John Kinyon's Basic Training Course, Book 2: Drum Book

Kinyon's Band Course has remained a trusted foundation for beginning percussion instruction because it treats drummers as full ensemble participants from day one, not as an afterthought. The two-book structure gives you room to build independence and reading fluency at a pace that matches the rest of your band, making coordination between parts feel natural rather than forced.

The material moves with purpose and clarity, avoiding unnecessary complications while still asking students to think about coordination and balance. Each exercise builds on the previous one, creating a sense of steady progress rather than jumping between unrelated concepts.

Book 2 is designed for beginning drummers who have completed foundational stroke work and are ready to coordinate snare and bass drum parts within a concert band context. It serves equally well in individual lessons, homogeneous percussion classes, or mixed ensembles where percussion needs to develop alongside winds and brass.

• Establish steady pulse with the bass drum on quarter notes before layering snare drum patterns; this separation builds confidence in reading multiple lines independently.
• Use the written progressions to develop matched grip consistency; begin slowly and only increase tempo once hand position remains stable across dynamic changes.
• Start snare and bass drum parts as separate practice routines, then integrate them during rehearsal once each part reads smoothly in context.

Use Book 2 to align percussion development with your full band's progression through the course; the parallel structure means snare and bass drum parts can integrate into band arrangements at the same level of difficulty the winds are reading. This creates a natural platform for adding mallets and timpani once students have secured fundamental coordination.

• Coordinating snare drum and bass drum patterns simultaneously
• Reading and executing dynamic markings across multiple percussion voices
• Maintaining steady pulse independent of melodic content
• Building muscle memory for grip consistency under varied rhythmic demands