In this video, Mike shares his five must know beginner drumming techniques. Having a solid foundation of technique is extremely important when first learning the drums.

Latin drumming is an umbrella term used to describe the rhythmic vocabulary developed for the drum set and hand percussion in various Latin American and Caribbean cultures. The melding of jazz with Afro-Cuban music in the 1940s–through guys like jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and percussionists/ vocalists Chano Pozo and Machito–and with the bossa nova in the early 1960s–through jazz musicians Charlie Byrd, Stan Getz and Brazilian composers João Gilberto, António Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes–introduced a whole new pallet of sounds and rhythms that were, for the most part, foreign (no pun intended) to mass North American and European audiences. More »

Not every gig requires a full drum-set. Weddings, restaurant and corporate gigs are a couple of the venues where a drum set might be overkill. Whether it’s the space the gig is being held on or sound and space limitations, there are various reasons to dismiss bands who have a drum set player as their only percussionist. This is where knowing to play hand drums can come quite in handy. You see, hand drums take almost no space at all and are way quieter when compared to a drum set. Knowing to play hand drums will get you all kinds of different gigs you wouldn’t get otherwise. Due to its usefulness to drum set players, Mike Michalkow put together this free live drum lesson to teach the basics of djembe and cajon and how to use them to reproduce drum set patterns. More »

The drum set is an instrument that’s primarily focused on playing rhythm. Rhythmic possibilities, although finite, are pretty much endless in the sense that no one can play every one of them in a lifetime. Still, learning as much as you can about different rhythmic combinations and possibilities is still well worth it due to their musical value. Having the ability to play different rhythms will greatly enhance your musicianship and the music you play along to. You’ll be able to complement it better and be a lot more creative and expressive. In this free live drum lesson, Mike Michalkow teaches how to spice up your rhythmic vocabulary on the hi-hat while playing rock-based drum beats with broken hi-hat patterns. More »