What do I need to bring to my lesson?

For the drumset, anything made of hickory or maple and appoximately the weight of a 5A or 5B will do. I recommend the Vic Firth American Classic 5A or 5B wood tip. Nylon tips may be more durable (or not- instead of wearing out, sometimes the tips fall completely off), but to me they have an unpleasantly bright sound on the cymbals. Vater also makes good, inexpensive sticks. I'd suggest buying 3 or more sets at a time.

I personally use Vic Firth SD-11 Slammers on the drum set. They are the approximate size of a 5B, but are made out of maple, which is lighter than hickory.

2. Books
If you own any drum books, bring them to your first lesson and we can decide which ones we want to continue working from; this will also help me find out what you already know and where we should go with your lessons.

In addition, all students please purchase these books:
Syncopation by Ted Reed. From the cover, this book doesn't look like much, but it is the core of my method and some very advanced techniques can be derived from it. It's the core of my method.
A Funky Primer by Charles Dowd. A good introduction to funk/rock grooves by my old professor.

I'll ask you to buy other books after we get acquainted with your goals, and decide how your lessons will be focused.

Other books you should own:
Stick Control by George Lawrence Stone. A classic that every drummer should own.
Accents And Rebounds by George Lawrence Stone. Another great book for pure technique.
Alfred's Drum Method - Book 1 by Sandy Feldstein & Dave Black. A good beginning to intermediate snare drum book.
Advanced Techniques For The Modern Drummer by Jim Chapin. A classic introduction to jazz drumming.

Snare drum books:
Snare Drum For Beginners by Morris Goldenberg. Great beginning-to-intermediate snare drum book.
Podemski's Standard Snare Drum Method by Benjamin Podemski. Classic snare drum method- intermediate-to-advanced.

Other recommended books for advanced students:
Creative Timekeeping by Rick Mattingly. Very in-depth exploration of jazz timekeeping/comping.
The Art of Bop Drumming by John Riley. The most comprehensive overview of jazz drumming I've seen.
Beyond Bop Drumming by John Riley. Another great book for advanced players.
Patterns - Time Functioning by Gary Chaffee. The Patterns series of books consist of very advanced material. Time Functioning has the most useful stuff for day to day use.
Four-Way Coordination by Dahlgren & Fine. Like Stick Control applied to all four limbs, this one can be a little dry, but essential.
How Not To Play The Drums by Charli Persip. Playing tips, advice and anecdotes from a great jazz drummer. One of my photos is featured on the cover!
The Art Of Modern Jazz Drumming by Jack DeJohnette and Charlie Perry. Great text and a lot of patterns for developing triplet-based coordination and meter-within-meter approaches.
Drum Wisdom by Bob Moses. An out-of-print classic. Emphasis on concepts rather than technical excercises. Look for this one on Amazon.com.
Drum Concepts And Technique by Peter Erskine. Covers a variety of jazz-related topics. Lots of good written analysis, emphasis on practicality.
Time Awareness by Peter Erksine. A great book on rhythm with musicality front and center. Like all of Erskine's books, there's a lot to absorb for players of all levels. Not for drummers only.
Modern Reading Text in 4/4 by Louis Bellson. Another classic.
Afro-Cuban Rhythms For Drumset by Frank Malabe and Bob Weiner. Now a classic text for learning Afro-Cuban music. Also see their book on Brazilian drumming.
Conversations In Clave by Horcacio Hernandez. An excellent advanced book for learning Afro-Cuban music. Focus is on interpretation of clave, and drumset coordination exercises.

3. Practice pad with stand.
Any brand will do, but I recommend a 10" Remo. You should be able to use it with most older cymbal stands, or you can order a stand with your pad.

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Drum lessons by Todd Bishop
toddbishop@cruiseshipdrummer.com
(503)380-9259