Tommy Igoe: Groove Essentials (Book, CD & DVD) Spiral-bound – February 1, 2006

Not only is this package a great deal, it's a great deal on two must-have products. The book is written in the same casual, personable manner in which Tommy speaks on his DVDs, which keeps things lively and light even as the grooves get progressively more difficult. I am a neophyte drummer, but Tommy's clean charting style makes everything seem easy. Furthermore, the play-along pieces on the DVD are perfect; playing along with your favorite artists is one thing, but this DVD allows the beginner to really feel as if he or she is part of the band rather than just robotically following another drummer. Finally, Tommy's emphasis on grooves over fills (which come in time as your creativity and skills develop anyway) ensures that the student isn't distracted by the flashy stuff before learning the real business of rock-solid drumming.If you're even remotely interesting in learning to play drums or expanding your existing drumming skill-set, buy this package deal NOW before the publishers realize it's worth three times the price.

Bought this for my teenager at the recommendation of his percussion teacher. The kid has lots of band/orchestra percussion experience but just got a drumset. He's been very enthusiastic about working through the grooves, reading the book's explanation for each, watching the video demo of technique, then practicing with the playalong tracks. Apparently the playalong tracks are a lot of fun, because he often picks them over video games.There's a code in the book that he used to download the audio to his phone, more convenient than playing them off the DVD. One suggestion for players who wear earplugs or muffs: You'll want a pair of isolation headphones to hear the audio at reasonable volume over the drums.

In the 70's I had a music scholarship to a university; I've never been a pro player, but I still play weekly at church and drumming has been part of my life for more years than not. This is the best practical instruction for drumming I've ever seen. It has helped my time and, even more importantly, my understanding of song structure. My playing has become more disciplined and, strangely enough, more creative. As a by-product of a good groove, I find that my fills have changed and they have become more meaningful to the song. When I began I thought Volume 1 was going to be a quick review of stuff I'd already mastered. Wrong. If you really want to challenge yourself, I highly recommend this learning system.

Tommy has a nice fast paced way of explaining things, his educational experience really shows. This is the kit to get if you want to learn the 47 essential grooves drummers need to know. I'm working my way through the rock grooves and if I can do it anyone can do it because I'm the worlds biggest spaz.i've got a couple other Tommy Igoe DVD kits too, he has showed me many things quickly and even has my private drum instructor a little worried :-)I don't think you can go wrong with any of Tommys teaching materials, they're all good.Good music to you

Good book. It covers areas that others books do not. Tommy does a good job explaining in the first section of each groove, if that's what you need. I like the fact that it covers the same groove at two different tempos. While not perfect, I find it better than most. Recommend the book with instructional DVD. There is also a track DVD with the book.

This book outlines most of the grooves one need know. The slow versions of the tracks are great for younger students. The tracks allow for creativity and variety as the student explores how to accompany the players.

Very Good book. It would be extremely useful and fun to have a future version similar to Jim Riley's exceptional Survival Guide for Drums to be available for classical and/or contemporary christian worship! The iPad version easily allows reading the drum music parts of all types of music while playing along with sample music tracks and/or hearing the drum parts separately!

After watching is first 2-Hour long set-up video, I knew this cat was my instructor. Not disappointed. Put this one and others by Tommy in your library and learn to play the drums.