Title: Inner drumming
First published: 1983
Description: I didn't know what to make of this book when I first saw it. There are no standard-notation exercises but pages of diagrams representing "Inner Drumming Rudiments and Pendulums." Perhaps Chapin's Advanced Techniques was met with the same sort of skepticism when it first came out in the late '40s. At that time, who had ever heard of a drum book that was not based on the 13 standard rudiments? And now a drumset book without standard notation? Without transcriptions? A drumset book which transcends styles? Which makes us think? George Marsh's book contains studies dealing with the paths of motion between the four limbs. The exercises are beautifully represented by diagrams symbolizing the flow of energy-of motion-between the four limbs.

The approach is logical, progressing from single-limb, to two-, three-, and four-limb studies (making it important that you start at the beginning of the book-not the middle or end). The simplicity is overwhelming. Marsh provides basic rhythmic progressions that apply to the diagrams, but the student can also apply rhythms of his or her own creation, giving added value to the book. After all. playing drumset is about improvisation, not transcribed mimicry.

What is Mr. Marsh's premise? Most of us need not think about the movement of our legs when we walk or run. Similarly, we don't have to concentrate on the motion and coordination required to brush our teeth or open doors. The coordination required for such everyday tasks has become internalized-become part of our psycho-physical memory. It should be the same way with drumming. Through simplicity and repetition, we can train our brains so that the path of motion required for a particular rhythm, pattern, or technique is no longer objective (outside of us), but subjective (subconsciously part of us) providing a foundation on which to build our own musical vocabularies. The visualization of Marsh's diagrams facilitates the internalization of patterns of movement of coordination.

The book constantly stresses virtues which are necessary for playing the drumset musically in any style: listening/concentration, a sense of form and structure, melodic development, physical and mental relaxation, and freedom with benign discipline. Don't make the mistake I almost did. Get this book and live with it for a while. The only limitations of Mr. Marsh's book are the imagination and patience of the person studying it.

Ed Soph, MODERN DRUMMER, VOL. 8, NO. 7
Subjects: Drum, Methods