Benny Greb – The Language of Drumming

Benny Greb – The Language of Drumming

This course presents the method created and used by internationally-acclaimed drummer Benny Greb to develop his awe-inspiring creativity, musicality and technique.

duration: 3 hours, 12 minutes

A revolutionary addition to drum education, The Language Of Drumming presents the method created and used by internationally-acclaimed drummer Benny Greb to develop his awe-inspiring creativity, musicality and technique.

From the overture and opening credits to the movie-within-a-movie menu, viewers of The Language Of Drumming will immediately sense that even though they’re watching a drumming video they may well be seeing the beginning of a new era in music education.

Beyond its amazingly clever concepts, beautiful sets and Academy-award worthy production values, this groundbreaking two-disc set also presents extraordinary European drummer Benny Greb and his advanced approach to making music that raises the art of drumming to an entirely new level.

As Greb explains in his initial on-camera comments, learning to play the drums is like learning to speak a language. Greb makes the point that knowing a few basic drum beats and fills is like knowing only a few standard phrases in a language; they won’t allow you to communicate clearly or have a full, interactive conversation in practical situations.

Greb’s carefully thought-through solution” and a quantum leap in drum education” is to learn the “language of drumming” by starting with its smallest components: the individual “letters” of the rhythmic alphabet. Greb then introduces his revolutionary 24-character system and shows how to use the basic binary and ternary rhythms to develop timing, technique, dynamic control and speed”? even the traditional drum rudiments.

Covering hands and feet, with and without a practice pad, he quickly progresses from simple alphabetical exercises to more intricate examples of “words” (rhythmic phrases) and “syntax” (sentences and vocabulary) on the full drumset.

The second disc goes on to include a vast amount of additional information, from practical discussions about the importance of listening, building fills and solos using standard improvisational forms, and developing better time and expanding rhythmic “comfort zones” through creative use of a metronome to somewhat more esoteric examples of finding new and alternative sounds on the drumset.

Throughout the entire presentation, Greb flawlessly performs exercises and patterns that illustrate his theories while referring to the comprehensive archive of printable PDF charts and exercises that are included on the discs.

The double-DVD also features several drum solos as well as Greb’s performances with master percussionist Pete Lockett and the Benny Greb Brass Band.

Includes a comprehensive archive of printable PDF charts and exercises, additional drum solos, performances with percussionist Pete Lockett and the Benny Greb Brass Band, world tour documentary, Meinl and Promark factory visits and a full size poster. Since September of 2006, he has been a faculty member of the prestigious Drummers Collective school of music in Manhattan where he specializes in classes, private lessons and clinics/masterclasses. He is currently running a 10-week specialized elective course in Progressive Rock, focusing on advanced polyrhythm work, odd-time studies, ostinato soloing and other related topics. He endorses Paiste cymbals and Remo drumheads.

About the Instructor

Born in 1980 in the town of Augsburg, Germany, Benny was given with his first set of drums when just six years old and so began his drumming journey. Initially, Benny was self taught, playing along to records before he took his first lesson when 12 years old and he quickly progressed to playing in punk bands before discovering rock and jazz and getting involved in the various bands that his school had to offer. In 1997 Benny began his full time study in earnest when he attended music schools firstly in Dinkelsbuhl and then in Hamburg.

Today, Benny can be found playing with a broad assortment of musicians, all demanding his tasteful and immaculate playing style. You can find him in rock settings with Stoppok and The Ron Spielman Trio, in jazz, with his own Benny Greb Brass Band. Pop and Funkmusic too receives Benny’s tasteful approach, recording and touring with Jerobeam. Benny has also played classical music, working with the NDR Orchestra on their Zappa project. Benny’s ability to mix jazz and rock finds him also working with fusion band 3ergezimmer. Allowing for his sense of humour to come to the fore, Benny performs with acoustic punk/cabaret act Strom & Wasser, clearly showing that no style is beyond his tasteful, yet fun loving approach. As well as the previously named artists Benny has worked with Christian von Richthofen, where the duo feature a car as a percussion instrument and of course, Benny is also a highly in-demand session player, not forgetting composer and producer.

Benny’s pure love of the drums compels him to show other particularly young players, his approach to the instrument and he regularly teaches at the Hamburg School of Music, the Popakademie in Mannheim, the Popkurs of the Hochschule fur Music and Theater in Hamburg and the Bandcamp of the Bayerische Musikacademie Hammelburg.

Benny tours globally, entertaining drummers worldwide with clinics for Sonor and Meinl at such high profile events such as the Montreal Drum Festival, Canada, Ultimate Drummers Weekend, Australia, the World Drum Festival, Germany, Drummer Live, UK, and at PASIC in the USA.

Benny writes, records and releases his own solo records with Grebfruit being one such release. “The Language of Drumming – A System For Musical Expression” DVD was released in 2009 on the Hudson Music label, showing his unique approach to drumming.

Sale page: https://go.platformpurple.com/shop/343

Archive: https://archive.fo/QC1JE