Customer Reviews

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The instructions and commentary alone are worth the cost of the book. From learning to use the bounce, to really listening to what your playing so everything is clean - in time flows - gets the tones you want. Your speaking - it's your language !! The exercises are really tough - lots of dynamic markings accents as well as difficult stickings. This book is mainly about singles doubles flams and rolls - it does not attempt to cover all the rudiments. If you get these down you will be able to play all rudiments anyway.

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Good book - lots of exercises. These are not easy. He wants them played smoothly and with flow. Something we may not pay much heed to necessarily. Good explanations on how to get clean flowing rolls and buzz rolls. The only negative to this book is that it covers primarily singles, doubles, rolls , drags and flams. No mention of the other rudiments - although any of the other rudiments would be comprised of what is covered.

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I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to improve their playing ability, or refine their existing ability. The text at the beginning alone is worth the price of the book, and the exercises will improve your technical and musical facility in every possible way.

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I was a student of Buster's back in the 1970's that picture on the cover is just how I remember him. The exercises in the book are also how I remember our weekly warm ups on snare drum. He had a rare talent and it is hard to convey to people why he played the way he did.

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This is an amazing book that will challenge you and will make you a better player. The stickings and dynamics are more advanced as you progress through this book. I studied with Buster years before he wrote this book and he made me a much better snare player.

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It has always amazed me that this book isn't the ONLY snare drum technique book in existence, because it's SO much better than any other book out there (no offense to authors of other books). In fact, if I had to guess why this book isn't more widely-known, it's because the techniques Buster taught (and the exercises in this book---which those of us who were lucky enough to study with Buster called "Bustercises") are extraordinarily difficult to play relaxed and smoothly at any dynamic level. Most drummers would probably give up in frustration. But if you really read Buster's approach to technique...and really stick with these exercises, it will revolutionize your playing. Everyone who studied with Buster at Juilliard basically had their playing broken down to nothing, then rebuilt from the ground up using the techniques in this book. We might have thought we were pretty good when we arrived at Juilliard, but a few lessons with Buster soon cleared us of that false belief, LOL.

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A work of genius. Nobody but nobody understood (understands) the physical actions of snare drumming like Buz did. He could give a better lesson on the telephone than most teachers in person.

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This book is excellent both to work out of independently and with a teacher. The few pages describing the goals and technique the author is proselytizing are well worth reading and then later reviewing, to remind yourself how to approach each exercise. Similarly, the exercises in the first few pages are well worth visiting and revisiting, as they form the basis for all the subsequent exercises. This book can keep you busy for a long, long time -- the later exercises are very, very challenging. Working from this book gives very noticeable results: improvements in control, tone, speed, fluidity, efficiency, musicality and phrasing, and strength(!). I highly recommend this book for anyone, regardless of their style of music. My one complaint is incredibly thin: the CD of Buster playing in Japan is really cool -- very fun to hear an excellent snare solo. But it would be even better if there were video of him playing, to get a sense of how his hands move as he plays!

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