which to listen.

I highly recommend this book for any drum teacher looking to give their student a good workbook that will strengthen not only their reading ability but their dexterity as well.

A new section that wasn't included when I learned out of the book is a section for odd time signatures and how they can be creatively manipulated. Very helpful.

I'm learning to play the drums with this book as my first REAL proper methodology book. I must admit, some of the exercises are quite tough for the beginner and they can take quite some time to master, but at the end of each section, you're given a nice long "drum-solo-like" bit where all the small exercises come together and you feel like a star!
Now, every section I tackle, my goal isnt to just master those small exercises, but to finish them and get to the drum solo bit where I can put everytthing together and feel great!

For teaching drumset, this is the method I love. The book teaches reading and counting by way of many different beats/grooves in simple 1 and 2 measure phrases. If you do the different variations for each beat as described in the front of the book your coordination will go through the roof!

I still like to use Haskell Harr for rudimental teaching. Using them both together gives students the best of both worlds.

I highly recommend this book. (And for the younger students, get the one written for younger kids).

The only negative thing about this book is that they didn't make each exercise a seperate CD track so some of them are hard to locate. If they did that, it would be perfect!

This book is a must have for anyone wishing to learn drums. It is great for beginners and moves up to some pretty advanced beats. It is very easy to read and understand how to count out the beats. The book also covers a variety of styles including rock, shuffles, dance, double bass and more. I didn't even use the CD's and still found this to be better than any other drum book I have used, and still go back to practice from it often.

This time tested volume still offers a great foundation for beginner to intermediate level drummers. The cd's are a nice addition but only provide 'performance' tempo examples of some of the exercises, as opposed to something that assists the student in progress from a learning tempo to 'realistic' bpm. It also would benefit from more one and two handed 16th note exercises that are written out as opposed to being a variation of the recommended 18 different ways to use the book. I understand that there is an upcoming dvd to accompany the book and cd's. Looking forward to it Carmine!

This book is not the way to go if you've never played drums before or know little about how to make your way around a kit, don't read drum music or don't know how to count beats/understand time signatures. If you are an absolute beginner, I would highly recommend you start out with a real life lesson or at least find a place (website or book) to learn some basic rock beats using 4/4 time and learn how it all looks written out properly.

For a more intermediate player, this book is a great tool to use to brush up on some troublesome areas of your playing. I found that it was a great supplement to those times when I was just hitting a wall with my creativity. The book offers some good lessons in odd time signatures, fills and double bass playing. Each lesson gives a few bars of examples which increase in complexity until it ultimately leads to big, multi-bar exercise at the end of each unit which ties it all nicely together.

For beginners - try elsewhere first and come back to this one later.
For intermediate and experienced players - go for it! It's a good one.