Jojo Mayer is one of my favourite drummers and he's undoubtably one of the greatest drummers alive today.

This solo has a bit of everything. It's musical, technical, dynamic, surprising and built on a cohesive set of ideas. A great example of what makes an engaging drum solo.

What really stands out to me is his use of volume. He utilises a very broad range of dynamics. It's so easy to just play loud all the time, but that's pretty boring to listen to. And once you've reached full volume, that's it, you can't go any louder. Contrasting loud with quiet keeps things interesting, and holding off playing your loudest will mean you always have somewhere left to go.

One of the easiest ways to improve your drumming and soloing is to pay more attention to your dynamics. Jojo keeps you waiting, he teases, he explores the extremes. And that's what keeps you listening.

The first edition of my Drumlist newsletter goes out this Sunday!

Here's the blurb...

A free monthly newsletter for drummers. Become more creative and inspired at the kit with free lessons and resources straight to your inbox.

Sign up at www.drumlist.com. It'll be worth it!

I'm currently in the process of launching the Drumlist Newsletter. Each issue will contain all sorts of drumming goodies — PDF lessons, technical exercises and advice, exercises for improving creativity and vocabulary at the kit, and a load of other useful resources. All for free.

If you like the sound of this (did I mention it's free?) visit www.drumlist.com to sign up. The first edition goes out very soon!

I have a weekday and weekend times available for drum lessons at South Street Studios in Ipswich. The studio is easy to find (it's just around the corner from Coes on Norwich Road) and it's conveniently right next to a large car park.

For more information on lessons and for testimonials from parents & students head over to the Drum Lesson page. If you'd like to book your first lesson, get in touch!

From time to time I answer drumming and music related questions on the q&a website Quora. This is one of those answers...

Question:

I've been playing with a metronome and I have it skip beats when I practice. I just feel that there is more I could be doing to get my internal clock as tight and solid as possible. Do any expert drummers out there have any secret ways or unique to practice keeping better time?

My answer:

Practicing to a metronome that skips beats is a great idea. Have you tried this with bars? Four bars on, four bars off for example.

A couple of other suggestions...

• Set your click to half time — Playing at 120pm? Set the click to 60bpm.

• Click on different subdivisions — Instead of assuming the click is on the 1, 2, 3, 4 try playing with it on the offbeat (1 e AND a, 2 e AND a etc) or if you're up for a real challenge the 'e' or 'a'. I strongly recommend doing this slowly with something you’re comfortable playing first. Benny Greb's book The Language Of Drumming has some great exercises to practice in this way.