Downloads
Get practice/study material written by Todd Bishop (except where otherwise noted), including original exercises, transcriptions, and play-along mp3s. For Todd's original music, and the Drum! Magazine piece, visit our Recordings page.
snare drum exercises | drum set exercises | transcriptions | play-along tracks
Exercises
Snare Drum/Pad Class
Stick Control by George Lawrence Stone is a recommended book for anyone participating in the pad class. For a complete listing and exploration of rudiments, see Savage Rudimental Workshop (marching/corps emphasis) or The Drummer's Complete Vocabulary (jazz/drum set emphasis).
Contact Todd for current pad class exercises. Currently, much of the material is from Stick Control as well as Joe Morello's Master Studies books, as well as other books. Here are a few archived exercises from past groups- unless otherwise noted exercises are © Todd Bishop:
Easy
"Savage" Warm-Up by Matt Savage
Triplet Warm-Up
Paradiddle inversions
Three Camps - Ghost's version. Attributed to Bill "Ghost" Lenon.
Three Camps - traditional version.
Joel Rothman's triplet accents - Buy the book Basic Drumming by Joel Rothman.
Joel Rothman's 8th note accents - Buy the book Basic Drumming by Joel Rothman.
2 & 3 stroke triplet accents
Flam accents with inversions
Advanced
John Riley Warm-Up by John Riley
John Riley Warm-Up in 5/4 adapted by Todd Bishop
Sixtuplet exercise
Sixtuplet exercise in 5/4
32nd note timing
Mixed tuplets
Flam taps
Swiss Triplets
Drum Set
Rock/Funk/Pop
Here are a selection of exercises written for my students.
Beats
Basic beats
Basic rock exercises using Syncopation, Lesson 1
Beats with the SD off of 2 & 4
A few fun beats for intermediate drummers.
Double-time feel beats
Beats with doubles in the bass drum
Funk ride pattern variations
Basic paradiddle funk
How to learn a complicated beat
Fills
1-beat fills
12/8
basic beats / exercises
adding 16th/"ghost" notes
Jazz
Comping in 4/4 - barest essentials
Comping in 4/4 - basic
Comping in 4/4 - triplets
Comping in 4/4 - snare and bass
Comping in 3/4 - basic
Shuffle variations/basic fills
Kicks & set-ups using Ted Reed's Syncopation
Set-ups and kicks - a few ideas
Joel Rothman - '&' of 2 kicks and set-ups - buy book
Basic solo ideas using triplets
First 25 tunes for jazz drummers to learn.
Long exercises from Ted Reed's Syncopation - buy book
Ex. 1 - original
Ex. 2 - original
Ex. 3 - original
Ex. 4 - original
Ex. 5 - original
Ex. 6 - original
Ex. 7 - original
Ex. 8 - original
Original variations by Todd Bishop
Ex. 1 with quarter note triplets added
Ex. 1 with inverted quarter note triplets added
Ex. 1 with inside triplets added
Ex. 1 - 3/4
Ex. 2 - 3/4
Ex. 3 - 3/4
Ex. 4 - 3/4
Ex. 5 - 3/4 with quarter note triplets
Ex. 5 - 3/4 with triplets partials
Ex. 6 - 3/4
Ex. 2 - 5/4
Ex. 3 - 5/4
Ex. 4 - 5/4
Ex. 5 - 5/4
Further exercises for Syncopation-type applications
Quarter notes/rests - 2 measures
Quarter notes/rests - 3/4
Quarter notes/rests - 5/4
Simple quarter/eighth variations - 1 measure
Simple quarter/eighth variations - 2 measures
8th notes- 3 notes per measure
8th notes - 4 notes per measure
8th notes - 5 notes per measure
3/4 - all possible quarter/eighth note combinations
3/4 - quarter-note triplets
Musical supplements for jazz students
First 100 tunes for jazz students to learn.
Tempos of famous tracks - learn these well!
Latin
Beginner's mambo
Basic latin grooves
Generic jazz latin groove - "Mozambique"
Generic jazz latin fill ideas
Cascara basics
Afro-Cuban 6/8
Bossa Nova variations
Transcriptions/Drum Charts
Rock
Generic song structure
Back In Black (Phil Rudd/AC-DC) - get mp3 | get CD
Communication Breakdown (John Bonham/Led Zeppelin) - get mp3 | get CD
Heartbreaker (John Bonham/Led Zeppelin) - exercises | get mp3 | get CD
Day Tripper (Ringo Starr/Beatles) - get mp3 | get CD
Drive My Car (Ringo Starr/Beatles) - get mp3 | get CD
Birthday (Ringo Starr/Beatles) - get mp3 | get CD
I Fought The Law (Mick Jones/The Clash) - get mp3 | get CD
Flash Gordon (Queen) - get mp3 | get CD
Suedehead (Morrisey) - get mp3 | get CD
Jazz
Straight, No Chaser (Ben Riley/Thelonious Monk) - get mp3 | get CD
Straight, No Chaser - head only (Art Taylor/Thelonious Monk) - get mp3 | get CD
Rhythm-a-ning (Frankie Dunlop/Thelonious Monk) - get mp3 | get CD
Bolivar Blues (Frankie Dunlop/Thelonious Monk) - get mp3 | get CD
Big Nick - analysis (Elvin Jones/John Coltrane) - get mp3 | get CD
Tunji (Elvin Jones/John Coltrane) - get mp3 | get CD
Elvin Jones comping analysis - from "Tunji"
Soul Eyes (Elvin Jones/John Coltrane - get mp3 | get CD
Fall (Tony Williams/Miles Davis) - analysis | get mp3 | get CD
God Bless The Child - solo (Jack DeJohnette/Keith Jarrett) - get mp3 | get CD
Since You Asked (Jack DeJohnette/John Scofield) - get mp3 | get CD
Long As You Know... (Jon Christiansen/Keith Jarrett) - get mp3 | get CD
R&B/Funk
Stay Away (Zigaboo Modeliste/Meters) - get mp3 | get CD
Africa (Zigaboo Modeliste/Meters) - get mp3 | get CD
Other
Packard Goose (Vinnie Colaiuta/Frank Zappa) - get mp3 | get CD
Audio
Play-along sampled loops for creative practice. It is highly recommended that you purchase the mp3 of the complete track.
Swing:
Old Devil Moon - Ahmad Jamal - buy mp3
Just Squeeze Me - Ahmad Jamal - buy CD
Black Cherry - Quincy Jones - buy mp3
Dead End - Quincy Jones - buy mp3
Ballad:
Crazy He Calls Me - Ahmad Jamal - buy mp3
Love And Peace - Quincy Jones - buy mp3
Latin:
Autumn Leaves (jazz/calypso) - Ahmad Jamal - buy mp3
Mr. Knight (jazz/latin) - John Coltrane - buy mp3
Waters of March (Brasilian/bossa nova) - Elis Regina - buy mp3
Salvador (Brasilian/samba) - Egberto Gismonti - buy mp3
Every Time You've Been Away (Brasilian/4:3 polyrhythm) - Bebel Gilberto - buy mp3
Aganju (Brasilian/samba) - Bebel Gilberto - buy mp3
Simplesmente (Brasilian/pop) - Bebel Gilberto - buy mp3
Afro-Cuban Fantasy - Poncho Sanchez - buy mp3
Bien Sabroso - Poncho Sanchez - buy mp3
Manteca - Poncho Sanchez - buy mp3
One Note Samba - Quincy Jones - buy mp3
Soul Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones - buy mp3
Soul Flower - Quincy Jones - buy mp3
Tin Tin Deo - Ray Barretto - buy mp3
Modern jazz:
The Windup (ECM/straight-8ths) - Keith Jarrett - buy mp3
Nexus (ECM/straight-8ths) - Gateway - buy CD
Fusion:
Birdland - Weather Report - buy mp3
Snake Oil - Tony Williams - buy mp3
Itsbynne Reel - Michael Brecker - buy mp3
Hippityville - John Abercrombie - buy CD
Funk/Soul/R&B:
Tippi Toes (New Orleans) - The Meters - buy mp3
Hit It And Quit It - Funkadelic - buy mp3
Funky Dollar Bill - Funkadelic - buy mp3
Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder - buy mp3
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