The Art of Playing with Brushes

I’ve been working on my brush playing and rediscovered this absolute treasure from Hudson Music. It’s fantastic.

The Art of Playing with Brushes (instant video / DVD) is an amazing resource with over 7 hours(!) of footage that features:

• Billy Hart
• Eddie Locke
• Joe Morello
• Charlie Persip
• Ben Riley
• Adam Nussbaum
• Steve Smith

What makes this so unique is that you’re not just watching a single instructor explain patterns—you’re seeing multiple masters demonstrate their personal approaches, all playing to the same set of backing tracks.

The backing tracks are included, and they’re some of the best I’ve encountered for practicing—whether with brushes or sticks. Tempos range from 40–320 bpm, with a couple of them in 3/4 and a few Latin tracks as well.

Here’s a sample that features Billy Hart:

I can’t recommend this highly enough! If you haven’t checked it out and you’re a jazz drummer, I’d say it’s a must-watch.

It’s available as an instant video from Hudson Music or on DVD.