Tommy Igoe’s Great Hands for a Lifetime received a 5-star review in the August 2010 Modern Drummer Magazine!
Click here to read the Great Hands for a Lifetime review in Modern Drummer magazine.
The Review:
NYC drummer/instructor Igoe returns to the basics with an ingenious rudimental workout, the Lifetime Warm-Up, designed by his father, drumming great Sonny Igoe. Tommy simplifies and demystifies stick technique, keeping it from becoming daunting and technically confusing. His mantra for relaxed sticking is “Air in the back, sound in the front.”
Viewers will need a previous understanding of rhythmic notation and music terminology. The DVD begins with Igoe discussing fulcrum/grip and performing examples of accents, which leads into the basic rudiments. He gathers students at various playing levels to help perform the program as they work their way through the rudiments and into increasing levels of the warm-up.
Affordably priced and includ- ing an e-book, MP3s, a poster, and a chart, this progressive program is an outstanding teaching aid and hand-maintenance warm-up for drummers of all abilities. (Hudson)
Mike Haid
Agreed!
Great Hands is a magnificent and much needed DVD . With all the resources available to drummers today , YouTube , Vic Firth and PASIC web sites , etc etc it is easy to get confused and hung up on irrelevant and sometimes counterproductive details . For example … pinky ” in ” , pinky ” out ” … Tommy does not deal with this sort of minutia ..he says ..your pinky will find a home , just let it be and dont worry about it .
Also there is much useless and counterproductive discussion right now about ” name ” grips and techniques … Moeller , French , German , American … blah blah blah … Tommy says ” pick your country ” . He is right , the country is irrelevant , the name of the grip is irrelevant . What is relevant is that you be able to bounce your sticks , keep the sticks down , and stay relaxed .
Tommy Igoe is only concerned with results . He does not care what grip you use . He says results are all that matters , and he is right . He also says that the only people who care about what grip you use are other drummers . And as a working drummer , I can tell you this … I have never been paid for a gig by another drummer . Nope , I get paid by guitarists , singers , and keyboardists and trust me , they dont care whether I use Moeller , traditional , matched or a ham fisted grip . All they care about is how I sound on the drums . And frankly this is what Tommy Igoe cares about … how do you sound ?
Regarding this review by Mike Haid …. He is sort of right that viewers will need a previous understanding of rhythmic notation and music terminology . But really , everything is in the video . Tommy is an expert at explaining ( and demystifying ) what he does . You can get the important points without knowing how to read . Really , at the end of the day this video deals with physical aspects of drumming . So one just needs to watch and listen to Tommy . He shows you how easy it is and he explains it in a way that my dog could understand . One of the things he says all the time is this … ” this is so easy ” …and he is right . It is easy .
I also think Tommy`s over all mantra is not really ” air in the back , sound in the front ” but more … ” being able to do simple things at a very high level ” . Yes he talks about air in the back , sound in the front and it is an important concept but the over all concept is how beneficial it is to be able to do simple things at a very high level … singles , doubles , accents , rebounds , flams , and ruffs …. This is an important concept for two reasons . One , with enough effort everyone is capable of mastering simple things . Two , mastering simple things will simply make your drumming explode with possibilities . It will make everything you do sound better . This is the core of Tommy`s concepts in the Great Hands DVD . Thank you Tommy for this DVD … you are literally a gift from the drum gods to the drumming community .
I have been practicing with this DVD and it is absolutely fantastic. I am passing along these ideas for hand technique to my students and this is a vital part of my teaching program. Just as he did with the Groove Essentials DVD’s, Tommy Igoe has once again done a superb job of teaching in such a way that is easy to understand and is very practical. I would recommend this DVD to anyone who is interested in reaching a higher level of drumming.