The Basilica of Saints Justus and Pastor

Every Wednesday I share five things I've liked and think you might like too. Here are this week’s Five Things…

1. Channel 4 has a new series called The Trial. The idea behind the show is rather clever: "In a pioneering series that reveals the inner workings of the legal system, a fictional murder case is tried in a real court, by eminent legal professionals and a jury of 12 members of the public". I really liked the first episode so will most probably watch the rest of the series.
    
2. Drummer's have their quirks, and so it appears do drum books. Drumset = You is an entertaining look at the eccentricities contained within the pages of drum method books. This quote was the highlight for me: "A tree has an organic shape, and I can play that shape on the drums. I can play like a bear moving, like a bird flying, or like children rolling in the grass " — erm what?!
    
3. This is pretty cool: "The Autocanonizer ... takes any song and tries to make a canon out of it". Some songs work better than others, but my favourite is the autocanonized version of Over The Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. 
    
4. I'm currently reading Creating Freedom by Raoul Martinez. It's a powerful, thought provoking book that explores the notion of freedom and how "We are far less free than we like to think." It's currently free on Kindle, I recommend you download a copy.
    
5. This week's musical recommendation is Disparate Youth by Santigold and it's a teensy bit different from previous week's picks. I'm not really sure how best to describe the song, except that it has a great drum beat and that it's a good song to listen to now the sun is out! Have a listen and see what you think.

That's all for this week. If you enjoyed it, subscribe and you'll get the next one delivered to your inbox.

Every now and then I answer drumming and music related questions on the Q&A website Quora. I thought I'd share my most recent post here with you as it's a question I'm asked fairly regularly.

Q: What are some cool drum beats I could learn?

A: If you're after new ideas and systems for developing unique grooves I’d highly recommend Jost Nickel’s Groove Book. It’s one of the best groove books out there and I’m surprised so few have heard of it!

He breaks his ideas and concepts down very well and offers plenty of suggestions on developing his ideas further.

Another option would be Future Sounds by David Garibaldi. Full of cool grooves but less on the systems for developing your own.

I shared a few other book recommendations on my blog a few months back which you might find useful.

Read on Quora.

A small part of my collection of drum books

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.

1. 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.
    
2. 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.
    
3. 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.
    
4. 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.
    
5. 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.