Arguably the most requested drummer by our viewers, Gavin Harrison is here at Drumeo to share his tips and methods for coming up with tasteful drum parts, how to improve your creativity, and your general mindset when playing the drums whether in the studio or performing live.

This hour-long lesson is jammed full of incredible drumming knowledge, so pay attention! He also plays several tracks from his solo project “Cheating the Polygraph”, as well as a track from The Pineapple Thief.

Lesson Index:

0:06 – SONG: “Hatesong/Halo”

7:01 – Introduction

10:00 – What is Rhythmic Design?

14:34 – Gavin’s “CPU” Theory

21:58 – How Gavin Creates Drum Parts For A Song

28:21 – SONG: “In Exile” by Pineapple Thief

33:07 – How Gavin Came Up With Drum Parts For “In Exile”

50:50 – Billy Cobham’s Tom Lick

57:50 – SONG: “The Start Of Something Beautiful”

1:04:52 – SONG: “Cheating The Polygraph”

Gavin Harrison is best known for his playing with progressive rock bands Porcupine Tree and King Crimson. He began working professionally in 1979 and has since appeared on over 140 recordings. He’s performed and/or recorded with a wide variety of artists including Incognito, Lisa Stansfield, Lewis Taylor, Paul Young, Iggy Pop, OSI, Shooter, The King Of Oblivion, Sam Brown, Tom Robinson, Go West, and many others.

He won the Modern Drummer magazine readers’ poll for “best progressive rock drummer of the year” from 2007 to 2010 (and again in 2016), as well as “Best Prog Drummer” from DRUM USA magazine in 2011. In 2014, Modern Drummer placed Gavin in the Top 50 Greatest Drummers of all Time.