The Complete Idiot's Guide to
Playing Drums
2nd Edition

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Afterword 
by Gregg Bissonette

People don't dance to the guitar, or the bass, or the vocals. People dance to the drums! In the spirit of Rodney Dangerfield, let me say this (as I loosen my collar): Drummers need more respect! 

After all, according to many ethno-musicologists, drums are supposed to be the second oldest instrument known to man. (The first being "vox humana," the human voice.) Thousands of years ago, after Adam and Eve realized they could sing, they might have dug a hole in the earth and stretched an animal skin across it, hit it, and joyfully proclaimed: "Drum!!"

Surprisingly enough, even though the "drum" is thousands of years old, the "drum-set" or "trap set" just recently had its one hundred-year birthday! In fact, the hi hat was originally a cymbal turned upside down on the floor, with another cymbal tied to the trap set drummer's shoe, and played by stepping on the bottom cymbal! Later this century it was raised up to sock level (just below the knee) and called a "low boy" or "sock cymbal." Nowadays it's called the "hi hat!" The trap set got its name in early vaudeville days because it contained a table of "contraptions" that were needed as effects, such as ratchets, whistles, flat wood slappers, sand paper blocks, etc. The name contraption was later changed to trap set, and now we call it a drum set. We now refer to the drum set player as someone who "plays drums."

Mike Miller's Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Drums, 2nd Edition, is a fantastic, and extremely comprehensive book on the drums (my favorite instrument and Mike's too, I think!) Mike is obviously a very good and well-schooled drummer with lots of professional playing experience. He definitely knows first hand what he is talking about. His book is a must have for any drummer on any level.

I especially love the fact that Mike has given so much attention and credit to Ringo Starr. I think Ringo is one of the greatest drummers in the world. The same week that my parents (who are both musicians) took me to see Buddy Rich play in 1966, they also took me to see the Beatles play at Olympia hockey arena in Detroit. I was in the third grade. My dad is a drummer, and so to be like my dad, who was and still is my hero, I thought I wanted to become a drummer. Well, after hearing Buddy Rich, I was sold on becoming a drummer--and after hearing Ringo, I was sold on being in a band!

In this great and well thought out book, Mike Miller shows you how to be in a band. This book is also of great value to the parents and friends of the drummer-to-be. It has an entire section on how and where to pick out the ideal drum set, how to set it up, and how to maintain it properly. Mike covers how to select sticks, cymbals, drum heads, pedals, and who to listen to for inspiration. He even talks about hearing protection. Drums, cymbals, concerts, and so on can be very loud, and I always wear earplugs to protect the ears that God gave me. You only get one set of ears, and if you damage them they don't repair themselves.

Hal Blaine (one of my biggest drumming influences) and Mike really stress the importance of reading music. I couldn't agree more, as ninety per cent of the work I do involves some type of reading. Mike's rudiment section is great, too. 

The phenomenal drummer Terry Bozzio once said as he looked at his drums, "There's a lot of dignity to this instrument!" I think that after reading this book, anyone who considered themselves a complete drumming idiot will have a new respect for this great instrument--the drums!!!!

Gregg Bissonette has played drums for such people and groups as Ray Charles, Christopher Cross, Duran Duran, Maynard Ferguson, Don Henley, Linda Ronstadt, David Lee Roth, Santana, Joe Satriani, Spinal Tap, Andy Summers, Toto, Gino Vannelli, and Brian Wilson. Gregg played on Santana's Grammy-winning album Supernatural, and recently got the opportunity to play alongside his lifelong idol, Ringo Starr. He has also produced two instructional videotapes (also available on book and play-along CD), Private Lesson and Playing, Reading, and Soloing with a Band, and the solo CD Submarine.