Ted Reed's Syncopation Book Questions

striker

striker

Silver Member
I have three questions. Thanks for all the responses in advance.

1) I read somewhere that the "Syncopation" book, along with "Stick Control" and "Accents and Rebounds" are considered the core trio books for drum students. I am certain there are other fine books out there, but it seems like these three books are considered the "Classic Trio" of drum training books.

2) In another thread I asked about drum set specific training books. Is the Syncopation book also used as one of the books in the "drum set" training curriculum?

3) Are there are two versions of the Syncopation book available. I see two slightly different covers. What is the difference between the two? Here are the covers.

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1) yes, though I also use one of the "Elementary Drum Method" (Alfred or Burns books) in addition to these three with students.
2) Absolutely used in drum set training.
3) Same same, different covers is all.

Mike B
 
striker said:
I have three questions. Thanks for all the responses in advance.

1) I read somewhere that the "Syncopation" book, along with "Stick Control" and "Accents and Rebounds" are considered the core trio books for drum students. I am certain there are other fine books out there, but it seems like these three books are considered the "Classic Trio" of drum training books.

2) In another thread I asked about drum set specific training books. Is the Syncopation book also used as one of the books in the "drum set" training curriculum?

3) Are there are two versions of the Syncopation book available. I see two slightly different covers. What is the difference between the two? Here are the covers.

View attachment 159193



View attachment 159194
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1. I suppose, they're very well known books. Just those three books are not enough, so I don't know how useful that classic trio category is. And I do almost everything with Syncopation.

2. Yes, it's mainly used as a drum set book, but also just as a rhythm reading book on the snare drum.

3. Very little. The new version has the different parts named as "lessons", and a new introduction written by Ted Reed. The famous p. 37 exercise is on page 38 in the new edition, which breaks a lot of people's brains.
 
Those are excellent books. My teacher had me buy those books along with "The Funky Primer". These four will take you a long way.
 
NO. I wouldn't say core trio at all. To many great drum books to list but some that come to mind.
Buddy Rich modern interpretation of SD rudiments
Roy Burns drum methods
Haskell Harr method
Podemski
Cirone
Wilcoxin
Mitchell Peters
Appice Realistic Rock
Jim Chapin
Advanced Funk studies Latham
Goldenberg

Oh god the list is huge
 
Jimmydrums4fun said:
Oh god the list is huge
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Totally agree that while the three are important, there are many other equally important books.

"Syncopation" and "Stick Control" are both referred to as essential by many teachers because they can be used in so many ways. For example, "Syncopation" has been used for learning snare drum rhythms as well as providing comping rhythms for jazz on the drum set. "Stick Control" is recommended by some Double Bass Drum books as a starting point for developing the feet. "Accents and Rebounds" is a great book for developing rebounds and accents on the drums, including on a drum set.

In my opinion, beginner students who plan to play in a school band also need a book like Alfred's Drum Method 1 (snare drum book) that provides the information for reading snare drum music. It is a great resource for when the teacher is not around. "Realistic Rock" and "Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer" (Jim Chapin) are classic books that I grew up with.

One notable set of books that I use for the few students I have taught are "Groove Essentials" book one and two. These not only help learn patterns but aid in learning how to play with other musicians (no click or drums in the tracks), how to count, how to feel the music and apply an appropriate drum pattern, play fills and short solos etc.

As @Jimmydrums4fun says, there are so many other great drum books. For the beginner, I start with "Stick Control", "Alfred's Drum Methods book 1 & 2" (to learn the rudiments) and "Groove Essentials book 1". I also like "1001 Drum Grooves" to provide more patterns than "Groove Essentials" for students advanced beginner intermediate students.

I have way too many books in my collection!

​

 
I don't think Syncopation is a "core" book for students, depending on what they want to learn to play. If it's rock, blues, metal, latin, etc...the student aspires to, then one could easily skip it and start from more specialized material dealing with those styles.

If it's jazz the student wants to learn, then yeah...at some point he/she will probably be introduced to the book, but even then, I believe the two John Riley books are pretty much the primers on that these days.

BUT...the beauty in the book lies in it's versatility once one realises how it can be used and what for.
John Ramsay's book on the teachings of Alan Dawson is the most obvious choice, but also, toddbishop already gave a link to his site, which is absolutely chockfull of excellent ideas and interpretations on how to use the book.
Another source I'd also highly recommend, is Bryan Bowman's book,...another absolute treasure trove of material to use the book with.

Let me put it this way...if at this point in my journey as a musician, I had to spend an entire year on a desert island with a drumset, but only one book...Ted Reed's Syncopation would be the one I'd take with me. I've got enough experience and imagination on how to use it for many more years to come.
 
Ironjim55 said:
One notable set of books that I use for the few students I have taught are "Groove Essentials" book one and two. These not only help learn patterns but aid in learning how to play with other musicians (no click or drums in the tracks), how to count, how to feel the music and apply an appropriate drum pattern, play fills and short solos etc.
Click to expand...
These books should not be underestimated in terms of their overall value. I actually learned to play drumset via Tommy's books. So great and I highly recommend them. (y)
 
There have been so many great books written since those “ core trio’ came out. Nothing wrong with any of them, they were the first of their kind and have stood the test of time. Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of the book, “accents and rebounds”. The sticking seem so awkward but maybe that’s the point? I much prefer Joe Morello’s “master studies” and Steve Gadd’s “ Gaddaments’. Both have much more practical and musical material in my opinion.
I’ve heard manny great drummers who much prefer Mitch Peter’s snare drum technique book over Stone’s ”Stick Control“
Also, I think if you want to learn how to read well, you would need a lot more resources than Ted Reed’s “ syncopation’.
If I remember correctly,his book doesn’t cover much in the way of 16th note rests, nothing with the second partial of the triplets, 32nd notes or odd times. And of course it goes without saying, there are many great and even elite level drummers that have never studied any of these” core trio”or any drum books for that matter. All the answers to our drumming questions can be found on the great recordings that are now at our disposal. And for the majority of us who are not natural born prodigies, the guidance of a great teacher, mentors, and doing lots of playing with other musicians are more important than which ( if any) books are used.
 
Paul Blood said:
Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of the book, “accents and rebounds”. The sticking seem so awkward but maybe that’s the point? I much prefer Joe Morello’s “master studies” and Steve Gadd’s “ Gaddaments’. Both have much more practical and musical material in my opinion.
I’ve heard manny great drummers who much prefer Mitch Peter’s snare drum technique book over Stone’s ”Stick Control“
Also, I think if you want to learn how to read well, you would need a lot more resources than Ted Reed’s “ syncopation’.
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Agreed. I have not heard that trio of books referred to as an "essential core." I think the issue comes when perhaps one teacher makes a specific statement as such and then it's taken and applied as a universal statement by a student that it's always true, which is just not the case. I never studied any of those books in high school or at the university level in music school. That doesn't mean they are not worthwhile, but they aren't studied universally. Using those 3 books exclusively would seemingly result in significant deficits for both reading and playing, IMO. :)
 
Jimmydrums4fun said:
Those books are the core trio in the online world
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And the professional world, especially re: Syncopation-- more so than online. In the US at least. There are other things that seem to be more common in Canada and Europe.

Tamboreter said:
Using those 3 books exclusively would seemingly result in significant deficits for both reading and playing, IMO.
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I don't think anyone does anything exclusively in music, hopefully there's a broad education and playing life happening.

People use Syncopation over many years because it continues being useful to them, mainly because the things done with it are more like real playing/reading than other materials. And it's really just a rhythm library, which, once someone knows what to do with that, they don't need a whole lot else. The Stone books really are technical books, the patterns at the beginning of Stick Control have broader uses, the rest of it, and A&R, are hard to do a whole lot with-- hard to keep hacking at that for decades on end.
 
As a student of drums, I always wondered what are some of the "core" technical skills for a drum set drummer. Sorry, I can not explain it better, I am making up my own drum vocabulary like "core" skill. So, based on the instruction books that I have seen so far, the "core" technical skills match the titles of those three classic books. The drummer must have "good control of sticks and rebound", be able to use "accents and dynamics" well, and be able to use "syncopation" for better grooves.

I posed this question to another experienced drummers. He kind of agreed (reluctantly), but made a comment that the material in those books have to be expanded, and adapted for the drum set. Otherwise, the drummer will not get the full benefit of the material in those three books.
 
striker said:
As a student of drums, I always wondered what are some of the "core" technical skills for a drum set drummer.
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I don't know, it's hard for me to separate technical skills from playing skills on the drum set. A lot of it is related to having some fluency with some normal styles, playing time, filling, soloing, playing figures, improvising in general.

There are some areas of snare drum materials that help with that, some of which can be applied directly to the drums, some is just very relevant background.

striker said:
Sorry, I can not explain it better, I am making up my own drum vocabulary like "core" skill. So, based on the instruction books that I have seen so far, the "core" technical skills match the titles of those three classic books. The drummer must have "good control of sticks and rebound", be able to use "accents and dynamics" well, and be able to use "syncopation" for better grooves.
Click to expand...

It hasn't really found its way into the books yet, a real complete drum set method that covers the whole instrument in a modern way, systematically. Kim Plainfield's book is maybe not bad. Mostly people have to just do some stuff and listen a lot and play a lot and figure it out. A book by itself isn't going to tell everything.
 
striker said:
So, based on the instruction books that I have seen so far, the "core" technical skills match the titles of those three classic books. The drummer must have "good control of sticks and rebound", be able to use "accents and dynamics" well, and be able to use "syncopation" for better grooves.
Click to expand...
I disagree that the trio provides the core skills even for just the snare drum. They are great books, but the core skills are the 26 essential rudiments that were expanded to 40 essential rudiments. Alfred's Drum Method (Snare drum) provides a comprehensive way to learn basic syncopation, read music, play different time signatures and learn the 40 rudiments. Gaddaments along with many other books takes the learning from Stick control to a new level in how to apply patterns.

In addition, none of the books mentioned provide a foundation for learning essential techniques like Finger Control, Push Pull, Moeller or other techniques for speed. They also do not teach a student how to strike cymbals for textured sounds or to play brushes, mallets or rods.

In my opinion, there are many great books and a teacher should choose the appropriate books for a students level and learning style. I have a student who learns better by listening and watching better than through reading. Reading is more difficult for him but he has learned to read music (albeit at a slow pace) to learn fills or patterns that he isn't hearing very well or are confusing. Of course, I also demonstrate these patterns or fills at his lessons. Great student who learns fast.

Drum set playing and learning the four way coordination, foot techniques etc is a whole new ball game. As I mentioned, Stick Control provides some of the foundation for double Bass Drum playing, but is not enough by itself. The three books :Syncopation, Stick Control and Accents and Rebounds are great books but not the three core books. The are great teaching tools to have in the tool bag. Three of many.
 
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