Reddit reviews Ultimate Realistic Rock: Book & 2 CDs

I've Enjoyed:

http://vicfirth.com/40-essential-rudiments/ - this is a good place to start imo, all you need is a practice pad and a pair of sticks.

http://www.snarescience.com/index.php - some crazy difficult Drum Corps stuff on here.

Realistic Rock - rock based rhythms. Decent book.

Art of Bop Drumming - I'm currently in the process of learning to play jazz, and I couldn't imagine a better starting point.


I've heard great things about:

Stick Control - many people would suggest you start here, it's a classic.

Chart Topping Drum Beats - this looks like a fantastic place to start learning reading music for drum set.

Jojo Mayer's Secret Weapons Part 1 - goes over hand technique.

Jojo Mayer's Secret Weapons II - covers foot technique.

The Drumset Musician - covers many different styles.

As for videos, Drumeo has a Youtube channel with plenty of quality information.

My personal opinion on hand / foot technique is watch a variety of lessons / other drummers and just find what works for you.

ahh! I'm sorry. Here are the two books and some general tips.

• Elementary Drum Method-Roy Burns This book will teach you basic theory, how to read rhythm, and some good basic snare practice. I use it whenever I am teaching rhythm to music students either new percussionists, or brass/woodwind/ etc players that don't know rhythm well.
  
  
• Ultimate Realistic Rock-Carmen Appice This book will teach you how to play drum set. If you work your way through this book you can become a pretty decent drum player. Very well organized and thought through.
  
  
• Check out [Vic Firth's 40 Essential Drum Rudiments] (http://www.vicfirth.com/education/rudiments.php). Learn them. These are super helpful and the site is great.
  
  
• Play along with other tracks. What I did was grab some cheap earbud headphones, then I bought some nice Vic Firth isolation head phones (good for you to wear while practicing anyway). I'd listen to a song a few times, work out the basic rhythm, then keep the earphones in playing the song, the isolation head phones over them, and play along to the track. If you have huge speakers you can also just black a track and play along with it. Some sites have drum track tabs you can look up, sometimes you can figure out the beat by ear, or you can buy books. I own RHCP Stadium Arcadium for drums. Some good tracks to start out with if you're new are Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes, Come As you Are by Nirvanna, and almost any Beatles track. Play you're way through albums. I can give you more suggestions if you'd like. Even if you aren't matching the drummer perfectly, you'll get better by playing with tracks.
  
  
• Buy a metronome. Seriously. You can get a cheap one from Guitar Center or online, it doesn't need to be fancy, it just needs to keep a beat as you begin to learn percussion. Drummers who don't practice with metronomes aren't going to be very talented.
  
  
• Start slow. If you can play a beat slow, you can play it fast. But there are some people who can play rhythms fast, but not slow. Better to do it slow and correct, than fast and incorrect.
  
  
• If you can't play a rhythm 3 times in a row looping it (as in without stopping or breaking), you can't play it. You need repetition and looping.
  
  
• learn to hold stick properly and play with your wrists, not your whole arm.
  
  I can offer more tips about playing set, snare, mallet instruments, hand drums, buying a set, reading music etc. Send me a PM.
  
  Sorry this took so long, I had my drum books stashed away (recently moved) and I needed to remember the names.
  
  edit: formatting
  
  

After setting up your DW practice kit, drive your practice Rolls Royce to the music store and buy Realistic Rock.

Have you ever heard of the book - "Realistic Rock"? It's got Carmine Appice's name on it. It's actually a really good book just for getting into reading basic rock grooves. I use it for beginner students, but the book does quickly progress into challenging stuff. There are multiple "ways" you can practice the grooves, so you can really use the book for a while. Here's an Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Realistic-Rock-Book-CDs/dp/0897244869/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506711392&sr=8-1&keywords=realistic+rock+by+carmine+appice

http://www.amazon.com/Haskell-Harr-Drum-Method-Orchestra/dp/1423420268
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Techniques-For-Modern-Drummer/dp/0757995403
http://www.amazon.com/International-Drum-Rudiments-Book-CD/dp/0739013106
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Realistic-Rock-Drum-Method/dp/0897244869

get these books and read them and you will truly learn to beat smith. starts with the hands first then the feet, then the hands and the feet. i live by these books and remember that slower and more accurate practicing is 1000 times more important that fast and sloppy. get solid and have fun swingin.

http://www.amazon.com/Drum-Tuning-comprehensive-guide-tuning/dp/0964465817
this is a stand by too my man

Here's a couple of really awesome things I would have loved to know about when I was first starting out:

Vic Firth Knowledge base. They have a bunch of free video lessons on their website. Absolutely fantastic:

http://vicfirth.com/steve-houghton-drumset-101/

​

Drumeo probably has the best video lessons on youtube. Here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et9hU7QMDYU

​

Realistic Rock by Carmine Appice:

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Realistic-Rock-Book-CDs/dp/0897244869

​

Stick control is a great book too, but don't jump right into it before you have some basics down. It's a good 2nd book or supplement to what you are primarily working on.