Demystifying Rudiments & Applications | Dave DiCenso 

MUSICALITY- 10/10 CONTROL - 10/10 TOUCH - 10/10 TECHNIQUE - 10/10 TEACHNG 10/10 For me he is a top level drummer/musician.

Dave DiCenso is the four leaf clover of drummers. Everyone wants to see him so bad but you only hear of his special appearances once in a lifetime! To me he is up there with Vinnie, Weckl, and Gadd. This dude is a LEGEND!

It's absolutely hilarious reading the posts/threads about how, in essence a) Dave apparently doesn't show true emotion, like it's all some kind contrived vibe being emitted from his soul, and b) Dave can't keep, or at best, has trouble keeping time. I've seen him play in several configurations, including the Jon Finn Group back in the 90's and in solo clinics over the years. Let me give you MY impression of Dave, as someone who actually knows the man, as opposed to those who think they are somehow blessed with the uncanny ability to read someone, from all of 60 minutes of a RU-vid video: 1. This cat POURS OUT EMOTION from EVERY FIBER OF HIS BEING. I've seen him with buckets of sweat pouring down his face, after giving everything he has during a cut/solo/whatever. 2. This cat absolutely LOVES what he does. He's an extremely accomplished musician whose catalog speaks for itself. Dave's arrival at Berklee as a teacher ushered in the first rock drumming program, at what has traditionally been primarily a Jazz college. 3. In a world of other 'Drumming Gods' being worshiped and compared, in countless and countless other videos where everyone has to speak about how awesome their favorite drummer is, and use that as some sort of platform of mental masturbation with which to denigrate other drummers, Dave is the exact polar opposite of that. Speak to him IN PERSON, about other drummers, and you'll get that from him right out of the gate. He exudes respect for his colleagues and for the art form he's spent his entire life learning. He's about the music, not about music being some sort of sporting event or competition. 4. He keeps amazing time! He is totally jacked into the groove and where the pocket is, whether he's playing outside it or so deep inside it that, if you were to enter it, you'd never be able to escape ;) I've seen/heard him do some of the most amazing things, and I'm like "YES, that grooves so damn hard (like at 1:01:47-1:01:57, and yet it's so tasteful and on point with what the tune/jam is calling for at that moment." 5. He's a good friend and is one of the most approachable and humble cats you'll ever meet. In short: Dave is the real deal. Peace.

The solo starting at 37:50 is one of the best I've ever heard. I can't run out of superlatives when talking about Dave....such a special player.

Honestly, that's the most useful Drumeo lesson I've seen so far.

Absolute BEAST - One of the finest players on the planet today!

DD eats, lives and breaths drumming. His expressions are not only real but demonstrate a deep passion for what he's doing. Nothing fake about this guy - even in his early days with TTS, he was always expressive and became one with the music.

Absolute legend. This guy is one the 'Holy Grail' players. Nothing but inspiration to me, his solo at the Modern Drummer Festival was off the scale.

My absolute favorite drummer!! Totally unique player who is not known by nondrummers... Love ya Dave!

I loved how he refers to drummers as storytellers, very cool perspective. Dave is a fantastic teacher, I enjoyed the entire lesson!

i just love how Dave TALKS about drums (not mention his incredible playing) - he has such a great understanding of the mechanics and the fine details of how and WHY we do the things we do. one of the best teachers out there!

My favorite part is the whole lesson! Dave's plane is unbelievable. This is probably my favorite lesson that you guys have shown. I've seen about 95% of your lessons and this one just connect with me for some reason.

The best part of the lesson for me was that solo at the 38 minute mark. I watch lots of performances all the time, and I'm not always easily phased and that made me feel really inspired. What a knockout, Dave rules.

I love watching Dave's intensity that he pours into EVERY NOTE. Every note matters. Killer.

Not only a fantastic drummer, but a great and humble soul, also. I've contacted Dave via email in respect to some exercises in his "universal rhythms" and the guy comes back to me responding withing a few hours in a polite and respectful manner. That is a sign of greatness. This is one of my favorite drumeo lessons.

I agree ..very unique and creative ...his solos are so musical ..they become addictive ..no one sounds like this dude ...his drumming skill is up there in rarified air ...beautiful

My favorite part of the lesson is where Drumeo features yet another of the absolute G.O.A.T. and gave us an hour inside his head and playing. Thank you Drumeo. And thank you so much Dave.

Dave discenso and Gavin Harrison to me are the 2 drummers in this world that are taking drum solos to another level..like a mozart master piece on drums ..wonderful and magical playing indeed

the fav part is how he not only demystify the rudiments but opens your mind to counting subdivisions whatever note value it is. i listen intently to all his words like a son listening to his father. congratz drumeo for great lesson and thnx dave dicenso. more power to all of you!!!

World Class right there. His live solo with Two Ton Shoe is legendary! Cheers, Dave!

Simply the best 6 stroke roll lesson I've ever seen. I've got plenty to practice for months and months. Thanks!

"Every exercise you do should groove." Good advice there. I think sometimes it's easy to tell yourself you're just playing an exercise, so it doesn't matter if it doesn't groove.... but that's not gonna help us learn musicality. Great video Dave + Drumeo.

DiCenso is giving us so much here... great lesson Drumeo, I've been coming back to this for days now. Thank you to everyone involved in these amazing, FREE lessons.

Daves feel is so incredible and always makes me pay attention when he plays! He has such authority! I want the whole book! Im going to rewatch this lesson!

Wow, that was one of the best drumming performances I've seen in a long time - Love this guy's style. So much power and a unique style.

I love how he encourages us to get as much as we can from one rudiment. It's helped me to try and find ways to get more out of the small concepts I already use as a drummer and getting more mileage from these concepts.

Love listening to your playing Dave. So glad that Drumeo brought you in to do a lesson. So great to see your knowledge taking you so many different places, man! Keep on groovin' on!! Love the intensity with which you play!!

Dave's musical mind is astonishing. The speed that his mind works is very special. He's such a real cat, man. So advanced. So fluid. So natural. Watch his motions and how his body translates and absorbs his ideas as he executes his ability to make music while telling a story behind the drumkit.

Dave Dicenso is next level!! One of my favorite drummers of all time!

Unreal, Dave DiCenso is one hell of an instructor, what a great attitude.

one of the best all around drummers ever!!! I used to see Dave at berklee when I was studying there, and used to go and see his band "2 tone shoe", back in 1998, he blow my mind, and still does, AMAZING player and teacher!! congrats to him and Drumeo for having him!!

Love the way he communicates and gets his concepts to the student. Very effective and deliberate.

Dave is a master. One of the greatest of all time in my opinion. Thanks Dave!

Definitely loved the exercises. Way out of my box and past many things I've heard of before. Thank you so much, Dave!

My favourite part was Dave's left foot dynamics during his first solo, I had never heard a ghosted hi-hat played with the foot before !

I just love how fluent and dynamic Dave's playing is. HUGE inspiration!

Dave D makes the best drum choices on the fly. It's some pretty adult decision-making going on throughout his playing. So damn musical.

This drum solo is so unique and CRAZY! I love this. Just when I thought I've heard all of Dave's playing, he can pull out anything!

Great to see Dave on Drumeo! Love his feel and great ideas! Can't wait to try them out!

This was amazing: awesome hand speed and control, composition excellence, and the most fun game faces I have ever seen!

what i liked the most was the part where he explained how he pictures the same idea shaping with the different creative concepts, using the count to give sense to the displacement and resolution points, it was sooo revealing thank you!

I've been waiting for this lesson FOR YEARS

Seeing him play in the beginning was just amazing. He is so active when he plays

The most, no - the MOST informative video on Drumeo! I've never heard about Dave, but this information is amazing!

When I was at Berklee, Kenwood Dennard was my private teacher. And Dave’s room was right across from his. We spoke occasionally. And, once in a while, he complimented me too. He was a genuinely nice guy. And it was a pleasure to meet him.

I love the first 3 exercises starting with minute 13 displacement... I'm a new drummer and I didn't know that a simple exercise like a paradidledidle could be applied in such beautiful grooves. Thank you drumeo

I've had the privilege of meeting Dave, such a nice guy. Love his playing.

First of all, I love the kit. The wood finish just looks amazing. The lesson was great, quite refreshing to look at the bars from back to front ! :) Thanks guys

I stopped playing the drums in 2005 and I haven't known Dave till today. Best video so far, best lesson so far. I feel to wanting return to playing the drums again!

Underated Drumeo lesson. Dave is a great modern drum master and you gotta love his drumming skills.

He just puts a whole new spin on rudiments which helped me to understand them better and how to orchestrate them better on the kit 👍

Wow, the control and dynamics are amazing, powerful when loud and equally as strong when soft

Dave is one of the premiere drummers in the world for sure. His soloing is top 10 in my opinion. He rivals the likes of the king of melodic soloing, Dave Weckl. This is a guy you can watch play for hours and never get bored.

Dave is a very unique drummer. I have his Universal Rhythms text and it's an eye-opener in using the 5 common rhythms and embellishing and making variations on them. My favorite part of this lesson was hearing Dave articulate his approach and concepts. This is just as important as the mechanics of drumming, which is philosophical as well.

i like that there is a force and momentum greater than the super-fluidity of the limbs at work, it's the grace, and the communication, and the way playfulness is not lost in the midst of the warrior executions.

I like and appreciate Dave's comments about the pursuit of being a "musician". I want to learn as much as I can about the interaction and structure of different musical instruments in a musical construct. I love playing drums and I really enjoy learning the different aspects of being a more learned drummer and musician.

I have the biggest smile on my face watching this.

Dave is amazing, thanks for bringing him! My favourite part was probably his thoughts on how drummers/musicians are storytellers, and how it's much more useful and interesting to have few ideas and explore them in many ways, than to have a ton (two ton :) ) of them. A book or a movie mostly is built off one main idea.

Exellent musicien, un des batteurs les plus intenses que j’ai entendu, frappe solide et bien balancée, beaucoup de feeling, j’adore

yYES!! You guys brought Dicenso, ty so much, i just know its gonna be great!!!!!

I love EVERYTHING about this lesson!!! :D

Wow! I love this guy! Great lesson!!! Very interesting rudimental conception. Two beatfull solos and your crazy way for playing! Greetings from Brazil!

Great insight. I love his feel and grooviness on the kit. He and Benny Greb are my favorite clinicians!

Just fkn Awesome! Saw Dave 2years ago in NH accompanied with organist....The show was mind-blowing...

Great video! I absolutely loved Dave's work on John Petrucci's 'Suspended Animation'. I listen to that album quite frequently. Brilliant work.

Amazing lesson! Can't wait to apply this on the kit! The displacements of the rudiments within the beats was my favourite part, very usefull to use in songs and to give a better groove. Overall, amazing lesson, thanks Drum and Dave di Censo!

This guy is truly amazing, as is this lesson. Amazing job.

Uma das melhores!!!!!!!! One of the best class channel!!!!!!!!!

Love this guy! Embarrassed to say I haven't heard of him until now. Great guy, beautiful drummer and musician.

His creativity and energy is mind blowing!

Very useful hour of lesson, thanks drumeo, thanks Mr. DiCenso.

Man , this cat is beautiful . And he is real . great educator . really fun to watch . I remember him from that Modern drummer Festival . Never a boring moment in his Solo !

Hey Daves 😃 I loved this lesson!!! I liked the whole concept of "dropping" the "kick" on 1(down beat). But my favorite part of this lesson was the emphasis on how you can be a good drummer but not a great musician. I've been on that case for the past 4 months arguing the merge of creativity, technique and "musicianship" if that's the word. I say, there's a difference between a singer and an artist I add to that, that there's a distinction of some sort between a drummer and a musician. Really when you touched that subject you touched my heart and I hope many have been enlightened. Thanks for coming to Drumeo and great thanks to Drumeo for hosting you!!!

my favorite part of the lesson is going over the bar line and moving around the placement of a resolution. super cool concepts to get familiar with

What a killer player and always fun to watch him perform.

THE MAN!! One of the best players EVER.

Most valuable lesson on rudiments i ever watched. The Pridgen Video was incredibly inspiring but this was just pure knowledge. Can´t believe this is free :)

Damn, can you really pick only 1 favorite moment of this lesson? The whole thing is the real deal, hahaha! Awesome, great inspiration!

Really liked the shifted rudiment concepts. After playing rudiments so long, these ideas will finally make it easier to use my rudiments more. I liked the felt playing all the way through!

I loved how he made rudiments application simple. Definitely NOT easy though :) it's nice to see exactly how he moves rudiments over a bar line and how it works all together in a groove. Thanks man, one of the best lessons I've ever watched on YT!

Jeez i have learned more from dave than any drummer over the last 15 years!! Love this guy

Amazing drummer, groove, feel, dynamics. My drum practice sessions are much more exciting after watching this lesson.

One of the best in the world. LOVE Dave.

Very useful lesson from a GREAT drummer and a wonderful human being !

Mentally and physically the most relaxed drummer I have ever seen! Would love to see the people who did not like this video play drums! Chopin

Incredible Dave!All the best from Brazil!I'll buy your book.

so DAMN GOOD !!! saw his modern drummer videos what a weapon !!! loved his playing and his finesse around the kit but his lesson was so cool especially how he can place the six stroke roll anywhere he wants with in the groove very cool !!!

The best Drumeo lesson. Dave is one rad drummer.

Dave plays with Ken Clark at a small club in Manchester NH every so often. Let me just say unf’nbelievable!! And a great guy to talk too! Very fortunate to see a player of this magnitude in a small setting.

this guy plays with his entire heart and soul... wonderful!

Animal..one of the best...beautiful sounding kit too

I was fortunate enough to study with Dave at Berklee. Outstanding teacher and a really nice guy as well.

I'm incredibly jealous of all the drummers at Berkeley, they are super lucky to have Dave, he's a fantastic teacher.

I was blessed and honored to be taught by his dad Mr D! R.i.p you are sadly missed.

Very interesting and creative. Love to see him play more. I did learn something ... tqvm

Your twists on rudiments was way cool and inspiring. Zildjian lover as well!

love his Snare and bass sound,also his sense of humor!

Fantastic! great feel and creativity!

Love this guy and his passion and just ridiculous level of skill. Ps. Every time I hear those Sonor drumeo has I want to buy a set. Gorgeous sounding drums. And per usual perfect mix!

...that´s absolutelly unbelievable guys...I just can´t thank you enough for that