Nirvana jazz session 🎷 Bonham single-foot kick secrets ⏲️ Lessons on fill timing

🥁 Cover of Vinnie Colaiuta's (Sting) If I Ever Lose My Faith

Vinnie Colaiuta's drum part on Sting's "If I Ever Lose My Faith" is a masterclass in restraint, and this short clip captures exactly why it remains a gold standard for groove. The laid-back feel, buttery dynamics, and impeccable tone are all on display in under a minute. If you want to clean up your playing, put this on repeat and focus on matching his stick heights before you even think about adding anything of your own. Stan Bicknell leaves us with two tips: 1. Play along to this track at least 100 times. Lock in, and don’t embellish. 2. Watch your stick heights. In general, consistent dynamics is everything, but especially with VC.

🎷 Zack Graybeal's making exchanges with the sax

@Zack Graybeal

Zack Graybeal locks into a slippery groove alongside a live jazz band in this short clip, with a wailing sax cutting through the mix and a time signature that keeps you guessing. The feel is loose and funky in the best way, the kind of playing that sounds effortless until you try to count it.

🎷 Ulysses Owens Jr. plays Nirvana — the full jazz session is here

Jazz Appreciation Month gets a worthy centerpiece with this long-awaited full session featuring drummer Ulysses Owens Jr., finally released after persistent requests from Musora's audience. Owens Jr. brings serious credentials to the kit, and watching him navigate Nirvana material through a jazz lens reveals just how much interpretive space lives inside those songs. Set aside the full runtime for this one.

The Kick Drum Secrets They Never Taught You In Drum Lessons

Bonham, Moon, and Ward built some of rock's most powerful grooves with a single kick drum foot, and this ten-minute Drumeo lesson with Brandon Toews breaks down exactly how they did it. The five concepts covered range from single-foot doubles and endurance building to weaving the kick into fills and locking into a swung feel. All of it is rooted in classic recordings, making this a rare lesson where the technique and the history arrive together.

💥 Steve White's fill timing trick from his masterclass

In a clip pulled from his 2025 UK Drum Show masterclass, Steve White breaks down how he thinks about timing when executing fills, a concept he frames as part of his "Creative Basics" approach. The roughly four-minute excerpt is dense with practical insight, showing how deliberate rhythmic placement can transform a fill from decoration into a musical statement. The full session is available through Drum Dog's membership platform.

⏱️ 4 counting exercises that fix years of bad practice habits

Dimitri Fantini walks through four targeted exercises designed to correct the inefficient practice habits that quietly stall progress for years. The video moves methodically from foundational concepts to more demanding applications, with each exercise building on the last across a tight nine-minute runtime. If your practice sessions feel productive but your playing isn't improving, this is worth a close watch before your next session.

🎧 Bose aren't cutting it — what headphones actually work while drumming?

A Reddit thread worth bookmarking if you've ever tried to hear your backing track over a loud acoustic kit. The original poster is moving on from their Bose QuietComfort Ultras, which handle music well but can't keep up when the playing gets aggressive, and is asking the community for earbuds or headphones that balance solid isolation with clean audio playback. Drop into the comments for real-world recommendations from drummers who have solved exactly this problem. Lots of comments suggest getting in-ears; if you want a low-budget but very high quality pair, try these KZ's.

🔇 Kill unwanted overtones on your kit for under $10

The Evans E-Ring Fusion Pack drops a set of four precision-cut plastic rings sized 10", 12", and two 14" onto your fusion kit's heads, floating on the surface to tame unwanted overtones without the mess of tape or moongels. Unlike full muffling solutions, the rings leave enough sustain intact that tuning becomes noticeably easier. At under ten dollars, it's one of the more practical fixes for a ringy kit.