Matt Cameron

A heavy, fully committed snare hit on 2 and 4 with an open, unrestrained rim sound.

Practise: Play a basic rock beat and focus purely on making the backbeat as full and even as possible at three dynamic levels.

Comes out of: Stage 1 — Foundations — weight and touch

Heard in: Even Flow · Alive · Corduroy

Quiet snare taps woven between backbeats to add groove and forward motion.

Practise: Play steady sixteenths on the snare, ghosting everything except beats 2 and 4, gradually raising ghost-note volume.

Comes out of: Stage 1 — Foundations — weight and touch

Heard in: Even Flow · Alive · Corduroy

Opening the hi-hat on upbeats to push a groove forward without changing the beat.

Practise: Play a steady groove and open the hi-hat only on the 'and' counts, keeping the foot chick tight.

Comes out of: Stage 1 — Foundations — weight and touch

Heard in: Even Flow · Given to Fly

Moving the snare backbeat off its usual spot for a bar or phrase, then snapping back.

Practise: Play a normal groove for 4 bars, shift the snare hit an eighth note early for 2 bars, then resolve.

Comes out of: Stage 3 — Signature techniques — ghost notes and offbeat accents

Heard in: Corduroy · Spoonman · Black Hole Sun

A rock groove phrased in 7/4 that still feels driving rather than academic.

Practise: Count 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 aloud while playing a simple kick/snare/hat pattern, accenting beat 1 clearly.

Comes out of: Stage 5 — Advanced coordination — groove displacement

Heard in: Spoonman · Black Hole Sun · Jesus Christ Pose

A short, melodic fill built from the song's phrasing rather than a drum-lesson lick.

Practise: Compose a two-bar fill using only three sounds, then play it identically at soft, medium and loud dynamics.

Comes out of: Stage 4 — Fills & transitions — musical, economical fills

Heard in: Alive · Black · Black Hole Sun

Taking an identical groove from near silence to full volume across a verse into a chorus.

Practise: Loop one groove for 16 bars, planning a smooth crescendo that peaks exactly on the chorus downbeat.

Comes out of: Stage 1 — Foundations — weight and touch

Heard in: Even Flow · Alive · Corduroy

Using a trashy china cymbal hit to mark big structural moments rather than every accent.

Practise: Play a groove for 8 bars and place a single china hit only on the most important beat of the phrase.

Comes out of: Stage 2 — Core grooves — Pearl Jam pocket

Heard in: Alive · Given to Fly · Do the Evolution

A busy, syncopated kick drum pattern sitting under an unchanged, steady hi-hat and snare.

Practise: Keep hands locked on a simple ostinato while working through progressively syncopated kick patterns.

Comes out of: Stage 5 — Advanced coordination — groove displacement

Heard in: Do the Evolution · Rearviewmirror