The Total Blues Drummer: Drumset Book & CD

Bihlman anchors every concept in real blues artists and regional styles rather than abstract patterns, so drummers hear the historical context alongside the techniques. The progression from foundational beats to complex linear grooves respects where beginners actually start while offering enough depth to hold advanced players' attention. The included CD band tracks let students check their feel against a full ensemble rather than relying on click tracks alone.

Like sitting in a bandstand where the styles shift from humid Chicago nights to the grinding edge of Texas blues-rock, each section carrying its own feel and attitude. The grooves have room to breathe and swing, never feeling mechanical or overly notated.

Drummers at the beginning and intermediate level who want to ground themselves in authentic blues vocabulary and understand the regional variations that shaped the music. Players working toward a more stylistically aware sound will benefit from the artist-specific approaches and the recorded examples.

• Pay close attention to the pocket demonstrated on the CD; blues drumming lives in the space between time, not on top of it. Listen for how the pocket shifts slightly between Chicago and Memphis styles, then replicate that sensibility in your own playing.
• Work through the basic beats slowly until they sit in your hands without thinking. These foundational grooves are the vocabulary you'll layer into the supergrooves later, so rushing past them will limit your improvisation.
• Use the full band tracks as your practice band. Play along repeatedly and notice how your comping choices affect the feel. This is how blues phrasing develops.
• Study the linear grooves in context of the styles they come from. A supergroove sounds hollow if you haven't absorbed the simpler beats it's built on.

Assign this to any drummer studying jazz or funk idioms as a foundational text on pocket playing and swing feel. The Chicago and Memphis examples work well alongside big band or jazz combo rehearsals, while the blues-rock section can reinforce work happening in an electric ensemble or rock band.

• Chicago, Memphis, and Texas blues beat construction
• Funky blues and jazz-blues comping vocabulary
• Swing feel and pocket awareness in blues contexts
• Linear groove development and supergroove construction
• Stylistic listening and replication from recorded examples
• Blues-rock drumming techniques influenced by classic artists