Percussion Piano & Keyboard Acoustic Guitar Ukulele Recording & Production Electric Guitar DJ & Turntablism Voice Winds Other Instruments Violin & Viola Harmonica Bass Accordion Banjo Cello Brass Lessons Harp Mandolin Music & Instruments WonderHowTo

How To: Use damper and sustain pedals on the vibraphone

Gary Burton is one of the most commercially successful mallet players in history. In this installment from his Vibraphone Masterclass video tutorial series, which covers the full gamut of common questions on the instrument from its history to his famous 4-mallet grip, Gary demonstrates how to use the damper and sustain pedals to make your playing more dynamic and expressive.

How To: Dampen, or muffle, a concert bass drum

Tom Gauger has played percussion with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras for over 35 years and has also served on the faculty at Boston University and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. In this installment from his series of video lessons dedicated to breaking down the basic skills necessary for playing the concert bass drum, Tom will teach you three basic dampening techniques.

How To: Master the basics of the timbales

Take heart, aspiring timbaleros and timbaleras. Eguie Castrillo, having played with everyone from Tito Puente to Steve Winwood, is one of the world's most prolific timbale artists. In this two-part installment of his video tutorial series on the fundamentals of timbale playing, Eguie will demonstrate the parts of the timbale drums, grip types and playing positions. Take a look!

How To: Play various rhythms on bongos

Itching to start slapping some bongo skins? In this three-part bongo tutorial, learn how to play various bongo rhythms. Hosted by Manny Cepeda (a composer, songwriter, & performer), you will learn the Son Rhythm (4/4) Martillo, the Borello Rhythm, and Guaguanco Rhythm.

How To: Treat the skin on your bodhrán drum

Michelle Stewart of BodhranExpert.com demonstrates to viewers how to treat the skin on a Bodhran drum. The skin on this particular drum is made of goat skin and, much like your own skin, must be treated with a skin-conditioning treatment in order to maintain proper moisture.

How To: Perform a roundhouse spin with a mace

Learn how to do the round house spin hand movement with this tutorial. Free hand movements are usually meant for high school competition drum majors. Military and Scottish drum majors typically will not use free hand movements. Watch this how to video and you will be able to do a round house spin with a mace.

How To: Play an afro beat on bongos

In this tutorial, we learn how to play an Afro beat on bongos. Start off by sitting down on a chair with the drums in between your thighs and knees. After this, start to use both of your hands to beat onto both of the drums. As you continue to play, create an Afro beat. The Afro beat is a critical pattern that is not founded in salsa. It's essential to the Afro Cuban tradition to play with the Afro beat. Once you have the beat down, repeat playing so you can better understand how this is play...

How To: Play drums using the push pull technique

This how to video will teach you how to perform the push pull technique on drums. If you want to throw a double, you can start with a single and get an accent on the double for an inverted double. Just push and grab really quick. For a double, use a controlled rebound. For the inverted double, start with a single and dig out the second stroke of the double. A french grip is useful for performing this technique. This is good for ghostings and shuffles. For shuffles, you can use a controlled re...

How To: Understand time signatures & BPM (beats per minute)

Walt Ribeiro shows you how beats per minute work along with time signatures. This video takes you through the steps with a detailed explanation of how they work together and is executed using a drum along with a handy saying to help you keep your time signatures going steady to the beats per minute. Walt explains this using an electronic tempo clock while changing up the time signature. If you have ever had a music question with how these two things relate to each other then video is for you.

How To: Practice the timbales quietly

Take heart, aspiring timbaleros y timbaleras. Eguie Castrillo, having played with everyone from Tito Puente to Steve Winwood, is one of the world's most prolific timbale artists. In this installment of his video tutorial series on the fundamentals of timbale playing, Eguie will walk you through some basic techniques for practicing the timbales.

How To: Practice without a bodhrán and make your own tipper

In this how to video, you will learn how to practice without a Bodhran and make your own tipper. This is useful if you do not have enough money to buy a Bodhran or you want to practice silently. To make a tipper, buy skewers from any place. Take about 14 and put the together. Tie them together with 2 rubber bands. You can get different sounds depending on the distant of the rubber band from the end of the sticks. Next, you must get a practice board. A clip board can be used for one. You can m...

How To: Play the mambo bell pattern on the timbales (tymbales)

Take heart, aspiring timbaleros y timbaleras. Eguie Castrillo, having played with everyone from Tito Puente to Steve Winwood, is one of the world's most prolific timbale artists. In this two-part installment of his video tutorial series on the fundamentals of timbale playing, Eguie will show you not only how but when to play the mambo bell pattern. Take a look!

How To: Solo on the timbales (tymbales)

Take heart, aspiring timbaleros and timbaleras. Eguie Castrillo, having played with everyone from Tito Puente to Steve Winwood, is one of the world's most prolific timbale artists. In this installment of his video tutorial series on the fundamentals of timbale playing, Eguie will walk you through some basic techniques for soloing on the timbales.

How To: Use the free stroke on the drums

Dom Famularo's infectious smile and drumming talents make him one of the most sought-after drummers and clincians in the world. In this three-part installment from his video series dedicated to a wide variety of topics–from drum strokes to styles–, Dom demonstrates the free stroke, or rebound, technique on the drums.

How To: Play bass drum triplets on the drumset

Vic Firth presents the 4th installment of the Drumset Lesson Series with Jeremy Hummel to learn how to play bass drum triplets. Try to give a right foot a workout. Once you get it going at a good speed, it can be really good. Watch this drum playing tutorial video and improve some of your basic skills. Play bass drum triplets on the drumset.

How To: Use an American grip on the drums

Dom Famularo's infectious smile and drumming talents make him one of the most sought-after drummers and clincians in the world. In this installment from his video series dedicated to a wide variety of topics–from drum strokes to styles–, Dom demonstrates the American grip, a hybrid of the finger-dominant French and wrist-dominant German drum grip styles.

How To: Use Brazilian-style drum fills

World Fusion Drumming combines the energy and feel of rock, Latin, and world music with the technique and improvisational skills of jazz. In this installment from his video tutorial series on the rudiments of world fusion drumming, Berklee College of Music professor Skip Hadden will walk you through several Brazilian-style drum fills that will help you in approximating the sound of Brazilian percussion session.

How To: Use a 4-mallet Burton or Musser grip on the vibes

Gary Burton is one of the most commercially successful mallet players in history. In this installment from his Vibraphone Masterclass video tutorial series, which covers the full gamut of common questions on the instrument from its history to his famous 4-mallet grip, Gary demonstrates said famous grip, which allows for great versatility while playing.

How To: Read 3/4 time signature

Learn to read and play drum music written in the 3/4 time signature. In order to do this drum lesson, you already need to have an understanding of quarter notes, 8th notes, 16ths notes and their corresponding rests. You will also need the Beat Sheet for this lesson.

How To: Play the "Four Sticks" groove on drums

Check out this music tutorial video that demonstrates how to play the "Four Sticks" groove on drums. Led Astray drummer "Fronzo" explains his approach to the Four Sticks drum groove. John Bonham of Led Zeppelin played this song with two sets of drum sticks, which is where the title of the song comes from. Learn how to play with Four Sticks by watching this instructional drum playing video.

How To: Play with great time on the drums

The quality of the time you have when playing the drums is proportional to the quality of the time you keep. Ndugu Chancler is known not only as a world-class drummer and percussionist, but also a producer, composer, clinician and teacher. In this installment from his video lesson series covering many of the most frequently asked questions from his clinic tours across the world, Ndugu will teach how you to best develop your sense of time on the drums.

How To: Do two handed 16th note drum beats

The two-handed sixteenth note drum beats featured in this lesson are a little different than anything covered in previous lessons. Unlike the regular sixteenth note beats, these patterns have the hands alternating between the hi-hats and snare for the entire measure.

How To: Listen to music with your whole body

In this soaring demonstration, deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie leads the audience through an exploration of music not as notes on a page, but as an expression of the human experience. Playing with sensitivity and nuance informed by a soul-deep understanding of and connection to music, she talks about a music that is more than sound waves perceived by the human ear. She illustrates a richer picture that begins with listening to yourself, and includes emotion and intent as well as the complex...

How To: Play a basic conga drum sequence

In this video are the Afro-Cuban Percussion Class at Grossmont College, with instructor Manny Cepeda to show us how to play a Meringue rhythm on the Conga Drums. He starts off with a slow beat by beat demonstration and then moves on to a faster beat. The camera changes the view so that you can see both a front and back view of him drumming. Once he has shown the basics he shows the different variations you can use and the various counts that you can start on.

How To: Do drum music for the Chinese Lion Dance

In these lion dance video instruction clips, learn about the music of the Southern style Chinese New Year Lion Dance and how it influences and directs the ceremony. Listen to the cymbals and drums as the Buddha puts the lion through its paces, taunting him with his fan. Learn how the different instruments create emotional soundscapes related to the narrative of the lion dance. Get an in-depth look at Chinese lion dance drum music in this video series, a thousand years in the making.

How To: Play tabla drum basic techniques

The tabla is a popular Indian drum used in the classical, popular and religious music of the Indian subcontinent and in Hindustani classical music. In this how to video you will learn basic techniques of playing the tabla. Watch this tutorial and you will be playing the tabla in no time.

How To: Hold the bodhrán drum tipper

There are two recommended ways to hold the Bodhran Drum tipper for beginners. The first way is called the "curved wrist" technique. You put the stick in between the area of your index and thumb finger. Then you put the end of the stick in between your index and middle finger. You must make sure not to keep your fingers tight, they must be elongated and resting gently on the stick. When you drum, you keep your wrist curved and swing your hand up and down. The next method is the "straight wrist...

How To: Drum an easy swing beat for a beginner

For anyone who is new to the drums or is an aspiring professional drummer, this video will show you a simple beat that could help you build rhythm--the swing beat. Jonathan, the drum tutor in this video, demonstrates how to perform the easy swing beat using the cymbal, bass drum and snare. First, Jonathan shows you the how to hit the cymbal three times--only not in a consecutive manner. You have to hit the cymbal once and then two more times closer together. Then Jonathan demonstrates how to ...

How To: Play a Bo Diddley beat on the drums

Hey, Bo Diddley! In this installment from his video tutorial series (in which he covers everything from improving timekeeping to creativity and orchestrations in patterns and drum fills), Brian Ferguson demonstrates how to play the famous Bo Diddley beat on your drumset.

Prev Page