Concert Snare Drum

Modern School for Snare Drum - Morris Goldenberg

Beginner - Professional
This book is a must-have. The version I own contains a “Guide book for the artist-percussionist” with musical interpretations and editing by Anthony J. Cirone. The rhythm studies are straightforward, the etudes and duets are practical and the excerpts are essential. The written word on the percussion instruments are worthy of reviewing and sharing with students.

Master Technique Builders for Snare Drum - compiled & edited by Anthony J. Cirone

Advanced - Professional
This is a collection of exercises and warmup routines for snare drum that go beyond the basics. Excellent for pushing the performer’s rudimental chops, hand equivalence, and musical range. A foreword on each page offers wisdom from some of the greatest names in drumming.

Advanced Snare Drum Studies - Mitchell Peters

Advanced - Professional
I have found these etudes to translate very well to the concert hall. These etudes are useful for expanding the players rhythmic vocabulary and musicality. Working through the tricky passages are beneficial both for the hands and the brain.

Douze Études - Jacques Delécluse

Advanced - Professional
Often regarded as the most essential collection of snare drum etudes. These twelve etudes are less about building techniques and more about building a superior musician. There is a great deal of studying to be done in order to perform these solos well.

Concert Mallets

A Fresh Approach to Snare Drum/Mallet Percussion - Mark Wessels

Beginner - Intermediate
I love these books because they have more material in the intermediate level for developing percussionists. The pacing of these books is much less overwhelming to students. I especially like how in the mallet book the notation starts off big so it is easy to read then slowly gets smaller to be the size we typically see.

Modern School for Xylophone, Marimba, Vibraphone - Morris Goldenberg

Beginner - Professional
The tonal percussion counterpart for the snare drum school. An excellent resource for building a percussionist’s tonal music abilities and two-mallet chops. The book is structured logically with scale patterns and sight reading. Challenging etudes and arrangements. Quintessential excerpts make this book another must-have.

Method of Movement form Marimba - Leigh Howard Stevens

Intermediate - Professional
The essential resource on the Stevens Grip. The first half is mandatory reading for mastering the grip and its mechanics. The second half is full of exercises for mastering the grip, the strokes, and getting around the board.

Impressions on Wood - Julie Davila

Intermediate
Much less overwhelming than the Stevens book. This collection of solos also includes lesson plans to help the student quickly go from learning the grip to playing music.

Drumset

A Fresh Approach to Drumset - Mark Wessels with Stanton Moore

Beginner - Intermediate
Many of the same ideas used in the drum/mallet books. A well paced guide to building the coordination needed for drumset playing. There is also helpful notation and information for counting and understanding song construction.

Drum Method From Beginner to Advanced Student - Craig Lauritsen

Beginner - Advanced
An alternative book for starting out a drumset student. This is useful for students that already have a strong musical foundation, but are relatively new to drumset (moves through beginner material very fast). Beyond the basics, this book has a good amount of grooves, fills, and short solos

Advanced Funk Studies - Rick Latham

Advanced - Professional
This book offers creative drumming patterns and solos for drumset players who are ready to stretch out their coordination skills and practice more advanced music.

Marching

The Rudimental Cookbook - Edward Freytag

Intermediate - Professional
This book offers wildly entertaining rudimental drumming solos. There are solid exercises at the beginning as well as a collection of essential standard rudiments and hybrid rudiments.

Modern Multi-Tenor Techniques and Solos - Julie Davila

Intermediate - Professional
This book is the resource I use for teaching marching multi-tenor fundamentals. The solos are very fun and technically challenging.