What a Difference a Day Makes

A Monster Blog Series By Bryan Lowe

I feel good about my Buzz Stroke progress!  I’d been feeling rather clumsy and slow for a bit,  and ending up taking a couple of days off. That cold wasn’t helping either.

About five minutes into my return it all fell into place.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Both hands!

For some reason, a drum roll or buzz roll seems like real progress, more than the tap, tap, tap of previous exercises.  I do understand progress on those “taps” lead to progress on the buzz roll, but this feels like a big step forward, emotionally. This is starting to feel like “real” drumming.  

Need a break down on the Buzz Rolls? Check out this class to get your basics rock'n. 

ST2006 - The Buzz Stroke

For any future challenges on this journey I need to remember that progress isn’t a steady line. Recognizable progress can come in fits and starts sometimes.

Online Lessons

Life is...

From Percussion to Pipe Band Drumming

A Blog By Mike Garcia

The world of music is a beautiful thing. So many different styles and approaches within so many different cultures all over the world. Pick a genre, go down the rabbit hole, and you will discover invaluable experiences of how impactful a single or combination of sounds can truly be and how they bring people together.  

Pick a world, let’s say: percussion, and for you Pipe Band people, drum corps - and there are various journeys you can embark on to explore the many wonders of the style.  Personally, I have experience in American rudimental drumming (i.e. Drum Corps International, aka “DCI” experience) and classical percussion (either a “percussion ensemble” or concert band/orchestral percussion). I am fortunate to say I have had the opportunity to experience performing in these groups at some of the highest levels possible! However, I have always been a lifelong learner and have...

Gareth McLees - Taking Technique to New Levels

A Monster Blog by Haydn Halsted

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Over the years, I’ve been observing and imitating the great American Drum Corps including their closed hand technique, rhythmic virtuosity and rigid intensity to their uniformity, clarity and overall production level. The Drum Corp style and the Marching Arts have kept my fire burning for some time now and to me, the DCI shows are some of the most impressive works of art put out each year.

Until recently, I was unfamiliar with the world of Scottish Pipe Band drumming (we can go over my story another time), and when I was introduced to the Gareth McLees Monster Drumming Series on Rhythm Monster, I immediately saw the true artistry and musicality that can be produced on the snare drum. In this seven-part video class series, McLees demonstrates what the Snare Drum is capable of by presenting an incredibly relaxed and...

Monster Drum Sgt.

Gary Potter

is rock'n with his Monster Drum Corps from

Manawatu Scottish Pipe Band

Many more where that came from!  

To access all of our Monster Classes, you'll need a profile and a subscription. So many other Monster Drummers from around the world are waiting to meet you and rock out. Fear no more, click the button to Monster-Up! 

We've got hundreds of classes that breakdown every concept, like our Music Theory Tutor classes, MT3005 -  An Intro to Unisions, Chips, and Fortes

Many more where that came from!  

To access all of our Monster Classes, you'll need a profile and a subscription. So many other Monster Drummers from around the world are waiting to meet you and rock out. Fear no more, click the button to Monster-Up! 

An Intro to My Pipe Band Journey

A Monster Drumming Blog by Allison Hildebrand

Ooh boy, writing this feels intimidating. It’s something to write down all your thoughts and feelings about something knowing it’s going to end up somewhere anyone could see it. But, if I had to write anything that everyone was going to read, writing about Pipe Band would be one of my first choices. 

But before I take you down the rabbit hole of my weird, crazy obsession with what Michael Eagle calls Pipe Band Land, I should probably tell you a bit about myself. My name is Allison, and I’m twenty years old. It’s my first year playing Tenor Drum for the best band out there, Cameron & District Pipe Band. In addition to this, I also take bagpiping lessons from my PM, one of the world’s best pipers. That’s a lot to juggle at one time. But I love it a whole bunch.

Teddy Roosevelt has this quote, and it’s the best one I know of to describe...

Monster Drum Sgt.

Stephen Creighton

is rock'n with his Monster Drum Corps from

St. Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band

Many more where that came from!  

To access all of our Monster Classes, you'll need a profile and a subscription. So many other Monster Drummers from around the world are waiting to meet you and rock out. Fear no more, click the button to Monster-Up! 

We've got hundreds of classes that breakdown every concept, like our Music Theory Tutor classes, MT3005 -  An Intro to Unisions, Chips, and Fortes

Many more where that came from!  

To access all of our Monster Classes, you'll need a profile and a subscription. So many other Monster Drummers from around the world are waiting to meet you and rock out. Fear no more, click the button to Monster-Up! 

When Drum'n Gets Ruff...

A Monster Blog Series by Bryan Lowe

Learning something new always seems to include plateaus and/or periods of sagging enthusiasm. For the past week plus I've been knocked down by a bad cold, and with it, my general energy and enthusiasm has lagged.

At first, I was seeing rapid and steady improvement. I was excited. I think that is normal.  

Then, your improvement slows or stops, and it's easy to think you’ve hit some impossible wall, or even begin to wonder if you can really do this thing.

That is sometimes a trigger to stop altogether, to give up. “This just isn’t fun anymore.” I had a touch of drumming doldrums.   

Getting beyond that is crucial in getting to my longer-term goal, learning how to play drums in a Pipe Band. My minimum goal is to experience that for long enough that I can really decide if pipe bands are really my “thing” in...

Monster Drum Sgt.

Jake Jorgensen

is rock'n with his Monster Drum Corps

ScottishPower

Many more where that came from!  

To access all of our Monster Classes, you'll need a profile and a subscription. So many other Monster Drummers from around the world are waiting to meet you and rock out. Fear no more, click the button to Monster-Up! 

We've got hundreds of classes that breakdown every concept, like our Music Theory Tutor classes, MT3005 -  An Intro to Unisions, Chips, and Fortes

Many more where that came from!  

To access all of our Monster Classes, you'll need a profile and a subscription. So many other Monster Drummers from around the world are waiting to meet you and rock out. Fear no more, click the button to Monster-Up! 

The Uncomfortable Truth about Pipe Band Drumming 

A Monster Blog Series by Dave Bullard

Missed Dave's last Blog? Oh. You'd want to read it first. 

 Check it out HERE. 

Let’s get an uncomfortable truth out of the way here.

When I first saw a pipe band drum corps, I was thrown off by how ‘disorderly’ it seemed. I was blown away by what I was hearing, but there was this little voice nagging at me saying things like:

“What’s the deal with all of them shaking their sticks to the beat?”

and :

“What the hell is wrong with their hands?”

or:

"Why are they all looking down at someone else's drum?”

And:

“Why do they start their strokes like marimba players? ”

You see uh… Well... I mean….

Look, I think get it now, but (and not to belabor this point) a HUGE part of my musical training as a DCI-style American Drummer was concerned with...

Monster Drum Sgt.

Gary Corkin

is rock'n with his Monster Drum Corps from

Dowco Triumph Street Pipe Band

Many more where that came from!  

To access all of our Monster Classes, you'll need a profile and a subscription. So many other Monster Drummers from around the world are waiting to meet you and rock out. Fear no more, click the button to Monster-Up! 

We've got hundreds of classes that breakdown every concept, like our Music Theory Tutor classes, MT3005 -  An Intro to Unisions, Chips, and Fortes

Many more where that came from!  

To access all of our Monster Classes, you'll need a profile and a subscription. So many other Monster Drummers from around the world are waiting to meet you and rock out. Fear no more, click the button to Monster-Up!