Jul. 29

We’re going to build your rock drumming from the bottom up by focusing on foundational beats, bass drum patterns, and how you express yourself within those parameters by HOW you hit the drums. The simplest grooves along with some tasteful variations can carry you a long way.

Aug. 5

You don’t have to save the world with every drum fill you play. Simple fills work for a reason - they telegraph changes to other musicians and the listener. You’ll gain a series of simple fills that will always work in rock music and the guidance to play them with purpose and intent.

Aug. 12

When you understand the form of a song you’re playing, you can get inside the music and sculpt the sections dynamically and emotionally. Todd will help you understand the foundations of songs and be able to map out songs — the different sections and number of bars — so you can feel the music and let it show you what it needs.

Aug. 19

Motion exercises are a great way to practice a few things at the same time — including subdivisions, your timing, and your motions around the kit. You’ll become more comfortable with various sticking patterns and make practical improvements to your coordination.

Aug. 26

You’ll get Todd’s “Rosetta Stone of 2 & 4”: the key to deciphering the ability to play WHATEVER you want in a 2&4 back beat 4/4 time context — which is largely what drummers play in a late 20th century Rock & Roll context.

Sep. 2

You will find new ways to go through "The Rosetta Stone of 2 & 4" to reinforce your back beats, add different variations, and improve your playing on so many levels. Your independence will grow by leaps and bounds.

Sep. 9

Ghost Notes are the soft snare drum notes played in between the main back beat accent notes — such as 2 & 4 or whatever accents you're playing - in any given time feel. You'll explore different possibilities for applying them in your drumming.

Sep. 16

Ghost Notes add another voice and dimension to your time feels. In Part 2, you'll focus on the hands and take a look at the buzz roll, along with ideas for alternating accents to add more flavor to your grooves.

Sep. 23

You'll dive into four of Todd's go-to techniques including shank tip hi-hat 16ths, the moeller method, flag-tip-snap ride cymbal technique (for swing and three note patterns), and hitting crashes with a glancing blow.

Sep. 30

It's vital to understand the relationship between the right and left hands in whatever you're playing. Anything you play on a drum is a two-note melody — and Todd will help you understand the singular melody in each hand for when you're learning stickings or practicing rudiments.

Oct. 7

Todd will train you to think differently about three note triplet conjunctions (and the different ways to orchestrate the six stroke roll). You'll find all-new ideas come alive and take shape — from a boring printed page and into the magical realm of music.

Oct. 14

Music encompasses the human experience: love, loss, joy, pain, happiness, fear, birth, death, surprise, elation. It can express every feeling and emotion that we experience — and to become a great musician, and a great storyteller, you need to add emotion to your playing to convey ideas without words.

Oct. 21

The shuffle feel emerged from the blues, and bluesy big band swing, through the birth of rock and roll. There are many kinds of shuffles and ways to play them predicated on the style, the tempo, bass drum patterns, and hand patterns you choose. We'll start with the Texas shuffle (or Chicago shuffle).

Oct. 28

Todd will take you through some of the most popular shuffles including a Motown shuffle; some half-time shuffles made famous by Bernard Purdie, John Bonham, and Jeff Porcaro; Reggae time feels; and more — and give you a handle on a variety of shuffle and swing time feels that will serve you well.

Nov. 4

It's time to work on some hand-foot combinations. Todd will introduce you to his Bass Drum Combination System — along with a piece of music for applying your new found combinations to real music.

Nov. 11

Discover additional hand-foot combinations that you'll need to be effective in any rock setting. Todd will challenge you with more complex combination templates for a variety of musical situations — and share the thought process behind the combinations so you can create your own series of numbers and orchestrations.

Nov. 18

It’s time to talk about linear drumming. Gary Chaffee came up with a number system for linear concepts that are incredibly deep — and Todd will give you an introduction to these concepts and help you apply them in a truly fun and creatively useful way.

Nov. 25

You’ll dive deeper into the universe of linear drumming, exploring Gary Chaffee’s number system more intimately and finding new ways to apply linear patterns to various rock rhythms.

Dec. 2

It happens to the best of us: you’re trying to think up ideas to play, but they’re just not coming together. Todd will share a personal example of brainstorming different musical possibilities — and the creative process he used when writing the groove for the song “Raven” from the Taylor Mills “Lullagoodbye” record.

Dec. 9

We'll dive into a series of triplet orchestrations around the drums - including ones made famous by drummers like John Bonham, Buddy Rich, and Steve Gadd. You'll see how the patterns can come together in a rock setting, orchestrated in different ways.

Dec. 16

Rhythmic bending is basically stretching the time like a rubber band - blurring the line between triplets and some eighth and 16th note figures. Todd will share how these ideas can create musical tension and release in drum fill ideas.

Dec. 23

Every drummer, yes EVEN a rock drummer, should have a pair of brushes in their bag. Todd will share the many useful textures brushes can create in a pop-rock setting that goes beyond your regular jazz standards — and then dive into some Styx licks so you can pull some ideas out for your own musical settings.

Dec. 30

The phrase "music is a language" isn't a cliche - it's the truth. There are many kinds of drum solos for many different musical situations. Todd will walk through some of the most common rock soloing ideas and share his creative tools for improvisation and saying something POWERFUL on the drums.

Jan. 6

Todd will share some of his favorite drum licks and challenge you to apply your toolbox of rock skills to the tracks (including "Lunchroom Hoedown" and a few grooves from Styx's "The Mission" album).

Jan. 13

You're nearing the end of your 26-week journey with Todd — and now you have an incredible foundation as a rock drummer for your own unique musical journey. Todd will share some parting thoughts to get your playing and career objectives in line so you can embark to the ports of your dreams.