I found some old drum set transcriptions on a backup disc that I thought you might like. First is Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N Roses.
Guns N Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
PDF: Welcome to the Jungle – Drum Set Transcription
An oldie, but a goodie, this quick little tip can come in handy.
Often I get the music for a gig or rehearsal with only a day or two away so many songs need to be learned within a short period of time. Instead of writing them out in a traditional musical chart or playing the songs over and over until memorized, I’ve found it easier to use a drum chart shorthand using a spreadsheet program. Usually, just writing each chart will help get each song about 80% memorized. After a couple run-throughs with the recorded material while reading the chart gets me to about 90% ready. Once in rehearsals with the band I can just take a quick glance at each chart before starting the song. If necessary, or in time crunch, I’ll bring the chart to the gig. The neat thing about this format is that I can get 7-8 songs on one page.
Sometimes I’m asked to record or perform song only after one or NO rehearsal. In this case I’ll pull out the pencil and paper and make a simplified handwritten version of this chart.
On the live gig, I find that matching song titles to songs to be one of the hardest parts about preparing for a gig. Often a tune will remind me of another popular song, so I will note something like “slow Moondance” if the song reminds me of a slow version of Van Morrison’s song Moondance or “Bonham” if the song has a big, heavy beat. Usually that’s enough to get the tune in my head. Ironically, the new drummer is usually called upon to remember the tempos for the person who wrote the song so you need to be prepared to get the tune in your head quickly! When in doubt don’t be too proud to catch the attention of a bandmate and say, “Pssst… how does this song start?” It’s much better to set your ego aside and start the song with the correct tempo.
I find that most good bands arrange songs so that one particular instrument starts, so a count off by the drummer isn’t always necessary. There is the dramatic approach too: Bruce Springsteen and the Dee Dee Ramone made an art of counting off songs! I try to save the drummer count offs for songs that really need the band to start all together. Instead of stick clicks or shouting, “one two three four” I find a drum fill that matches the intensity of the introduction to be musically more pleasing.
What I like about my drumming shorthand is that the song form is laid out in bold on the bottom row. I can quickly get “Intro, verse, chorus, break, verse, chorus, bridge, break, verse, chorus, chorus.” It may seem like a lot, but it’s actually easy to memorize.
One of the most important things to note are song breaks. It’s usually easy to fake your way through a verse, but if the whole band stops and you don’t, well…the mistake will be obvious. Good bandmates who know that the material is new to you will usually give you a cue for changes so keep your head up, not buried in the chart. Don’t forget to do the same for a new member of your group! Marking the changes of song sections with an obvious drum fill, nod, and/or eye contact can go long way in preventing train wrecks!
I like to note the number of measures in each section. What I try to notice on the gig or rehearsal isn’t usually the exact number of measures, but rather if something is odd like a group of 5 measures or an extra 2 measure tag. Groups of 4, 8, 12, 16 measures can usually just be felt internally without any counting.
In the top row I note what’s being featured in each section. I can quickly keep track of the landmarks in each song by using the lyrics. Remember, your lead singer is always “right”! If the singer accidentally skips or repeats a section, you need to quickly find your place. I find that just a couple words of lyrics is enough to get back on track. Lyric cues also help me remember the new song because many times the song title isn’t the catchiest part of the tune.
Below is the first song off the drum chart I used when I play with Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise.
Here’s the full page version:
Part 6 in my series which applies traditional snare drum rudiments to the drum set. Here I demonstrate the basic Single, Double, and Triple Ratamacues and how to create variations for the drum set. I show different orchestrations, rhythmic variations, and double bass drum applications. Whether you’re into Bonham, Gadd, or Tre Cool, you will be able to take something away from this demonstration.
Click here to download the PDF transcription of the examples: PartSixSingleDoubleTripleRatamacue
Part 6: 
Part 6 (continued) 
One of the best pieces of advice I could give any young drummer is to know your history. Regardless of the style of music you’re into, if you study the sources of inspiration from which your heros have drawn, you can begin to see how the pieces of the music puzzle fit together. This will guide your musical choices for today.
One of the biggest questions for a young drummer playing in his or her first band is, “What do I play?” When that big blank musical canvas is starring you in the face, knowing how musicians before you got their ideas will help you develop your own.
Besides listening to your favorites, try to check out EVERYTHING. Polka, opera, folk, rap, metal, new country, old country, alt country, Gamelen orchestras, Gregorian Chant, reggae, musicals, jazz, pop, etc, etc… seriously, listen to it all. The latest, hip new styles of music are always derived from old styles and/or unexpected combination of styles. In this day and age of information technology you can easily get your hands on just about anything. Approaching all music with an open mind will help you understand that there is great artistry to be appreciated in all styles. You don’t have to love it, but you can learn to respect it. From Top 40 pop to experimental avant garde (and everything in between) there is talent to be found and appreciated. What makes a particular piece of music resonant with a large group of people? If you dig deep enough you’ll start to notice the common ground between styles and begin to respect artists and music that you never have before. Most importantly, you can begin to inject your playing with this wide array of potent influences to develop your own unique style.
To start at the birth of the drum set, I would check out with the following materials:
The drum set has its origins in early jazz. Even if you’re into hardcore speed metal (and all styles in between) start with Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. What I like about this video is that not only does this film examine the musical origins of early jazz, but it also explains the social context in which it arose. This is pertainent for any musician in any era. This is the origin of American music. It is important to know what inspired these early musicians and to be able to draw the same kind of inspiration from modern times.
For a more in-depth analysis the drumming of early
jazz check out Legends of Jazz 
Drumming (video) and New Orleans Jazz and Second Line Drumming. (book +CD). These two chronicle the evolution of drumming from it’s early beginnings into the jazz era. It’s important to note that many of the grooves and licks of the early 1900’s are still around today. You can trace these grooves all the way through swing, bebop, blues, rock and roll, rap, to modern day hip hop.
Next, I recommend checking out the Commandments of Early Rhythm and Blues Drumming. This book and CD covers the evolution of drumming between the jazz period and the early stages of R&B which led to rock and funk drumming.
Next in line the the video series The History of Rock and Roll. This isn’t drummer-oriented but it will help to make the connection between the early music and more modern styles.
This list is very, very far from being a complete history of drumming, but I believe it’s a pretty good start. It’s much easier to know where you going when you know your history. One the best pieces of musical advice I ever heard is the infamous quote, “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Though he didn’t invent the saying, (some attribute it to Picasso), in a 1990 Guitar Player Magazine interview, the Beatles’ Paul McCartney said, “What do they say? ‘A good artist borrows, a great artist steals?’ That makes us great artists then because we stole a lot of stuff.”
I’m happy to announce that last night’s audition was a success and I’ve been invited to join Victoria Fuller’s band! The other musicians include Jeff O’Connor on bass and Owen Cooper on guitar, both great players.
Update: After my successful audition, due to time restraints I was unable to accept the drummer position.
Here’s info on Victoria from here website: VictoriaFullerMusic.com
CD – “Small Moments”
Music, lyrics, acoustic guitar, and main and backup vocals by Victoria Fuller. Producer DannyShaffer, also plays bass, lead guitar, and some keyboards. Other musicians on the CD are: – Gerald Dowd – drums. – Scot Bennett – keyboards (Tours and records with Beach Boy legend, Brian Wilson, and has solo CD, The Dotted Line,) www.myspace.com/scottbennettmusic . Carter Luke – Keyboards. Jeff Jabobs – Keyboards (Toured with Billy Joel, and still touring with Foreigner) www.cdbaby.com/cd/jjacobs . Tim Bales – Trumpet (Real horns, www.timbales.net.) - Zach Duenow – (guitar, and harmonica) and Dorathea Duenow (Drums) www.myspace.com/duenow . Cello parts by Jane Ferris. CD package designed by me and Liam Davis (of Frisbie) www.digfrisb/ie.com/.
Available for purchase at CD Baby , Downloads on Victoria’s myspace page http://www.myspace.com/victoriafullermusic, , and iTunes
Honorable Mention Music Award winner in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
 Photo By Jack Perno |
Victoria Fuller’s music is folk rock with jazz, blues, and pop overtones. Her voice is like a cross between Joni Mitchell and Ricky Lee Jones. She writes about love lost and found, overcoming struggles in relationships and life, and finding the good that’s there, revealing personal anecdotes. Strong memorable melody lines lead you on a journey with some surprises and enough differentiation to keep your interest throughout, with some nice harmonies. In her CD, Small Moments, produced by Danny Shaffer, she is accompanied by such artists as Grammy winner Scott Bennett who tours and records with Beachboys legend Brian Wilson, and Jeff Jacobs, who has performed with Billy Joel and a touring member of Foreigner.
She was raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, near Allentown. As a child she excelled in art and music, climbing trees, and bugging her older brother and sister. She taught herself the guitar at age 13 and then began songwriting. Her father, a businessman and photographer, and her artistically inclined mother encouraged her to be creative and she was also inspired by her equally creative siblings. She studied art in college, and then moved to Colorado, where she performed her music and created art. In search for knowledge and adventure she traveled to China on a biking tour, to Africa on photo Safari, and on the Amazon on a house boat creating botanical illustrations, She has lived in Paris to study French, New York to immerse herself in the NY art scene, and in San Francisco to study at the San Francisco Art Institute.
She moved to Chicago in 1992 to get a degree in art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She gave up music for several years to concentrate on the visual arts but could not stay away forever, and began to pursue it once more. Now she is both a singer/songwriter and an accomplished sculptor / painter, Showing her work at the Chicago Cultural Center, at the Navy Pier large-scale outdoor sculpture show, and extensively throughout the United States.
Below are my four videos demonstrating various ways to interpret the snare drum rudiment The Drag. I was inspired by Steve Gadd’s interpretation of the Ratamacue in his video Up Close. You should definitely have that one in your video collection. Steve stretched out the rhythm and replaced a snare note with his bass drum. The result was a new idea to play around the drum kit that sounded much hipper than your average military style Ratamacue. I thought why don’t I do my own interpretations with other rudiments? So I did! Hopefully this will inspire you to develop your own licks based on the Drag.
Click here for a printable set of exercises based on these video lessons.
Part 1 is a demo song showing all of my Drag interpretation in a song context.
Part 2 demonstrates the basic drag with 16th note and triplet orchestrations.
Part 3 shows advanced rhythmic and linear applications of the Drag. Click here for a PDF transcription: The Drag Part 3 Examples
Part 4 displays my double bass (kick) drum interpretation of the previous Drag-inspired rhythms from Part 2. Click here for a PDF transcription: The Drag Part 4 Examples
Hello to those of you who checked out my Youtube drum tutorials. The videos are still works in progress. I’m posting them on Youtube to see how they look, but I have not finished writing out all the transcriptions. I’m currently recording Part 4 (double bass drum interpretations of The Drag) . I will get the video and the transcriptions posted ASAP, but for now you can click on this link for a PDF transcription of Part 3 of my drum tutorial: The Drag Part 3 Examples
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