PDFs & Worksheets

Develop full stroke, down stroke, tap, and up stroke through simple kinesthetic exercises before tackling the rudiments.

A brief survey of short rolls, paradiddles, and flams — a sample-platter intro to the rudiments built on simple rhythms.

Rich Thompson Stone Killer — a paradiddle-based exercise for building speed, endurance, and hand-turnaround control.

Feel and read simple eighth-note syncopations — source material for comping, coordination, and limb-independence work.

Three foundational eighth-note rock beats with the same hand pattern and three different bass-drum placements — a beginner's first grooves.

Shift the bass drum across every eighth-note partial against a static hand pattern — coordination and ear training in one.

Develop bass-drum control and independence by placing sixteenth-note partials under a constant hand pattern.

Odd-meter coordination, cymbal-beat modulations, and cross-rhythms across 5/4, 7/4, and 9/4 — a deep independence workout.

Seven 5/8 and 7/8 polymeter exercises that build a 35-eighth-note cycle — coordination and a framework for improvisation.

This worksheet is geared towards beginner jazz drummers, and is meant to serve as a series of prompts for improvisation. Each line demonstrates a concept you can experiment with in order to generate compelling comping ideas without being limited by a lack of sophisticated four-way coordination.

Max Roach's drum solo on "Daahoud" from the 1954 Clifford Brown & Max Roach album — a hard-bop masterclass in form and phrasing.

Three Tony Williams solos on Miles Davis' "Seven Steps to Heaven" (April '63 → February '64) tracing his bebop-to-post-bop evolution.

A short comping sample from Marcus Gilmore on Vijay Iyer's "Chorale" — a study in modern jazz drumset accompaniment.

Drum part transcription for Weezer's "Island in the Sun" — a clean, beginner-friendly modern rock groove study.

Drum part transcription for Weezer's "Undone (The Sweater Song)" — a song-form study perfect for early kit players.