Drum Book Recommendations (2016 edition)
I recently bought Jost Nickel's Groove Book. It's a really great drum book that I'd not heard of before. And as I wanted to share this recommendation with you, I decided to compile a list of my other favourite drum books.
So here are my top five. In no particular order.
- Jost Nickel's Groove Book — Jost Nickel
Full of great ideas for developing new grooves. I'll be using this one a lot in my own practice and teaching. I can't recommend it enough.
- Stick Control For The Snare Drummer - George Lawrence Stone
The classic. It's in pretty much every list of top drum books and for good reason. Useful for beginners through to advanced players, its application on the drum kit is endless.
- The Language Of Drumming Book - Benny Greb
Benny Greb is one of my favourite drummers and I use his book a lot in my teaching. An excellent book for beginner to intermediate drummers who are trying to up their game.
- Odd Time Sticking - Gary Chaffee
This book isn't going to be much use to a beginner, but for intermediate and advanced drummers it's a source of great ideas, especially when it comes to soloing. Gary Chaffee has a number of other books which are all equally good.
- Future Sounds - David Garibaldi
Another recommendation for more advanced players. Full of intricate linear grooves, with a focus on developing dynamics and control in groove playing.
I hope you find the recommendations useful. If you have any recommendations for me, let me know in the comments!
UPDATE: Since writing this post I've bought a lot more drum books so I've written a more comprehensive and updated list here.