I am very pleased to announce the arrival of my first music instruction book. Any of you who have followed my musical endeavours probably won’t be surprised that I’ve chosen something in the odd-time realm for my first educational foray. I think 7/8 can be just as funky and/or swinging as even-timed grooves, and I believe that it’s as easy to count/play as 4/4 – or any other metre, for that matter. It starts of incredibly simply, but near the end of it’s 64 pages, it does get pretty tricky. It covers basic counting, easy 5/4 and 7/4 grooves, quarter-note pulses, tuplets, coordination, double-kick exercises, and a number of other odd-time related stuff. It’s a small book but it covers a lot of ground.

I’ve been teaching at Long & McQuade in Victoria, BC, for about 5 years now, and I have quite a few students who are really into prog-, metal-, and post-rock; genres which regularly incorporate odd-time signatures in their songs, often in various combinations. I found myself writing out a lot of exercises in odd-times because I couldn’t find any simple books about it. Sure, there are some great books aimed at advanced drummers – but what about something for an 8-year old who wants to play The Ocean by Led Zeppelin? That book didn’t exist – but now it does!

It’s a half-size book – I wanted it to be easily portable and non-cost-prohibitive. It can fit in most stick-bags!

This book is also available at all Long & McQuade stores across Canada.