Groovy Writer

There are so many drum tuition books, and, perhaps surprisingly, so many good drum tuition books. But of the good ones there are only a few that score on the word content as well as the music.

One of these rarities is 'Groove Alchemy' by Stanton Moore. It's a fantastic analysis of the great grooves created by some of the funkiest drummers, with lots and lots of beats lovingly transcribed.

But, as with Royal Hartigan's 'West African Rhythms for Drumset' which I mentioned in a recent post, you get not just marvellous music to play but also an articulate, passionate and clearly written guide to the subject.

Stanton Moore, like Hartigan, has done a great service to drummers… and also helped make it clear that good drumming and a sharp intelligence go hand in hand.

African Independence

You only have to go into a decent music store to realise that there is a huge number of drumming instruction books. They're nearly all fascinating but few are truly exciting.

The best I've found in a long while is 'West African Rhythms for Drumset' by Royal Hartigan.

It's not only crammed with exercises that will stretch all four limbs to produce some amazing music, but it's also clearly, intelligently and lovingly written, with detailed explanation of the roots of the rhythms, and wonderful photographs of African players.

And if you're a drummer interested in improving their independence (for non-drummers, that means playing different patterns with each hand and foot), it offers some serious challenges.

Nothing else to say really, except buy it.