Drumset Essentials, Volume 2: Drumset Book & Online Audio

Erskine approaches drumset instruction from someone who has thrived across disparate musical contexts, which means his pedagogical focus is on foundational concepts that transfer everywhere. Rather than prescribing a single style, he builds the fundamental coordination, independence, and listening skills that open doors to jazz, fusion, Latin music, and beyond. The accompanying audio keeps students grounded in real sound while they work through the exercises on the page.

Studying with Erskine means encountering concepts stripped down to their essence: how to make both hands and both feet speak clearly, how to listen while you play, how different limbs can work together or against each other. The tone is respectful and exacting, never condescending. You feel the presence of someone who has solved these problems in hundreds of real musical situations and is sharing what actually works.

Drumset students working toward intermediate proficiency who benefit from direct guidance on fundamental technique and coordination. This book serves drummers preparing for jazz education, session work, or any ensemble context where solid independence and listening skills matter. Advanced beginners through early intermediate players will find Erskine's systematic approach especially valuable.

• Record yourself working through the exercises and listen back. Self-recording reveals coordination problems that feel invisible in the moment and trains your ear to catch timing shifts your hands might make instinctively.
• Use the online audio to lock into the recorded tempos rather than relying on a metronome alone. Playing with another voice (even a recording) sharpens your sensitivity to time in an ensemble context.
• Work through the exercises slowly first, focusing on even stick height and consistent dynamics across all four limbs. Speed comes only after the mechanics are honest.
• Spend time on the exercises that feel awkward. That discomfort signals a gap in your coordination or independence. Attack those gaps directly instead of moving forward prematurely.

Integrate this into a drumset curriculum as a primary technique and independence resource for students in their second year of study. Use it alongside ensemble playing so students immediately apply the coordination concepts to real rhythm section work. The online audio makes it suitable for both lesson preparation and independent practice between studio sessions.

• Bilateral coordination (working all four limbs with independence)
• Jazz and swing rhythm fundamentals
• Rudiment application on the drumset
• Dynamic control and even stick height
• Listening and playing with recorded accompaniment
• Grip, posture, and ergonomic technique