An active performer, educator, clinician and author, Sam Ruttenberg received his Bachelors of Music degree from the University of Miami, a Masters of Music degree from the Juilliard School, and endorses Sabian, Vic Firth, Remo, and Taye drums. Sam has published articles in various drumming magazines, transcribed Joe Morello’s book, Master Studies II, and has published his own book entitled Drum Tips, which is designed to help drummers develop better technique and coordination through increased musicianship.
I've always been intrigued by the concept of playing one-handed duple, triple and quadruple strokes. I used to see Joe Morello doing this, and after studying with him for six years, I was still intrig...
A popular audition piece for xylophone, in both orchestral and concert band settings, is "Polka" from The Golden Age ballet by Dmitri Shostakovich. If you are not familiar with the excerpt, please see...
This section from Joe Morello’s Master Studies II book (starting on page 78 to the end of the book) was again something that Joe and I collaborated on. What it does is take page 7 from the original Ma...
For drummers who want to develop and enhance their sense of time, coordination, and concentration skills this exercise is perfect. It also develops confidence which is so important for a drummer, beca...
Below are the Sticking Variations in Groups of Seven from Joe Morello’s Master Studies II book (page 74 and 75). Joe and I had been playing around with the 4 group sticking combinations from George St...
Creativity is a key element in being the drummer you want to be. Using the pattern that you made up and putting it to use in a performance situation is a great feeling. Creativity is something that sh...
In this 30-minute recorded phone interview (see below), I spoke with the great Rod Morgenstein , who is of course one of the pioneers of progressive Rock. I had the honor to be a class mate of his at...
