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SteveHolmes.tv
A video library of performances, lessons, and questions answered from drummer Steve Holmes.
Advice
- My approach to teaching
- Playing music in a band vs drumming alone
- Get good enough to play on different drum kits!
- Hang with non-drummer musicians!
- Struggling with recording to a click
- Creating fills with toms and cymbals
- Working with a bass player
- Playing for the music (Branford Marsalis)
- My approach to fills and phrasing
- Getting the left moving around the kit
- Should you return to drumming after a long break?
- How social media affects your musical intake
- Playing over a vamp vs alone
- Coming up with fills and playing in a band!
- Using wrists vs fingers vs arms?
- Coming up with drum parts for a song
- Playing different live vs recording a song
- Dealing with losing the band with your fills
- How to never lose the left foot quarter note!
- How to deal with bandmates that rush
- All musicians should be rhythm experts!
- Playing your normal stuff but quietly on unfamiliar kits
- Dealing with self-doubt and imposter syndrome
- The benefit of learning rhythmic rates and getting freedom on the grid
- Double-drumming tips
- Coming up with musical ideas
- Singles vs doubles
- Jazz Fusion recommendations
- Developing "flow" on the drums!
- Fusion recommendations for a new listener
- Left-handed vs right-handed setups with new students
- How to practice something and isolate the problem with it
- How to practice a new things you don't understand
- Playing between different subdivisions
- Playing and feeling odd groupings
- Getting the ability to improvise and play drum solos
- Getting confidence on the drums
- Keeping track of 1 while improvising (The "Inner Clock" )
- Electronic Drums
- Feeling time in music where time is not obvious
- How to practice a new thing
- 32nd note triplets and approaching subdivisions in general
- Drum tuning and getting your "sound"
- Approaching hand-foot combos/fills/licks/phrases
- Working on your time and "feel"
- The process of coming up with fills and ideas
- Do I count while I'm playing
- Difficulty playing the same way with a band vs on your own
- How much drumming authenticity research should one do?
- Efficiency helping with speed
- The importance of singing drum parts
- Ted Reed Syncopation exercise recommendations
- Reading and understanding rhythms
- Coming up with ideas while improvising
- dealing with a creative rut?
- Get into musicians that don't play drums
- Important events that sparked creativity in my drumming
- Choosing what to learn next on the drums
- The importance of being able to play on a a variety of drum sets
- Tips for beginners
- How to start practicing triplets in 2 note groupings
- Losing stick control playing at louder volumes
- Tony doRosario and the importance of MUSIC vs just DRUMMING
- The importance of low-volume gigs
- using rebound when playing fast (or any tempo)
- Being balanced on the throne and using the hi-hat pedal
- advice for beginners
- best books for learning Jazz
- Arm movement and speed around the kit (Dennis Chambers and Virgil Donati)
- internal quarter note and keeping track of time
- getting out of a "rut" or getting stuck on something
- Developing a good feeling groove
- tips for clean double stokes
- Technique vs musicality - what does being a drummer and making music mean?
- Being centered and balanced behind the kit
- The importance of listening to music and becoming an expert at making music
- Snare drum height and seat height
- My approach to practicing with a click/metronome
- Going over the bar line and the internal clock explanation
- The benefits of the internal quarter note and being familiar with rhythmic phrasing
- Philosophy on approaching advanced concepts
- How to deal with not practicing enough and the guilt associated
- Big name drummers who get complacent and stop improving
- Developing flow
- How to practice anything!
- Seat height and balance
- Sounding relaxed = "good feeling" drumming
- Rock drumming vs jazz/fusion drumming
- Suggestions on how to practice variations
Analysis
- 6/8 and 4/4 analysis
- Nate Wood "It's Enough" groove breakdown ( 4 over 5 )
- My approach to fills and phrasing
- Playing different live vs recording a song
- Rock vs Jazz Fusion
- Vinnie Colaiuta Track "I Saw Isabella" from Jeff Beal
- Vinnie Colaiuta Track "The Watchers" from Jeff Beal
- "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Murdered By Numbers" are the same!
- Complex ride+hi-hat groove breakdown
- Vinnie Colaiuta discussion!
- Peter Erskine and "The Chicken" groove
- Listening to music because an instrument is played well vs enjoying the music
Click Playing
- 4/4 click improvisation
- 7/8 with click on 1 and 3 only
- Slow click practice
- Medium Tempo click practice
- 120bpm click practice
- Click at 50bpm!
- 160bpm click practice!
- Click on count 1 only!
- 107bpm click on 1 only!
- 127bpm click on 1 only!
- Playing to a click that's on count 1 only.
- Playing with the click only on the count of 1
- practicing with a click on 1 and 2 only
- Practicing with a click at 73 bpm
- Improvising with a click
- Improvising with a click in 3/4
- April 22 2023 Drum Solo #2 with a click
- Practicing with a click
- Click practice demo
- Practicing with a click
- Click practice slower tempo
Double Bass
Doubles
- Flam-Fives -with and without diddles!
- Doubles and paradiddles
- Great Hand workout (singles, doubles, paradiddles)
- Double-stroke rolls and marching band
- Double-stroke roll phrasing
- Getting started with double stroke rolls
- Getting the "flow" with doubles over triplets
- How to get the "flow" with doubles over 32nd notes
Drummers
- Nate Wood "It's Enough" groove breakdown ( 4 over 5 )
- Toss Panos 4 over 5 groove with The Fire Merchants
- Toss Panos on "Thing 15" - example playing in 15/8 (4/4 and 7/8)
- Tony Williams on Nefertiti
- Favorite Vinnie Colaiuta recording?
- Gergo Borlai lick!
- Dave Weckl influence rant
- Who are my favorite drummers?
- Some of my current favorite drummers on the internet (Justin Scott, Aleksandr Murenko, Moritz Mueller)
- Watching a Moritz Mueller clip!
- Watching a Zach Danzinger clip!
- Joe Travers' modern approach to Zappa music and making it groove
- Buddy Rich discussion (and other drummers who try to copy Buddy)
- Weckl style Flam Rolls
- "Dense Dance" from Tribal Tech with Jeoy Heredia on drums
- On Dom Famularo
- On Dave Elicht
- Glenn Sobel "vacuum" lick!
- Steve Khan "Mama Chola" with Dave Weckl
- Peter Erskine is amazing
- Comparing famous drummers
- Dave DeiCenso's new book
- Michel Camilio and Dave Weckl's drumming with him
- Louie Palmer visit clip!
- Anton Fig and Ace Frehley and KISS!
- Cool ghost-note hi-hat lick demonstration (Gergo Borlai lick)
- Phill Collins is the king of buzzed ghost notes (song recommendations)
- More practicing the Louie Palmer lick
- Thoughts on Dave DiCenso and his books
- Matt Garstka
- Dave Grohl inspired by Tony Thompson
- The Dave Weckl "9" lick
- Neil Peart “The Camera Eye” demo
- Will Calhoun “Middle Man” demo
- Aleksandr Murenko
- Jeff "Tain" Watts is my favorite jazz drummer
- Dream Theater and Mike Portnoy
- Why Vinnie Colaiuta is the GOAT
- Vinnie Colaiuta discussion!
- Vinnie on The Buddy Rich memorial Scholarship Concert video
- Lesser known Weckl recording recommendations
- Gary Novak recording recommendations
- Deceptively simple grooves and Jeff Pocaro
- Cliff Almond with Michel Camilo
- Steve Khan Public Access with Dave Weckl
- Arm movement and speed around the kit (Dennis Chambers and Virgil Donati)
- Dennis Chambers grooving
- on Aaron Combs and The Spin Doctors
- Marvin "Smitty" Smith is amazing
- Dom Famularo
- Peter Erskine and "The Chicken" groove
- Alex Van Halen on 1984
- On Stewart Copeland's significance
- Gergo Borlai "Limb breaker" lick
- Elvin Jones and "Speak No Evil"
- On Mike Johnston
- On Gavin Harrison
Drum Solo
- Feb 9th Drum Solo #1
- December 15 2024 drum solo #1
- December 15 2024 drum solo #2
- Sept 15th 2024 Drum Solo #1
- Sept 1st 2024 Drum Solo #1
- February 19th 2024 Drum Solo
- November 19th 2023 Drum Solo #1
- October 6th 2023 Drum Solo #2 (Flow example)
- Sept 30th 2023 drum solo #1
- August 27th 2023 Drum Solo #1
- August 27th 2023 Drum Solo #2
- July 2nd 2023 Open Drum Solo #1
- July 2nd 2023 Open Drum Solo #2
- June 18th 2023 Drum Solo #1
- June 11th 2023 Drum Solo #1
- June 3rd 2023 Drum Solo #1
- June 3rd 2023 Drum Solo #2
- May 20th 2023 Drum Solo #1
- May 6th 2023 Drum Solo #1
- May 6th 2023 Drum Solo #2
- April 22 2023 Drum Solo #1
- April 1st 2023 Drum Solo #1
- April 1st 2023 Drum Solo #2
- March 26th 2023 drum solo #1
- March 26th 2023 drum solo #2
- March 18th 2023 drum solo #1
- Feb 18tth 2023 drum solo
- Feb 5th 2023 Drum Solo
- Jan 3rd 2023 drum solo
- Jan 3rd 2023 drum solo #2
- Dec 19th 2022 drum solo #1
- December 17th 2022 Drum Solo #1
Feet
- Left-foot demo
- Foot technique demonstration
- Dave DiCenso/Thomas Lang double bass phrase practice
- Left foot hi-hat technique demonstration
- Playing 3 notes in a row with the bass drum foot in a groove
- Favorite double-bass licks
- Being balanced on the throne and using the hi-hat pedal
- Left foot hi-hat technique
- Bass drum technique demo
- Exercises for getting doubles with the bass drum
Fills
- Creating fills with toms and cymbals
- Creating fills with meaty flams!
- Cool flam phrase + left hand workout
- This rudiment translates to tons of phrases
- Vinnie lick breakdown (left-handed paradiddle-diddle)
- Gergo Borlai lick!
- 16th-note triplet phrasing demonstration (Weckl, Gadd, Smith, Vinnie style)
- More 16th demonstration mixed with flam phrases
- Weckl style Flam Rolls
- Steve Gadd phrase review
- Steve Gadd licks!
- Advanced triplet phrasing using paradiddles
- Approaching hand-foot combos/fills/licks/phrases
- Cool ghost-note hi-hat lick demonstration (Gergo Borlai lick)
- Toms and cymbals together
- 32nd note phrasing using paradiddles
- Super cool 4 note flam lick breakdown
- 32nd note paradiddle fills played slow then fast
Flams
- Flam-Fives -with and without diddles!
- Flams over 16ths as accents
- Creating fills with meaty flams!
- Cool flam phrase + left hand workout
- Flam-rolls discussion and demonstration
- More 16th demonstration mixed with flam phrases
- Weckl style Flam Rolls
- Practicing a tricky flam phrase (rFlam - l - r )
- flam ideas (Swiss trip flams + flam paradiddles)
Gear
- Cymbal setup tour!
- Yamaha PHX vs Stage Custom
- Why I Love the Yamaha PHX drums
- changing heads on all the toms!
- Trying out a new crash cymbal
- Choosing hi-hat and crash cymbal sizes
- Cymbal setup discussion
- Cymbal stacking experiment
- Yamaha PHX vs Recording Customs
- Dunnett Snares
- What cymbals am I using?
Ghoosh
Groove
- Getting comfortable between straight and swung (shuffle) feels
- Advanced hi-hat use within grooves
- Shuffles!!
- Half-Time Shuffle demo and challenge
- Creating cool grooves with subtle crashes over the bass drum
- Shuffle BD challenge - the last two triplets?
- Creative use of crashes in grooves
- Slow demo of some favorite shuffle/6-8 type grooves
- 16th notes with one hand - ghost note technique
- Working on your time and "feel"
- Getting a clean double or buzz on the snare right before the bass drum
- Hi-hat with cross-stick ideas
- Simple 16th note groove using the left foot and left hand
- Complex ride+hi-hat groove breakdown
- Advanced 16th note hi-hat grooves with ghost-notes
- Playing snare phrases while on the ride cymbal in jazz or other styles
- Using cymbals creatively in grooves and fills
- Floor-tom + Open HH groove exploration
- Playing 3 notes in a row with the bass drum foot in a groove
- Quick "Rosanna" half-time shuffle explanation
- Developing a good feeling groove
- Getting started and tips for ghost notes in grooves
- "Funky Drummer" groove, 16ths on the HH
- Shuffles demo
- Feeling and practicing upbeats for groove displacement
- Songo example
- 16th-note HH groove with ghost notes
- More 16th note HH groove breakdowns
- Amazing Hi-Hat and ride combo groove breakdown
Hi-hat
- Left-foot demo
- Advanced hi-hat use within grooves
- How to never lose the left foot quarter note!
- My favorite hi-hat cymbal!
- Left foot hi-hat technique demonstration
- Left-foot downbeat and upbeat examples in the same groove
- Doubles vs singles on the hi-hat
- One handed 16ths on the hi hat
- Amazing Hi-Hat and ride combo groove breakdown
Jazz
- Fast jazz comping and making it swing
- Using the half-time shuffle sticking for a the jazz comp phrase
- Up tempo jazz comping demonstration
- Big Band Drumming advice
- Up tempo jazz comping advice
- Playing snare phrases while on the ride cymbal in jazz or other styles
- up-tempo fast swing playing
- Elvin Jones and "Speak No Evil"
- Thoughts on playing jazz
- Key Jazz recordings (Tain, Elvin and Jack)
- Left-Foot lead
- Left hand buzzing (aka one-motion drop)
- Dynamics among all limbs = musical phrases!
- Fusion-style left hand 16th note phrases against the swing pattern
- Playing "Scattered" with Altered
Ladder
Metric Modulation
Odd Groupings
Paradiddles
- Doubles and paradiddles
- Vinnie lick breakdown (left-handed paradiddle-diddle)
- Cool Ted Reed Syncopation paradiddle exercise
- Cool 32nd note paradiddle phrasing using odd groupings!
- 32nd note phrasing using paradiddles
- Ted Reed page 37 paradiddle exercise
- 32nd note paradiddle fills played slow then fast
Performance
- "May 32nd" Track Play-along
- Playing to synth tracks I've never heard
- "Floaties" track loop play along!
- Playing with tracks I've never heard
- Dorian Cheah "Muezzin"
- What's on your mind (Pure Energy)
- "may 32nd" play along track
- Play along track "Floaties" by Sean Lang
- Nothing Compares To You
- Song performance "May 32nd"
- Play YYZ from Rush!
- Altered performs "May 32nd"
- Benny Grebs' "Grebfruit"
- "Twelveen" (Weckl/Oliver)
- Idris (Drumeo 6/8 tune)
- I must Have Been Mistaken
- Macktave
- Bug
- Two Weeks From Everywhere
- Sophisticated Hobo
- Diggin Out
- Bubbles
- Sinister
- Playing "Scattered" with Altered
Polyrhythms
Ride Cymbal
Soloing
- Breakdown of alternating hand-foot rolls aka "The Ladder"
- This rudiment translates to tons of phrases
- Vinnie lick breakdown (left-handed paradiddle-diddle)
- 16th-note triplet phrasing demonstration (Weckl, Gadd, Smith, Vinnie style)
- Flam-rolls discussion and demonstration
- Developing "flow" on the drums!
- Steve Gadd phrase review
- Drum roll down AND UP the kit demo
- Steve Gadd licks!
- Advanced triplet phrasing using paradiddles
- Approaching hand-foot combos/fills/licks/phrases
- 16th note triplet phrase demonstration
- Accents with ghost notes vs single-stroke speed phrasing (Gospel Chops)
- 16th note triplets accenting upbeats and filling in ghost-notes
- Using paradiddles without sounding like an exercise (using 16th note triplets)
- Coming up with ideas while improvising
- The Dave Weckl "9" lick
- Playing 3 note groupings of FRL vs FLR - which is better?
- 32nd note phrasing using paradiddles
- Vinnie Colaiuta style 16th note triplet phrasing
- Building your vocabulary
- Approaching drum solos and soloing in a band
- Flam rolls!
- Super cool 4 note flam lick breakdown
- 32nd note paradiddle fills played slow then fast
Story Time
- Playing with Hugh Ferguson
- Hang with non-drummer musicians!
- Matched vs traditional grip
- How social media affects your musical intake
- My dog Benny makes an appearance!
- Where did I learn to mix drums
- Dave Weckl influence rant
- Double-stroke rolls and marching band
- Stewart Copeland and my first concert ever!
- Chick Corea Elektric Band memories
- What books did I study from when I was younger?
- My time at Musician's Institute (93-94)
- Turning 51 and how age affects drumming
- How I studied music before the internet
- Steve in high school marching band clip!
- My time in New Jersey
- Thoughts on Lars Ulrich and those criticizing him
- Getting excited about new drums and drum companies in general (Yamaha PHX story time)
- At what age did I improve my drumming the most?
- Who's my favorite drummer?
- Do I regret working in the video game industry?
- east coast vs west coast drummers
- The story of how I got my favorite ride cymbal
- Drumming and Video Game development parallels
- My instructional DVD "Shed Some Light"
- RUSH and why I made the Neil Peart tribute video
- My trio Altered with Jeff Miley and John Flitcraft
- Who would I want to play with? Benjamin Shepherd!
- Early inspiration for drum solos and improvisation
- Biggest game-changing event in my drumming
- My background
- Drummers who often change drum companies
- Favorite recordings/music
- framed Ted Reed page 37
- Dave Weckl Vinnie Colaiuta NAMM poster story
- The Blushda: How it all started
Technique
- Technique + warmup
- Moeller technique
- Great Hand workout (singles, doubles, paradiddles)
- Using wrists vs fingers vs arms?
- Hand-Technique discussion
- Cross-stick and snare back beat together - how to transition
- Hand technique tips
- 16th notes with one hand - ghost note technique
- Moeller groups of 4 vs groups of 2?
- Using Moeller technique to improve single stroke rolls
- Developing the weaker hand (and hands in general)
- tips for clean double stokes
- "Funky Drummer" groove, 16ths on the HH
- Playing doubles with the feet and hands
- Warm up routine and hand workout
- Buzz rolls
- One handed 16ths on the hi hat
- Using the Moeller technique
Time Signatures
- 7/8 with click on 1 and 3 only
- 6/8 and 4/4 analysis
- Feeling 3/4, 6/8 and 4/4 at the same time
- 4 over 5 groove demo
- Toss Panos on "Thing 15" - example playing in 15/8 (4/4 and 7/8)
- 15/8 demonstration
- Practicing in 13 (5/8 + 4/4)
- 3/4 and 6/8 vs 4/4 and 6/8
- Playing in 13/8
- Converting your 4/4 stuff to odd meter
- 7/8 demonstration
- Approaching 7/8
- 3/4 click improv
- Improvising with a click in 3/4
- 6/8 Naningo demonstration and exploration
- Tips on playing in 7
- 16ths in groups of 7 in 7/8
- 3/4 click demo
- 5/4 click playing
- Playing in 7/8 !
Traditional Grip
- Matched vs traditional grip
- Getting the left moving around the kit
- Traditional Grip vs Matched Grip (being constructive vs being adversarial)
- Cross-stick and snare back beat together - how to transition
- Switching between matched and traditional grip
- The biggest advantage to traditional grip
- Traditional Grip discussion
- Basic traditional grip
- Traditional grip finger technique
- Did I always play traditional grip?
- Traditional Grip tips