As most drummers will tell you, learning to play jazz involves both technical skill and a high level of creativity.
Whilst learning drum solos of the greats is an important exercise, there are some classic books out there which have stood the test of time in music education.
For this article, we highlight 10 of the very best jazz drumming books out there.
A brief glance at the search results of any online drum shop shows how many educational books are available to the aspiring jazz drummer.
This can be confusing.
To start off on the right beat (pun intended), we overview 3 classics which are easily among the best jazz drumming books out there.
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The fight to stand out on the bookshelf has led to many of the publications on offer to promise a solution for all the diligent student’s needs.
The reality is that most of this instructional literature rehashes the same old topics: practice your rudiments, learn some time patterns, memorise these 600 licks to make you ‘sound like Tony Williams’, etc. etc.
We would hate to call this a cynical attempt of what has become a major and profitable industry to persuade you to impart with your hard-earned cash. However, the reality is that good books are hard to find and are only one small part of the puzzle.
The only way to fully absorb the fundamentals of jazz drumming is to approach them from every angle possible.
Listening to the jazz greats, practising, playing, taking lessons, going to gigs, studying the history and, yes, seeking advice from books by reputable authors is just the beginning of a long to-do list.
And by reputable author, we mean a musician who has cut his teeth both in the classroom and on the stage.
Too often the writers of these manuals are people who have no real experience in either forum.
The examples in this article not only tick these boxes, but also encourage the well-rounded education discussed above. Many of them have accompanying CDs and DVDs to make sure the autodidact is on the right track.
So here’s our guide to some essential jazz drumming books for players of every level.
New Orleans and Second Line Drumming (Herlin Riley and Johnny Vidacovich)
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Herlin Riley and Johnny Vidacovich take us through many varieties of drumming from New Orleans which receive little coverage in both drum books and general music histories.
Stylistic analysis is interspersed with interviews with and pictures of some of the genre’s leading exponents. This gives a social context to the exercises and technical guidance.
Appropriate equipment and the drummer’s roles and responsibilities are also covered, and there are extensive discographies for further study.
New Orleans Jazz and Second Line Drumming is not a book to be ‘completed’ – you’ll find yourself coming back to this for new inspiration for years to come.
Beyond Bop Drumming (John Riley)
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John Riley’s sequel to The Art of Bop Drumming continues the thorough and expansive approach established in the first volume.
It contains plenty of down-to-earth exercises to get your teeth into, and there are frank discussions about technical difficulties faced by drummers who want to explore jazz from the ’60s and after.
Riley’s awe of the greats is evident in his writing, and it’s infectious. Particularly exciting are some carefully transcribed solos with motivic analysis and ideas for variations.
As in the prequel, the discography is conveniently ordered by drummer rather than leader, and the list of recommended books and videos is bulging with great suggestions.
Check out Beyond Bop Drumming here.
The Sound of Brushes (Ed Thigpen)
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Notating the lateral motions of brush playing is a tricky business. With only a few strokes the illustrations can quickly come to look like a football tactics diagram.
However clear the graphics are, playing brushes will always be easier understood by listening and showing. The CD, and DVD if accessible, are therefore indispensable additions to this jazz drumming classic.
That said, the instructions are as clear as can be and are presented on the page as music notation, diagram and a hybrid of the two for clarity.
Ed Thigpen not only takes the reader through basic time patterns but also gives practical advice on how to incorporate rhythmic language.
Modern Rudimental Swing Solos (Charley Wilcoxon)
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Celebrated by drum aficionados as a source of Philly Joe Jones’ prodigious technical skills, these snare drum solos by Charley Wilcoxon from 1941 are written with suggested stickings, as is traditional in the rudimental literature.
Although they were not composed specifically with jazz in mind, you’ll hear Philly Joe’s phrasing in them and no doubt realise just how slick his hands were!
It is recommended that, after learning each solo, the student practise them to music and experiment with orchestrating them on the kit in order to feel the benefits in real-world playing scenarios.
Check out the Modern Rudimental Swing Solos here.
The Essence of Jazz Drumming (Jim Blackley)
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The exercises in The Essence of Jazz Drumming approach playing drums from a musical angle.
Technical exercises are expressed as musical phrases, which encourages the learner never to lose sight of the ultimate goal of playing music rather than drums.
In his introduction, Jim Blackley promotes ideas which would seem radical in your basic rock drums book: we are to learn the piano, sing melodies, practice at very slow tempos, pay attention to the form of the tune, and treat the drum set not as an opportunity to just play sticking patterns but as a musical instrument.
This brand of sage and austere instruction is also present in Syncopated Rolls for The Modern Drummer by the same author, which is well worth owning as a primer for this volume.
Intro to Polyrhythms (Ari Hoenig)
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