In one of Drumeo’s most recent live streams, one of my favorite YouTube creators made a guest appearance: ZackGrooves.
When I saw he would be on Drumeo Live, I had to check it out and see what tips he could offer to my playing. Chops are by far one of the weak points of my drumming, so it’s one of the places I need to improve.
While watching the stream, follow along with the exercises mentioned by heading over to Drumeo Beat!
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Who Is ZackGrooves?
ZackGrooves, real name Zack Graybeal, is a content creator on YouTube who focuses on drumming and comedy. His YouTube channel has a sizable following, with over 300k subscribers and various videos showcasing his drumming skills and humor.
Zack was recently featured on Drumeo, a popular online drumming education platform. He shared news about his new album, playthroughs of his music and exercises, and insights on how drummers can improve their playing chops.
I’ve been following his YouTube channel since the middle of 2020 when he uploaded a video called “i told them i wouldn’t do this.” In the video, Zack is seen playing with a jazz group soloing over a vamp section. Then, suddenly, he begins testing the horn players’ time-keeping abilities with a metric modulation technique.
Zack shifts the timing completely, going into a slower 4/4 groove completely out, throwing the horns for a loop—followed up by insane chop-filled licks. He told them he wouldn’t do that. But he did, and it was awesome.
One of my favorite comments on the video reads:
“Ok, this sounds good. Let’s keep going” drummer: “So sorry, but the time signature is now π”
@16dragons
What are Drum Chops?
To Zack, drum chops are anything other than the groove.
Chops are a drummer’s vocabulary of exciting fills and licks showcasing their technical mastery of the instrument. Of course, you don’t need to be a chop master to be a great drummer, but they are fun to play, learn, and show off a little (which all drummers love to do, come on!). Drummers with great chops can string together short, complex patterns seamlessly without thinking, creating exciting and mind-blowing licks on the spot through improvisation.
One of my big takeaways for my own drumming is Zack’s use of the hi-hat foot pedal. He breaks down the difference between playing the hi-hat foot on eighth notes to instead playing it on varying offbeat sixteenths during the beat, creating more exciting patterns.
Simon Phillips has a great example of this style on the track Dreamer with piano virtuoso Hiromi. While his part is more linear in fashion, the 16th offbeat hi-hat foot pedal part makes an appearance as a component of the groove.
One of Zack’s most important points deals with learning patterns. We can spend all day and night learning licks in the practice room, but it’s important to make them a part of your vocabulary before introducing them to a performance.
Too often, drummers need to be more comfortable with new concepts and ideas, so when it comes time to perform, they’ll be stumbling over new fills/licks when they pull them out.
Zack even mentions, “I couldn’t tell you what I just played there,” which is entirely valid. When we master licks and chops, they become innate, almost second nature.
“When you’re creating, you’re not thinking, “insert X pattern here.”
It should be built into you by that point; muscle memory is everything in drumming.
Zack’s final piece of advice in the video is something we all need to consider more often:
“Stop caring what anyone thinks. You will progress faster, even if it’s not drums—except for your mother. Other than that, be yourself.”
Check out the video above, and let me know what you think of it down below in the comments! Also, be sure to watch the Q&A at the end of the video with members of the Drumeo Community.
Follow ZackGrooves
What is Drumeo?
We've partnered with Drumeo to bring our readers this exclusive trial. Drumeo is the best online drum lesson platform offering a step-by-step curriculum taught by drum legends.
Read our full review of Drumeo Edge.
Drumeo is an online platform for drumming education that gives drummers of all skill levels access to various instructional resources, such as courses, lessons, and live streams, to help them improve their performance.
Jared Falk, professional drummer and educator, launched the platform in 2012, and it has since expanded to become one of the biggest and most well-known online drumming instruction tools.
Drumeo’s teaching material contains a varied spectrum of instructors, from well-known drumming legends to up-and-coming educators.
They cover all bases: technique, musicality, groove, and more. Also, the platform provides a variety of community elements, including forums and live events, that enable drummers to interact and exchange information.
Drumeo is an excellent tool for drummers who want to advance their craft and find a global network of like-minded musicians.
They have a free YouTube channel with tons of lessons and guest drummers and a membership program called Drumeo Edge. Learn more about Drumeo by checking out our review here.
