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The Amadeus Drum Method
A complete method in 100 chapters, from holding the sticks to reading charts. Every chapter has sheet music you can press play on: it counts you in, keeps a metronome going, and lights up each note as it plays.
Start at chapter 1 →
Part 1 · Getting Started 1 How to Use This Book Pages, examples and the player 2 Meet the Drum Set The parts of the kit and what they do 3 Holding the Sticks Matched grip and the fulcrum 4 Setting Up and Sitting Throne height, posture and pedals 5 The Four Basic Strokes Full, down, tap and up strokes 6 Reading the Drum Staff Where each drum is written 7 Beats, Bars and Time Signatures 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4 8 Using a Metronome Your practice partner 9 How to Practice Short, focused, every day 10 Counting Out Loud The habit that makes reading easy Part 2 · Reading Rhythm 11 Quarter Notes One beat each 12 Half Notes and Whole Notes Two beats and four beats 13 Rests Counted silence 14 Eighth Notes Two per beat 15 Eighth Rests Half a beat of silence 16 Reading Quarters and Eighths Your first reading lines 17 Sixteenth Notes Four per beat 18 Sixteenth-Note Rhythms, Part 1 The gallop and the reverse gallop 19 Sixteenth-Note Rhythms, Part 2 The rest of the combinations 20 Off-Beat Sixteenths Playing on the e and the a 21 Dotted Notes The dot adds half 22 Ties Joining two notes into one 23 Eighth-Note Triplets Three per beat 24 Triplet Partials Triplets with rests 25 Accents and Dynamics Loud, soft and everything between Part 3 · Rudiments 26 What Are Rudiments? The drummer’s scales 27 The Single Stroke Roll R L R L 28 The Double Stroke Roll R R L L 29 The Single Paradiddle R L R R, L R L L 30 The Double Paradiddle R L R L R R, L R L L 31 The Paradiddle-Diddle R L R R L L 32 The Flam A grace note just before the main note 33 Flam Taps Flam, tap, flam, tap 34 The Flam Accent Flam, tap, tap in triplets 35 The Flamacue Accent on the second note 36 The Drag Two grace notes before the main note 37 The Single Drag Tap Drag, tap 38 The Five-Stroke Roll R R L L R 39 The Seven-Stroke Roll Three doubles and an accent 40 The Nine-Stroke Roll Four doubles and an accent 41 The Buzz Roll Multiple-bounce roll 42 Single Stroke Four and Seven Quick singles into a beat 43 Accent Patterns Control over every note 44 Rudiments Around the Kit From the pad to the drums 45 A Rudiment Routine Ten minutes a day Part 4 · Rock Grooves 46 The Basic Rock Beat Hi-hat, bass drum, snare 47 Bass Drum Variations Moving the right foot 48 Snare Variations Beyond 2 and 4 49 Quarter-Note Hi-Hat Space for slow songs 50 Riding the Ride Cymbal A bigger, washier sound 51 Sixteenth-Note Hi-Hat, One Hand Driving sixteenths 52 Sixteenth-Note Bass Drum Syncopated kicks 53 Open Hi-Hat Adding sizzle 54 Four on the Floor Disco and dance grooves 55 Half-Time Feel Snare on 3 56 Double-Time Feel Fast punk and polka beats 57 Two-Handed Sixteenth Grooves Alternating on the hi-hat 58 Tom Grooves The floor tom beat 59 Crashes and Song Sections Marking the form 60 Rock Groove Workout Putting it together Part 5 · Other Styles 61 The Shuffle Rock, blues and swing in triplets 62 The Half-Time Shuffle Backbeat on 3 with ghost notes 63 12/8 Slow Blues Four big beats of three 64 Funk Basics Sixteenth-note bass drum grooves 65 Ghost Notes The quiet notes that make grooves breathe 66 Syncopated Funk Moving the snare off the beat 67 Reggae: The One Drop Everything lands on 3 68 Bossa Nova Brazilian groove with a two-bar pattern 69 Samba Driving Brazilian groove in two 70 The 6/8 Afro-Cuban Bell A timeless pattern 71 The Train Beat Country’s locomotive groove 72 Country Two-Step Boom-chick 73 The Motown Beat Snare on every beat 74 Grooves in 3/4 Waltzes and slow three 75 The 6/8 Ballad Two big beats of three Part 6 · Jazz 76 The Swing Feel Long-short eighths 77 The Jazz Ride Pattern Ding, ding-a-ding 78 Hi-Hat on 2 and 4 The left foot joins in 79 Feathering the Bass Drum Felt, not heard 80 Comping on the Snare Talking to the band 81 Comping on the Bass Drum The right foot talks too 82 Triplet Comping Comping on the middle of the triplet 83 The Jazz Waltz Swing in three 84 Brushes Sweeps and taps 85 Trading Fours Taking turns soloing Part 7 · Fills 86 What Is a Fill? Leading the band into the next section 87 Quarter-Note Fills Simple and strong 88 Eighth-Note Fills Two per beat 89 Sixteenth-Note Fills The classic rock fill 90 Triplet Fills Rolling around the kit 91 Fills with Space Rests and bass drum 92 Landing the Fill Crash, bass drum and the next 1 93 Fill Workshop Make your own Part 8 · Reading & Musicianship 94 Syncopated Reading Reading off the beat 95 Reading Lines as Grooves One page, many exercises 96 Reading a Drum Chart Repeats, endings and slashes 97 Song Form and Playing with a Band Listening is the job 98 Tuning Your Drums Getting a good sound 99 Caring for Your Kit Stands, heads, cymbals and sticks 100 Where to Go Next Keep playing, keep listening