Welcome to Drum Set Tips

Collection of drum set tips and drumming ideas focusing on Grooves & Patterns, Equipment Reviews, Practice Tips and Method Books. The inspiration for sharing many of these tips is: I wish somebody had told me that.

I have been playing percussion professionally and collecting drum set tips for over 40 years. Basically, plagiarizing ideas from drummers that I liked and respected. I never hesitated to ask questions about what they were playing, what they were practicing and what kind of equipment they were using. Things like grooves and patterns, practice routines, method books, and equipment. I then tried to incorporate them into my own playing, practicing and equipment selection. And there are some ideas that I developed on my own. Many of them out of trial and error. Often motivated by an impending performance. 

Divided into 4 Categories:
Drum Set Tips Grooves and Patterns Image Drum Set Tips Equipment Reviews Image
Drum Set Tips Practice Tips Image Drum Set Tips Method Books Image

I decided to transcribe and share some of the drum set tips that I had been playing, practicing and teaching all these years. Also drum set equipment recommendations and reviews. I can’t even begin to calculate the amount of money I spent over the years on gear that I no longer use or decided to sell. There is no real rhyme or reason to the order in which I make these posts.

I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to share many of these drum set tips with fellow musicians, private students and percussion students at Sandhills Community College. Over the years, I have developed an interest in the pedagogy and process of drumming. Not only the “what and how” but also the “when and why”. The primary thing that I tried to do was give students a destination or direction they should head in. The ultimate goal was to have students develop their own individual style and take my ideas and make them their own. Enjoy!