New Drum Transcriptions!

Just wanted to let you all know I did three new drum transcriptions for students this week! You can check all my transcriptions out here:

Rob Ferrell Drum Studio Drum Transcriptions

Feel free to download and print them out for yourselves or your students. The new ones from this week are:

-"This Ain't No Love Song" (Trace Adkins)

-"We Weren't Born To Follow" (Bon Jovi)

-"Plastic Cup Politics" (Less Than Jake)

December Update!

The holiday season is upon us! I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving. December is a very busy month for me. In addition to my normal teaching and gig schedule, Party Jones is slated to play it usual assortment of corporate Christmas parties. I will be taking two weeks off of teaching that coincides with school's winter break. This way I can spend some quality time with my wife and son and recharge my batteries a bit.

The new house is really coming along nicely. We're chomping at the bit to move, but still need to finish some work. We completed the ceiling scraping, resurfacing, painting, recessed lighting and garage/studio but still need to renovate the kitchen. We originally thought we wouldn't need to but now it looks like we need to. I'm bummed as I know it takes a long time to renovate a kitchen but we really need to do and it is better to do it now that the house is empty.

Happy Holidays everyone and be sure to check back frequently for more updates and drum transcriptions!

November Update!

In typical Southern California fashion, November rolls in with temperatures in the 90s and 100s! It was actually colder in August than it is now in November! Crazy weather for sure!

I have some very exciting news to share for this month's update. My wife and I have been looking to buy a new house for almost 2 years. Because my teaching business is so established in the northwest portion of Mission Viejo, it wasn't feasible for us to look elsewhere. This made finding a house that fit our needs, budget and location virtually impossible. We actually gave up over the summer because we got so frustrated. In late August, on of my wife's friends was visiting from New York and my wife took her for a drive in our favorite neighborhood in Mission Viejo. It's literally just on the other side of the hill from where we live now. They stumbled upon a short sale in a quiet cul-de-sac that was almost perfect in every way for us. Because the house was a short sale, there were lots of ups and downs in the process but last night (November 2nd) we received the keys to our new house. Needless to say we are elated!

The house is in good shape but there are still many little things that need to be done to spruce it up in addition to furnishings. Most importantly, I will be having the garage studio insulated and drywalled for climate control which I'm very excited about! Rob Ferrell Drum Studio will look better than ever!

Thanks to all my family, friends and students who have supported me throughout this entire process!

Free Drum Transcriptions!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have been offering free drum transcriptions available for download on my website for quite some time now! Every time I transcribe a song for a student to learn, I upload it to my website and make it available to download and print out as a PDF. Please check back regularly for updates! Here's a direct link:

Rob Ferrell Drum Studio Free Drum Transcriptions

Rock With You Drum Transcription

My latest drum transcription is "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson. This track features the great JR Robinson on drums. My band Party Jones was thinking about doing this song and I was just going to give it a listen and play it by memory. Once I really started listening to JR's awesomely tasteful drumming, I knew I had to dig in and transcribe it note for note!

Rock With You

October Update!

My favorite month of the year is upon us! There is still lots of potentially good change in the air. Unfortunately, the changes that could take place have not come to fruition yet so I don't want to jinx anything by talking about them until they come to pass!

I've been extremely busy teaching six days a week and Party Jones has been playing every weekend. With the addition of Woody Smith on bass, it has been a pleasure even playing the same cover songs I've been playing for the past seven years! The dude is an incredible bass player. On a sad note, long time Party Jones guitarist John Hagedorn has decided to leave the band as it was taking up too much of his personal time. Although I totally respect his decision, he will be sorely missed. We've been auditioning new guys starting last weekend and have some guys sitting in with us for gigs as well. I will keep you all posted on the situation as it unfolds.

Happy Fall everybody!

Soil - System Of A Down

My latest drum transcription is "Soil" by System Of A Down. This is an older tune of theirs that features a blazing fast tempo and some fluctuations between 7/8 and 4/4! There are some intricate tom patterns as well. This was a challenging one for me to transcribe as it was so fast and furious. Feel free to download it!

Soil

Inaugural YouTube Lesson Video!

I've finally gotten around to creating a YouTube channel for Rob Ferrell Drum Studio! It's been something I've wanted to do for quite some time. Now that my son has started first grade, I have a little more time while he's in school.

For the first installment, I've opted to talk about one of my favorite rudiment/conjunction licks. It's the 6 Stroke Roll with an extra RLL added to create a 9 note grouping. Using the original 6 Stroke Roll as one phrase and the 6 Stroke Roll plus RLL as another phrase, we can randomly mix and match the two phrases to create longer more music phrases!

Have fun practicing this one. Remember to start slowly on one surface (practice pad or snare drum) then you can experiment with orchestrating it around the drum set!

6 Stroke Roll/RLL Conjunction

Rob Ferrell Drum Studio's YouTube Channel!

Rob Ferrell Drum Studio now has it's official YouTube channel! You can check it out here:

Rob Ferrell Drum Studio

I've been wanting to do this for quite some time as I recently picked up a ridiculously easy to use Flip camera. I've been doing online drum lessons for a couple of years now and finally got around to re-creating a YouTube channel for my drum teaching studio where I hope to upload little video drum lessons for anyone's enjoyment!

I have to thank my good friend and colleague Marty Fullard for once again providing the inspiration and impetus to get this done. I'm hoping to upload the first drum lesson video sometime later this week!

Stay tuned!

Avenged Sevenfold's "Nightmare"!

The latest transcription I've done for a student is "Nightmare" by Avenged Sevenfold. It is the first single off their new album that was released after their original drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan passed away. A7x asked Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy to come in and track the drum parts and tour with the band. I think Mike did a fine job of blending The Rev's drumming style with his own. The song features wicked fast double bass beats and some very tasty fills as well as some tempo and feel changes as well! Feel free to download it and give it a go!

Nightmare-Avenged Sevenfold

September Update!

Where did the summer go? I can't believe it is September already! Fall is my favorite season of the year and also one of my busiest teaching times. I opened up Friday and Saturday mornings and my Saturdays are already almost completely booked!

There are lots of big things cooking at Rob Ferrell Drum Studio but I'm not at liberty to share some of them until they are solidified. Be sure to keep checking back for updates regularly and feel free to contact me if you have any drum related questions!

I've continually been adding new drum transcriptions to my page so be sure to keep checking here or on my website for new charts! I'll be posting more of them here!

Drum Transcription

"She" by Green Day is my latest drum transcription for a student. This tune is from their breakout "Dookie" album and is FAST! Tre' Cool's drumming is very fast and precise on this tune as is most of his drumming for Green Day... especially the older songs! Feel free to download it for free and check out other transcriptions on my drum transcription page!

She - Green Day drum transcription

Drum Transcription Page

August Update!

I start August off with a bang by taking a trip back east to visit my wife's family. We're spending the first part of our trip in Upstate New York and the second part in Alabama. I'm not looking forward to the heat, humidity and bugs but I am looking forward to some down time with the family.

Party Jones is sounding the best I've ever heard thanks to the recent addition of Brad "Woody" Smith on bass. Brad's bass prowess is matched only by his cool demeanor. I was watching a fairly recent video interview of my all-time favorite drummer (Steve Gadd) who when asked whether he prefers playing with an organist or a bassist replied: "When you play with someone who cares about the pocket, then it's fun." Truer words were never spoken. Brad's dedication to his instrument, the craft of music, his bandmates and the client are unparalleled. I'm having a ball playing cover music again! YAY!!!

The first part of my vacation back east will be interrupted by a trip to Sundance, Utah to play a corporate gig with Party Jones for DaVita Corporation! We've played several of their corporate functions before. They are a blast to play for and treat us like rock stars! I fly to Upstate New York on Monday, August 2nd. DaVita then flies me to Utah (the other three guys are flying from LAX) on August 3rd. We do the gig on August 4th and I fly back to Upstate New York to finish my vacation on August 5th. I'll be pretty worn out but it will be worth it! :)

July Update!

Summer is here and things are heating up! My family and I took our first of three family vacations to celebrate our birthdays (my wife and I). We went to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (where we've been going every year since 1994). We had a great time floating around the pool and playing with Michael. This month we are going to Lake Mojave to play in the water with some good friends!

My teaching roster is bursting at the seams! I've actually started to teach on Fridays now because I no longer have open slots Monday-Thursday! I'm so thankful to be so busy and love each and every one of my students! They keep me on my toes and keep me laughing! They're the BEST!

I've been networking with the OC Music Center, a brand new music store offering lessons, sales and rentals in Rancho Santa Margarita. They carry the drumsticks and drumheads I recommend for all my students. Be sure to check out their site!

Party Jones has a new bass player! I'm thrilled to announce the addition of Brad Smith to Team Party Jones! Brad is a great player and a super nice guy. You can read about him on the Party Jones website!

Chart of the Month!

For June's chart of the month I'm posting "Zero Chance" by Soundgarden. Matt Cameron's unique style and use of odd time signatures make playing this chart down a bit challenging. This is a great way to work on phrasing in odd time signatures. The nice thing about this particular tune is that although it is laden with odd time, you still can feel the thick groove!

Zero Chance

June Update!

Hey everyone! Summer is almost here. That means much needed vacation time for me! We plan on taking some nice trips over the summer and I'm very excited about that.

My teaching schedule is really full right now! I only have a few openings and am thinking about the possibility of opening up another day of teaching. We are also still looking for a new house but we are looking in the same zip code so it won't affect the travel time for any of my existing students.

One of my old students from back when I co-owned the Orange County Music Academy came back to me for lessons a few months ago. He is drumming for a really good rock band called "Fight Friendly." They are based in Los Angeles and have been involved in some really cool opportunities. They auditioned to for the FreeCreditReport.com band and made it to the top three but were cut due to Brandon being under 21. They played at South By Southwest in Austin. They were also one of three bands being filmed for an independent movie about up and coming bands in LA. You can find out more about them here Fight Friendly. I'm very proud of Brandon. He's a great drummer and the nicest kid!

Chart of the Month!

The May Chart of the Month is "Doomsday" by Orange County's own Atreyu. This track features some really cool double bass and nice tom and snare work as well. It has some feel changes and nice dynamics. I charted this song for one of my female students who is 16 years old and rocks HARD!

Doomsday

May Update!

Happy May Day everyone! I hope everyone is excited about summer! I know I am. I have several family trips planned that I'm very much looking forward to. Here's the May Update!

Two of my students have been actively gigging and I couldn't be any prouder! Brandon Lark has been holding down the drum seat for Fight Friendly, an LA based pop rock band with great hooks and slammin' grooves. He's been playing the club circuit in LA and even travelled to Austin, TX to play during South By Southwest! You can check them out online here:

Fight Friendly

Anirudh Jain has been performing with Street Legal, a cover band comprised of middle schoolers who've been opening up for bands at clubs, playing talent shows and lunchtime school gigs! In addition to performing with Street Legal, Anirudh also plays for his school's advanced jazz band. You can check out Street Legal online here:

Street Legal Facebook

Street Legal MySpace

Chart of the Month!

For April's Chart of the Month I've chosen "Animate" by Rush off of the Counterparts album. This track features a very groovy Neil Peart playing a deep R&B groove with lots of cool ghost notes on the snare drum and offbeat ride cymbal bell hits. There are some signature "Peart-isms" like the cool hand and double kick licks as well. This is a great track to play along with!

Animate

April Update!

Spring is here and in Southern California that means one day it can be drizzly and 60 degrees and the next day it can be sunny and 80 degrees! Spring brings thoughts of renewal and refreshment. Every day I'm so thankful to be able to provide for my family through teaching and playing the drums. Each day I have a renewed commitment to be the best teacher I can be as well as the best drummer I can be! I would encourage everyone to not strive to be the best in the world but rather strive to be the best you can be. This takes and enormous amount of pressure off but still provides a lifelong challenge that offers fulfillment and rewards.

Not much out of the ordinary to report for April of 2009. My student load is still slamming and I'm gigging every weekend. I have some little family trips on the horizon for the summer that I'm looking forward to. Please be sure to check my website regularly for new transcriptions as well as new student videos on the Student Spotlight page. I will be posting the "Chart of the Month" in the very near future!

Chart of the Month!

March is waning and I almost forgot to post my chart of the month! Better late than never they say!

This month I've chosen the song "Inside the Fire" by Disturbed. Anyone that knows me knows that I like all kinds of music no matter how hard or soft as long as there is a good melody with tons of hooks. I've been listening to Disturbed since they first hit the mainstream and I LOVE their brand of hook-laden metal. The vocals are powerful yet melodic and the production on their albums is amazing. The interplay between Mike Wengren's drumming and the bass and rhythm guitar has always been very strong and interesting. "Inside the Fire" is no exception. There are his signature broken double kick patterns underneath a sparse quarter note hi hat pulse and his tribal tom patterns as well.

Inside the Fire

March Update!

March has arrived and with it comes the Party Jones schedule madness! This month, in addition to playing our normal club fare, we are playing the Dana Point Festival of Whales. This is a really neat event that we played last year. It is very family-friendly with food vendors and artisans in a street faire atmosphere in the beautiful coastal town of Dana Point. Be sure to click on the link above for more event information as their are lots of activities around the city! We are scheduled to play Sunday, May 7th from 11:00am-5:00pm. Bring the family on down and say hi!

I had an unprecedented amount of consult lessons and subsequent signups last week! I had 6 potential students come in for consults and all 6 signed up! Even back when I co-owned the big music school we never had that many drum students in a week sign up! I'm very grateful that people are still managing to find ways to ensure music lessons are a priority despite the current economy.

I'm still transcribing songs for my students and posting them on the Drum Transcriptions page of my website. Be sure to check their regularly for updates. I also post them on my Twitter account as soon as their uploaded so you can also keep up to date on them by following me on Twitter.

Hudson Music's Featured Teacher!

It is with great pride that I announce I was selected to be the featured teacher in Hudson Music's Teacher Integration Program (TIP) February newsletter. Hudson Music is responsible for putting out some of the best instructional media available on the market. The VHS tapes and early DVDs I learned from that featured my drumming heroes that were so instrumental in my development as a drummer and teacher were produced by the predecessor of Hudson Music! To be featured is a great honor for me! Please check out the article here:

TIP Teacher Spotlight

Chart of the Month!

I'm thinking about starting a "Chart of the Month" section for my blog. I'm going to test it out this month and see how it goes. As many of you know, I've been transcribing charts for my students for many years. When I came back to teaching out of my home studio after co-owning the large music studio, I had more time to focus on my teaching. As a result, I was able to make much better transcriptions than the hand scrawled ones of years gone by! One of my drum teacher peers suggested I make them available on my website for other drum teachers, students and hobbyists alike to download. Many of the tabs available on the Internet are horribly inaccurate.

The inaugural installment of my Chart of the Month feature for February 2010 is "Bat Country" by Avenged Sevenfold. Unfortunately the drummer for Avenged Sevenfold (Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan) passed away late December 2009. His drumming on this track is really cool. There's lots of double bass and fast tom rolls as well as really cool dynamic and feel changes. It is a high energy track that is a blast to play. Feel free to download it and give it a go!

Bat Country-Avenged Sevenfold

February Update

I don't have much news to report for the month of February. January was a whirlwind of activity with NAMM. February has me back to my normal routine of teaching and gigs. I've been adding new transcriptions to my website so please be sure to check there regularly if you're interested in downloading free charts for yourselves or your students. I hope 2010 is going well for everyone!

NAMM 2010!

This weekend marks the passing of yet another NAMM show. For those that don't know, NAMM is the National Association of Music Merchants. It is the biggest music industry trade show. Winter NAMM is usually held in Anaheim and summer NAMM is held in Nashville. The NAMM show encompasses every aspect of the music industry. You'll find everything from small mom and pop companies selling erasers that look like musical instruments to industry giants like Yamaha. It is truly a spectacle to behold.

I first attended the NAMM show in the late 80s with my friends. I was blown away by the amount of new gear and the amount of my drumming heroes walking the aisles! It was very inspirational for me to go and I remember feeling extremely motivated after my visits. Now that I'm older, I don't get quite as star-struck as I did when I was younger. I bemoan how my feet, knees and hips feel after hours of walking. I don't enjoy the volume levels within the convention center nor the crowds. But even though I'm a grizzled veteran, I still enjoy the spectacle. I love the smell of new drums. I enjoy seeing friends I've made on Internet drumming boards that I only get to see once a year at the show. I also enjoy geeking out with my local friends that I'm lucky enough to gig with and hang out with. I still have to pinch myself when I walk up to the booths of the companies whose products I endorse and they KNOW me. I remember being a kid thinking how cool that must be. I can't thank Remo, Pro-Mark and Onboard Research enough for all that they do for me. Having an excellent product is one thing, but having stellar people skills and customer service in addition to that excellent product is a rarity in today's market.

So despite the crowds, noise level and aching extremities, NAMM still holds some magic for me and probably always will!

To Speed Or Not To Speed...

There isn't a single teaching day that goes by that I don't get asked by a student "how do I get faster?" Since I was once a young lad, I too was consumed with speed. All I cared about was how fast I could play. As I got older and matured in both my drumming and life, I realized much like the hired guns in the Old West that there will ALWAYS be somebody faster. Once I accepted this reality, I began to focus on other areas of my drumming such as time, feel, technique and reading. Although I've found much satisfaction (and job security) in honing those areas of my drumming, I occasionally feel that same twinge deep down as if I were 16 again and wanting to have blazing hands and feet. As a private drum instructor, I also need to deal with speed on a daily basis with my students. The following is my personal take on how to develop speed.

RULE NUMBER ONE: There are no shortcuts. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking there is some special way you can build speed in your limbs without putting in proper practice. There are no drugs, gimmicks or magic pixie dust available that can safely increase your speed. Diligent practice is where it is at. The key lies in HOW you practice. Whoever said "practice makes perfect" is only partly correct. RULE NUMBER TWO: PERFECT practice makes perfect. Drumming is very similar to other activities such as video games and athletics. All these activities require repetitive motions and practice in order to excel. The question or mystery lies in how do we effectively practice for speed?

It is my personal belief that speed is born from the following: control, relaxation and comfort. Think about it... EVERYTHING we do in life that requires dexterity yet can be accomplished quickly is typically the result from slow, methodical repetition. I always use texting as an example with my students. It requires quite a bit of dexterity for my young students to quickly text back and forth amongst their friends. I ask them if they are consumed with how fast they can text or if they are concerned with how accurately they can convey their messages. Of course they always choose the latter. I ask them if they practiced texting fast and they always answer "no." I ask them how they got fast and they answer "I don't know, I guess I just do it a lot." VOILA! Video games, typing on a comptuer, texting and pretty much everything else in life we do on a daily basis is done fast if we are comfortable, relaxed and in control.

If we as drummers are serious about increasing our speed, we need to stop practicing FOR speed and start focusing on accuracy, control, relaxation and comfort. The minute we're comfortable with something, the sooner we can execute it faster. I saw Steve Smith (amazing drummer) on a DVD explain how he likes to practice new licks. He says he likes to play things VERY slowly to allow his muscles the chance to feel what they need to feel and his ears the chance to hear what they need to hear. By practicing slowly and engraining the muscle memory, we can reach our speed goals quicker subconsciously. Practicing for speed can lead to problems such as tension, repetitive motion injuries and incorrect muscle memory which must first be unlearned before the proper muscle memory can be established.

Remember, there is no ONE right way to play the drums. It is important to seek out different techniques and approaches. This is my personal take on how to develop speed and it has worked well for both my students and myself. I'd encourage anyone interested in developing speed to at least experiment with my approach. You can apply it to rudiments, sticking patterns, fills, beats and just about anything we drummers do behind the kit.

Have fun!

January Update

I can't believe 2010 is here! I ended 2009 and rang in 2010 with a great New Year's gig with Party Jones. It was a blast playing with my boys and seeing all our friends celebrate the start of a brand new year. It was a tough year for many of my closest friends and family who suffered the losses of loved ones and the end of long-term relationships. I'm hoping that 2010 brings all of us health and happiness!

My two week vacation to celebrate the holidays with my family was awesome! We enjoyed many family outings such as Disney On Ice and Las Vegas where we saw the Blue Man Group and Barry Manilow. Both shows were outstanding and we had a wonderful time. It was nice celebrating a quiet Christmas and New Year's as well!

I resume teaching on January 4th and am looking forward to getting back in the saddle. Although I enjoyed my time off immensely, I'm anxious to get back to my students and my routine. I'm so grateful to have such wonderful students and am hopeful for more great students in 2010.

I'm attending NAMM this month and am excited to visit with my reps at both Remo and Pro-Mark. I can't thank my reps and their respective companies enough for all their support. Bruce at Remo and Staci at Pro-Mark have bent over backwards to ensure that all my needs are met. I'm proud to endorse their products as they not only provide superior quality products, but amazing customer service. Their dedication to promoting the education of percussion is unsurpassed.

I wish all of you the very best that 2010 has to offer!