Resources for learning rudiments

• Rudiment Sheet from the Percussive Arts Society
• Video Examples of all 40 rudiments
• Video explaining how to practice rudiments

Instrument Recommendations

• Concert Snare Drum Sticks - Vic Firth SD 1 General
• General Drum Set Stick - Vic Firth 5A
• Practice Pad - Evans Realfeel - These pads are great if you needs something quiet and portable.  
• Practice Pad - Sabian Quiet Tone Practice Pad - I like this pad because it is the same size as a snare drum and it uses an actual drum head.  You can also practice brushes on this pad.  

Books I use for teaching 

• Fundamental Studies for Snare Drum by Garwood Whaley
• Portraits In Rhythm by Anthony Cirone
• The All-American Drummer by Charlie Wilcoxon
• Stick Control for the Snare Drummer by George Lawrence Stone
• Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer by Jim Chapin

Snare Drum

Setup

• The drum should be approximately waist high so the players wrists can be flat when playing. 
• The snare throw should be right in front of the player rather than at a side.  With this position the sticks will strike the drum over the snare wires when playing from the center of the drum to the rim.  
• The drum should be flat rather than tilted.  Even if the player is using a traditional grip, setting up a concert snare drum to be flat is typical.

Drum Set

Setup 

• I typically play a 4 piece drum set (snare, bass, mounted tom, floor tom) with only one tom mounted on the bass drum.  This allows for the ride cymbal to be setup as closely as possible to the right of the bass drum.  The ride cymbal is a big part of our focus when playing Jazz and it needs to be in a comfortable and easy to reach position.  If you are using 2 toms mounted on the bass drum, this just requires the ride cymbal to be moved a little further to the right of the bass drum.   

Grooves to Learn

• Rock
• The Train Beat
• 16th Note Rock (1 hand and 2 hand)
• Swing
• Jazz Shuffle
• Blues Shuffle
• Ballad
• Waltz
• Bossa Nova
• Reggae
• Afro Cuban
• Samba
• Second Line
• Soca
• Calipso 
• Mambo
• Rumba

Mallet and Keyboard Instruments

Setup

• If the player is having trouble reading music and hitting the correct notes, try lowering their music stand so it is just above the bars of the instrument.  The placement of the music stand should help their peripheral vision on the instrument.  Ideally, this will allow them to keep eyes on the music while seeing your conducting and the mallet instrument bars.

Timpani

Tips for band directors

• Setup - Timpani should be setup with the largest drum to the left of the player and the smallest drum to the right.  It is similar to how a piano has the lower keys that create lower pitched sounds to the left and they get higher moving up the keyboard.  
• Tuning Gauges - Tuning gauges are not a “set it and forget it” part.  As the drums are moved or temperature changes, the heads may flex.  Once the drums are set in position for the rehearsal or concert, at that point the gauges should be set.  After the drums are moved back to the band room the gauges would need to be set again.  I suggest setting them before each playing session.  
• Tuning - When tuning timpani I feel like it is easier to move up the the pitch rather than down.  Our ears seem to find the pitch a little better than when the pitch is going down.  Here's a simple procedure. 
  1. Play the pitch source (piano, tuning fork, pitch pipe)
  2. Strike the drum
  3. Start with the heel of the timpani pedal down and slowly move it up until it matches the pitch source.  

General Practice Tips

Rhythm Section Players - Play In Duos

Vince Maggio at the University of Miami taught a great class called "Advanced Rhythm Section Techniques."  The class was focused on how to swing, interact, listen, and support each other in a rhythm section.  He said one of the best things you can do to practice these things is play in duos.  Each person you add to a band adds new challenges with time feel and rapport.  I think this relates to conversations as a 3 person conversation is a more little challenging to navigate than 1 on 1 conversations.  So rather than focusing on multiple musicians, practicing as a duo will allow the players to focus on only one other musician.  Here are a few questions for students to think about while practicing in duos.

• Are we playing together or just at the same time? 
• Can we do some question and answer, musically? 
• Do our 8th notes line up and swing in the same way? 
• Are we agreeing on the time or is someone on top or behind the beat?

Instruments in the Percussion Family

Mallet Percussion Instruments

• Glockenspiel
• Marimba
• Xylophone
• Vibraphone
• Orchestra Chimes

Percussion Instruments

• Cowbell
• Tambourine
• Triangle
• Vibraslap
• Shaker
• Castanets
• Snare Drum
• Concert Bass Drum
• Concert Toms
• Chimes
• Mark Tree
• Wind Chimes
• Clave
• Sleigh Bells
• Slap Stick
• Timpani

Drumset Types

• Jazz Drums
• Rock Drums
• Electronic Drums

Hand Drums

• Congas
• Bongos
• Djembe
• Pandero

Marching Percussion (Drumline)

• Snare Drum
• Tenors
• Bass Drum
• Crash Cymbals

Cymbals

• Ride Cymbal
• Crash Cymbal
• China
• Splash
• Orchestral Crash Cymbals
• Suspended Cymbal

Sticks/Mallets/Beaters

• Drumset sticks
• Brushes
• Concert snare drum sticks
• Bass Drum Mallet
• Yarn Mallets
• Timpani Mallets
• Triangle Beaters
• Marching Snare Drum Sticks