Basic Books

• Ed Bobick and George Judy: The Prime Time Reader
  No matter what level student I take on, I always find that this book is necessary to help smooth out reading and notation difficulties. Students from 1st grade through their sophmore year in college have spent time in this book with me. A great book that covers notes from whole notes through 16th note triplets with everything in between. Time signatures included are 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, 3/8, 6/8, and 12/8. A progressive introduction to reading rhythmic notation with very little writing in terms of stickings and counts. Open to the wide variations of teaching methods. The back section of the book featuring accents, double strokes, and rudiments is wonderful, and the roll exercises are quite possibly the best set of examples ever written. A MANDATORY BOOK for me!

Snare Drum Books

• Joe Holmquist: Snare Drum Solos (in 3 volumes.)
  A great collection of short graded solos. These books are remarkable for their 'realistic' dynamic markings (especially compared to some other beginner texts) and use of style markings in Italian and German.

• Mitchell Peters: Intermediate Snare Drum Studies
  A wonderful follow-up to the Prime Time Reader for students at the high school level and beyond. Divided into two parts, the first 10 technical studies are open to a wide variety of interpretations of technique. The 32 etudes are really great pieces of drum music that are subtly graded to involve many situations that arise in the concert style. I don't think Mitchell Peters is capable of writing a bad book.

• Mitchell Peters: Rudimental Primer
  A solid introduction to rudimental playing. This book presents two pages a piece on each rudiment and is somewhat progressively arranged. One of the nicest features is the 4-5 short etudes that focus on the rudiment in question. It makes a great lead-in book to Wilcoxin's The All-American Drummer.

• Emil Sholle: The Roll
  Arguably the best book of exercises ever compiled for developing the closed roll.

• George Lawrence Stone: Stick Control
  The drummer's basic bible. The original collection of sticking patterns covering singles, doubles, triplets, flams, rolls, and combinations of them all. There are so many ways to use the material in this book. It should be in everybody's library.

• William G. Street: Paradiddle Patter
  A great collection of sticking exercises in the manner of Stick Control but focusing only on the paradiddle family. This book is fun, filled with swing, and a great diversion when you want to get away from the rather stoic nature of Stick Control

• Charley Wilcoxin: The All-American Drummer
  The great compilation of rudimental playing. 150 short solos in 2/4 and 6/8. Challenging yet full of swing, this book is the key to applying technique and developing style. If you can play this book, you have a great handle on rudimental snare drum playing.

Mallet Books

• Morris Goldenberg: Modern School for Marimba, Xylophone, and Vibraphone
  The book that so many of us started out in. It has it's flaws, but it's still a necessary book for everyone's shelves. (I might be slightly biased, since one of my teachers worked out of it with Goldenberg before it was published.) I use it to introduce all the keys and develop reading. If you are in High School or older, expect to play the first 30+ pages before we move on to other material. The collection of excerpts in the back makes it an important reference for serious players.

• Vic Firth: Mallet Technique
  A wonderful compilation of basic technical studies in all keys. Great for ironing out your basic technique and developing speed once you're familiar with the keys and reading.

• George Hamilton Green: Instruction Course for Xylophone
  Do you want to develop great hands and more confidence on the xylophone? This is a sure-fire book to use. 50 lessons that were originally available by mail from the author. Each lesson stays in one key and covers some important technical consideration. I didn't transpose these exercises when I studied them, but you're more than welcome to do that. The ragtime exercise at the end of each lesson are a wonderful treat after the hard work, and provide the key to being able to play his xylophone rags with a lot less effort.

• Garwood Whaley: Fundamental Studies for Mallets
  I use this book for beginning students who have some note-reading experience. Simple theoretical concepts are provided for and the book has many useful reading etudes that come from real music instead of cheesy sounding exercises.

Drum Set Books

• Joel Rothman: Basic Drumming
  A required text at George's Drum Shop, Basic Drumming is an extensive book with sections covering reading, stick control, rudiments, and drumset patters. This book is an excellent resource.

• Joe Holmquist: Drum Set Etudes (in 3 volumes)
  An excellent collection of written out solos for 4 piece drumset. I use this book as a great next step once some basic rock vocabulary is acquired. The solos have a lot of good material laid out similarly to a song form are split between time patterns, fills, and solo passages in four bar phrases. I have students loop certain sections and then utilize the fill and solo passages in other playing situations.

• Ted Reed: Syncopation
  One of the other drum bibles. My introduction to swing playing was through this book and it really opened my eyes to how a book can be used so many different ways. The notation of this book is so much more like big band charts than other independence books. The nine solos at the back are the keystone of all the Alan Dawson expansions.

• Ron Spagnardi: Progressive Independence
  This book might overtake Syncopation as my standard swing teaching text. These are great exercises which are laid out in a slightly different format than Syncopation. My only gripe is that the notation, while very clear for the student, isn't necessarily laid out like a big band chart the student might see. Thanks to Ray Porello for introducing this book to me.

• Chuck Silverman: Practical Applications
  I've had the three volume set of this title for many years and have enjoyed working out of it on its own. The patterns here are a little more 'authentic' and 'modern' from the typical 1950's latin dance styles, but can provide a wealth of interdependence exercises with many different options to suit the performance situation.

• Daniel Humair: Drums Book Volume 1
  While I've not assigned this book to a student, I enjoy using it for my own personal warmup and practice material. Although it's expensive (published by Alphonse Leduc) and somewhat 'thorough' for your average younger student, the more advanced player may find some great practice material in here.