The Art of Drumming: Drumset Book

Working through these exercises creates a shift in how you hear yourself within the band. Phrasing that once felt locked to the bar line opens up, and the transcriptions give you real examples of how flexibility and swing coexist with precision.

This book serves drummers who have solid fundamentals and want to deepen their jazz language. It's equally valuable for students working toward jazz studies at the college level and experienced players who want to think more critically about their timekeeping and phrasing.

• Work the exercises slowly enough that you can feel the phrasing arc across bar lines rather than resetting your sense of time with each measure.
• Use the transcriptions as listening assignments first. Sit with how each drummer interprets space and duration before trying to replicate their sticking.
• Address unnecessary tension deliberately during warm-up. Kaufman's focus on efficient energy use means checking your grip, shoulder height, and pedal technique against what you're actually producing.

Assign this during the second half of the school year once students have handled basic jazz comping. The transcriptions work beautifully as listening guides before jazz history units, and the phrasing exercises reinforce independence work students are doing in small ensemble settings.

• phrasing across bar lines in jazz context
• polyrhythmic independence and coordination
• tension recognition and efficient technique
• transcription reading and master study