The Drumset Musician

Named one of the 25 timeless drum books by Modern Drummer, The Drumset Musician takes a different approach from most instruction books. Instead of teaching beats and fills in isolation, Rod Morgenstein and Rick Mattingly teach you how to play music. The 2nd edition includes 18 professionally recorded play-along tracks that put you in a band from the very first lesson.

Why Start Here

Stick Control and Syncopation build your hands and your reading. This book builds your musicality. Morgenstein and Mattingly understand that the hardest thing about drumming is not learning a beat, it is knowing when to play it, how loud to play it, and when to hold back. The Drumset Musician addresses that gap directly.

The book covers hundreds of beats and fills across rock, pop, and blues styles, but always in the context of actual songs. You learn a groove, then immediately apply it to a play-along track where you have to listen to the bass, follow the form, and make musical choices in real time. This is how professional drummers actually learn: by playing with other musicians and responding to what they hear.

Rod Morgenstein brings decades of experience as a touring and recording drummer (Dixie Dregs, Winger, Steve Morse Band), while Rick Mattingly contributes his expertise as a longtime editor at Modern Drummer and Percussive Arts Society publications. Together they have created a method that is practical, musical, and genuinely enjoyable to work through.

What to Expect

An 88-page book with online audio access to 18 play-along tracks in various styles. The lessons progress from basic rock beats to more complex patterns, fills, and stylistic variations. You will need a full drum kit (or at least a basic setup with hi-hat, snare, bass drum, and a crash cymbal) to get the most out of this book. The writing is clear and accessible, and the play-along format keeps practice sessions feeling like real music-making rather than mechanical exercise.