Open-Handed Playing, Volume 1: Drumset Book & Online Audio

This book cuts through the misconception that open-handed playing is a novelty or a style choice. Hessler and Famularo ground the technique in the work of Jim Chapin and Billy Cobham, building credibility while delivering a genuinely systematic progression that drummers at intermediate and advanced levels can actually follow. The combination of detailed methodology and 118 pages of exercises means students have substance to work with rather than a few isolated ideas.

Working through this book feels like gaining permission to play differently. Rather than forcing your body into a familiar pattern, you gradually discover how open-handed playing opens up the kit physically and mentally, creating new possibilities for independence and fluidity.

Intermediate to advanced drummers ready to expand their technical approach and remove physical limitations that crossing hands creates. Whether you play jazz, fusion, Latin, or contemporary styles, this book addresses a foundational technique that increases comfort, range, and endurance. Studio players and gigging drummers will find concrete applications for the exercises.

• Start with single-hand exercises and linear patterns before attempting to integrate open-handed independence across the full kit; the foundation matters more than speed.
• Record yourself playing the same passage both crossed and open-handed, then listen critically to how hand position affects consistency and tone production.
• Use the online audio to lock into the exercises at tempo; hearing the target groove removes guesswork about feel and pocket.

Assign this as a supplemental text for private drum students who have reached intermediate proficiency and are ready to deepen their technical foundation. The 118 pages and structured exercises work best as a long-term study over multiple months rather than a quick project, making it ideal for a self-directed improvement goal or a focused technical residency within private lessons.

• Open-handed independence across the entire drumset
• Moeller technique application and integration
• Linear phrasing and hand-to-hand flow
• Reduced tension and improved endurance
• Stylistic flexibility across jazz, fusion, and contemporary music