Big Band Drumming at First Sight: Book & Online Audio/PDF Paperback – August 1, 2011

This book is well thought out by an author with some credential as a drummer in a big band. The CD of the charts with drums and without is coupled with explanations of the phrasing of the horn and reed sections. In addition is explanations of how the phrasing is "set-up" and loop tracks to practice the phrasing and also interpret it. Overall a good book with lots of exercises to practice and stuff to work on. I am enjoying this book immensely.

I have been a metal/rock drummer from the beginning. My teacher Jeff recommended this book to me to help me in my Jazz chart studies. I love that the author breaks stuff down, he brings you right into his thinking process. The charts that he has selected represent various Big Band Styles. The play along music is recorded very well and provides practice loops of the various sections at tempo and slowed down. The play-a-long loops without the drums have built in clicks for drum break-downs and solo spots. This book is worth every penny and then some. If you are looking to build your Jazz Chops is a fun and challenging way this book is a must.

Big-band jazz demands a lot from drummers.We have to lay down a solid groove in any style the arranger can imagine, lead the band through complex musical forms with extreme dynamic ranges, and reinforce ensemble figures played by the horns. Learning a big-band arrangement by ear is difficult and time-consuming, so reading music is a practical necessity. And as a drummer moves up to college and professional bands, the amount of time available to rehearse each arrangement becomes very small. This means drummers who can "sight-read" compositions they have never seen, doing a respectable job their very first time playing an arrangement, are MONEY IN THE BANK.Unfortunately, most high-school drummers are terrified when the jazz band director throws a new piece of music in front of them. And rightly so! The written drum part usually contains a bunch of complex rhythmic figures that the drummer must somehow orchestrate onto the drum kit, interspersed with long stretches that say nothing but "play." This presents three challenges: reading what's written, interpreting/orchestrating the written part onto the drum set, and keeping one's place through long sections of repeated measures.Steve Fidyk is a top professional big-band drummer who sight-reads for a living, and in this book he explains exactly how it's done. Using ten typical intermediate level arrangements as examples, he shows how to quickly identify what's important from the drummer's perspective, and how to use knowledge of the underlying musical form (e.g. blues) to navigate through the chart without getting lost.The accompanying CD contains play-along versions of the ten arrangements with no drums, plus a version with drums that was Fidyk's first take sight-reading each chart. Steve's a great player and the band on the recording is first-rate (probably players from the Army Blues Big Band) but everything they do here is attainable by good high-school players.I'm a professional drum teacher, and I use this book with many of my students. I also enjoyed sight-reading the arrangements myself! Every jazz band teacher would benefit from having his/her drummers work through this book.

This book is very well written and contains a wealth of musical and practical information for any drummer seeking to learn the big band idiom. The problem lies in the printing/ publishing aspect of this project. The charts are printed In a grayed-out format that makes it difficult to read the music. When I contacted the publisher to determine if the problem was only with copy, I was informed that all of the current copies use this format. This problem limits the value of an otherwise terrific book

This is a great book. The play alongs are perfect. Great for beginning swing pkayers

Steve Fidyk's book I have found to be very worthwhile. I especially like the way he discusses breaking down a chart and analyzing the form very systematically. It's something I have been working with my students on for some time, but the way Steve shows it in his book is very effective approach to breaking down a chart.

well organized with sound files and PDFs, this workbook has you playing along with a well-oiled big band in minutes. highly recommended.

Worth every penny, this guy plays and teaches great. The book has tons of great info and the play alongs are of the highest quality.Get it and get to work.