My Favorite Ruffs and Rolls

The average drum student quickly encounters various patterns or figures, the so-called rudiments. Initially, there are single strokes played alternatingly with the left and right hand. Later, one encounters more complex rudiments, often derived from marching snare drumming, which are used on the drum kit, particularly in fills. The original text of this post was created by my human intelligence in German. The translation was a collaboration between man and machine. The man was I and the machine was Google Translate. ...

April 28, 2026

All Limbs on Deck

My latest hobby is playing the hi-hat with my foot on the offbeats, i.e., the & in 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &. Due to limited independence of my limbs, I had to restrict myself to the following version*The ride cymbal can also be replaced by one or more toms.: The original text of this post was created by my human intelligence in German. The translation was a collaboration between man and machine. The man was I and the machine was Google Translate. ...

April 10, 2026

Starting Drums at Almost 40 – A Preemptive Strike Against the Midlife Crisis

In this somewhat personal article, I describe my thoughts and experiences as someone who started playing drums at the age of 39 and otherwise has very little musical experience. The original text of this post was created by my human intelligence in German. The translation was a collaboration between man and machine. The man was me and the machine was Google Translate. What has happened so far Before his 7th birthday, I asked my then-noisy child if he would like to learn drums and would forgo other birthday presents in return. Surprisingly, the child was very happy to oblige. ...

April 5, 2026

Triplets in 4/4-Drum-Grooves

I’ve been playing drums for about three years. I recently came across the following simplest of all non-degenerated polyrhythms. The original text of this post was created by my human intelligence in German. The translation was a collaboration between man and machine. The man was I and the machine was Google Translate. The first three quarter notes follow a completely normal eighth-note rhythm. Then comes a kind of crazy triplet fill on the snare, while the hi-hat continues. I encountered this in Solo 17 from Tom Hapke’s book, 66 Drum Solos. When I saw it, I thought, “What the hell is that? How am I ever going to be able to play something so crazy?” That same day, I had my drum lesson. Desperately, I asked my teacher. He told me he would play it but with tom*not Hapke but the drum. This joke works better in German, because there both are capitalized. and snare instead of hi-hat and snare and I should just repeat by ear. It sounded something like this: ...

December 1, 2025