The Sound of Brushes: Drumset Book & Online Audio

This is the definitive resource for brush mastery, written by someone who literally invented many of the techniques drummers use today. The combination of full-size diagrams, step-by-step progressions, and recorded examples means students can hear exactly what each stroke should sound like and build the muscle memory to execute it cleanly. The addition of rock applications in this edition makes it relevant far beyond the jazz studio.

Brush playing opens up an entirely different sonic world on the drums, moving from impact to texture and allowing for subtlety and nuance that sticks alone cannot achieve. Learning these patterns trains your hands to listen and respond with precision, building the kind of control that transfers to every other aspect of drumming.

Drummers serious about jazz and rock playing who want to move beyond basic brush sounds and develop the control and vocabulary that professionals use. This book serves both students pursuing jazz formally and working drummers who need to expand their stylistic range.

• Start with the recorded accompaniments at a slow tempo and match the exact stroke articulation you hear before increasing speed. Rushing technique is the most common obstacle at this stage.
• Pay attention to grip and stick angle shown in the diagrams; brush technique depends entirely on the angle of approach and how the bristles contact the drum head.
• Separate each new pattern into its component parts. Don't try to execute a full comping phrase until you've isolated the individual strokes that build it.
• Use a metronome with the recordings once you've learned a pattern by ear. This anchors the feel and reveals where your time sits relative to the beat.

Assign this systematically to students beginning their jazz studies or to experienced drummers preparing for combo performance. The rock section makes it useful for contemporary music ensembles that need brush texture. Many directors use it as supplementary material during the first semester of jazz curriculum.

• Basic brush strokes and articulation control
• Jazz comping patterns and rhythmic placement
• Brush-specific dynamics and tone production
• Rock brush applications and contemporary groove
• Coordination between brush motion and cymbal timing
• Reading and executing complex rhythmic patterns from notation and diagrams