Slammin' Simon's "Guide to Mastering Your First Rock & Roll Drum Beats!" is designed to teach young aspiring rockstars all the rudiments, grooves and fills they need to get drumming in no time, educator Mark Powers has launched a series of super kid-friendly drum guides. Students are led through the fun, focused books (available in both Kindle and paperback formats) by cartoon character Slammin' Simon and his turtle sidekick, Rudi (short for "rudiment," of course).
In his newly released "Guide to Mastering Your First Rock & Roll Drum Beats," Simon and Rudi introduce basic quarter-note and eighth-note drumset grooves needed to start performing in the Rock music style. These innovative instructional resources are perfect for use in the lesson room, by instructors who work with young students, as well as at home, by parents of children learning to play percussion.
As a bonus–and thanks to Amazon's awesome MatchBook program–buying the paperback version of the book allows download of the Kindle digital copy for no additional cost.
For more information about Simon's guides (and to join his Awesome Drummers Club), visit SlamminSimon.com.
REVIEW 
Mark Powers has put together a wonderful book for young drummers — focusing on learning, reading and playing basic drum beats on the drumset — all of which can be applied to a number of music genres, including rock & roll, pop and country.
The book, which is available in paperback and digital download, is 28 pages in length and contains music notation as well as some several fun illustrations of Simon and Rudi.
Anyone wishing to learn to play the drums can benefit from this book, although it is clear that the target audience is for children ages 9-14.
While Slammin' Simon does a fine job of explaining the basics of music notation and counting, anyone new to reading music will probably need some coaching and/or assistance from an adult who already reads music. However, a child that has spent a year or more in a school music program should have no trouble picking up the contents in this book on their own.
I'm sure this is just the first book of a forthcoming series of books we will be seeing from Slammin' Simon and Mark Powers. Fun!
Slammin' Simon's "Guide to Mastering Your First Rock & Roll Drum Beats" is available online today through the Drummer Cafe.
