I wanted to write a quick recommendation for a couple of drum books I use as an alternative to Ted Reed’s Syncopation.
If you’re a jazz drummer, then you probably know why this book is so popular and how it can be used. If you don’t, Alan Dawson will do a much better job of explaining than I do, so I recommend getting his book, The Complete Drummer’s Vocabulary. His exercises that use pages from Syncopation as a foundation are legendary and I spent a lot of time practicing them when I studied with John Ramsay at Berklee.
Having been through Syncopation so many times, my teacher recently recommended two books by Louis Bellson that are excellent. I’m surprised I had never owned either of them until now. One is in 4/4 and the other handles odd time signatures.
Modern Reading Text in 4/4 & Odd Time Reading Text
I highly recommend both of these books and that you don’t ignore practicing playing/reading in odd time signatures.
While we’re on the topic, make sure you check out Jazz in 3/4 Time by Max Roach if you haven’t heard it.
