Rockin' Bass Drum, Book 2: A Repertoire of Exciting Rhythmic Patterns to Develop Coordination for Today's Rock Styles

Propulsive and modern. Two and four bar phrases pull you forward with the pocket-oriented feel of working rock drummers, combining the swing sensibility of jazz-rock with the straightforward energy of contemporary styles.

Drummers ready to move beyond basic 4/4 and explore contemporary rock and jazz-rock grooves with systematic coordination development. This works well for students in grades 5 and up who have mastered fundamental stick control and want to apply it to styles they actually hear on recordings.

• Isolate the kick drum and hi-hat patterns separately before combining them; lock the foundation before adding snare independence.
• Record yourself playing each beat and listen back to confirm pocket placement. Rock time sits differently than concert snare work.
• Practice each pattern at multiple tempos, starting slower than the written speed to build control before pushing the energy.
• Study how the patterns stack: notice which beats repeat across different examples and which introduce new syncopation.

Assign these patterns during the second half of the year when students have rhythm foundation in place and are ready for style-specific work. Use them alongside rock or contemporary repertoire in concert programming to give drummers meaningful context for the coordination they're building.

• Independence between kick drum, snare, and hi-hat in rock contexts
• Two and four bar phrase recognition and internalization
• Jazz-rock syncopation and pocket placement
• Coordination under tempo variation
• Reading and executing contemporary drumset notation