Benny Greb

≈ 95 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 1 — Foundations — hand technique and Moeller basics

Primary technique:

Dynamic groove shaping

Also trains:

Ghost notes, Hi-hat foot, Accent control

Key groove:

A funk groove built from ghost notes and dynamic accents that grows across the piece

Signature fill:

A restrained fill that keeps the groove's dynamic level rather than spiking it

Transition:

The groove simply gets louder rather than a fill announcing the next section

Listen for:

How the groove's dynamic arc tells its own story without a single flashy fill

Training:

Shaping dynamics across a long groove without changing the underlying pattern

Challenge:

Play the whole groove with an even bigger dynamic range than the original

• Intro: Quiet groove, ghost notes barely audible
• Verse: Dynamics rise slightly, backbeat firms up
• Build: Steady dynamic ladder rising bar by bar
• Peak: Full-volume groove, ghost notes still present
• Outro: Dynamics fall back to the opening level

≈ 100 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 1 — Foundations — hand technique and Moeller basics

Primary technique:

Musical fill writing

Also trains:

Ghost notes, Crash placement, Dynamics

Key groove:

A tight pocket groove with ghost notes giving it a rolling, human feel

Signature fill:

A short composed fill that matches the groove's exact dynamic level

Transition:

The fill leads into the chorus via a single well-chosen crash tone

Listen for:

How every fill sounds like it belongs to the same piece as the groove

Training:

Writing fills that never break the sound world of the surrounding groove

Challenge:

Compose one new fill for this groove that still matches its dynamic character

• Intro: Groove alone, establishing the ghost-note feel
• Verse: Full groove with subtle dynamic shaping
• Fill: Short composed fill matching the groove's dynamic
• Chorus: Slightly bigger dynamic, crash on the hook
• Outro: Returns to the quiet ghost-note groove

≈ 104 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 3 — Signature techniques — Moeller strokes in a groove

Primary technique:

Moeller-driven snare vocabulary

Also trains:

Flams, Snare-tom combinations, Independence

Key groove:

A snare-forward groove with Moeller-based accent-ghost combinations throughout

Signature fill:

A flam-heavy fill produced entirely with relaxed Moeller strokes

Transition:

The fill's final flam lands directly on the groove's return, no gap

Listen for:

How effortless the flams sound despite their speed and density

Training:

Using Moeller strokes for real musical vocabulary, not just isolated practice

Challenge:

Play the whole piece checking that your wrists stay visibly relaxed throughout

• Intro: Moeller-based snare pattern alone
• Verse: Full groove with accent-ghost combinations
• Independence: Ostinato feet under a busier hand pattern
• Fill: Flam-heavy Moeller fill
• Outro: Returns to the opening snare pattern

≈ 98 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 2 — Core grooves — the sound of the groove

Primary technique:

Backbeat displacement

Also trains:

Kick variations, Hi-hat foot, Hybrid grooves

Key groove:

A groove where the snare backbeat is displaced for tension then resolved for release

Signature fill:

A fill that re-establishes the true backbeat after a bar of displacement

Transition:

The resolving fill snaps the groove back to the expected pocket

Listen for:

The moment of relief when the backbeat lands back where it 'should' be

Training:

Displacing a groove confidently without losing your own internal sense of time

Challenge:

Play a full verse with the backbeat displaced throughout, resolving only at the chorus

• Intro: Straight groove, true backbeat clear
• Verse: Backbeat displaced, creating tension
• Fill: Resolving fill re-establishing true time
• Chorus: Straight groove restored
• Outro: Brief return to the displaced feel

≈ 90 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 1 — Foundations — hand technique and Moeller basics

Primary technique:

Single-note dynamic control

Also trains:

Accent control, Basic sticking, Tone

Key groove:

A famously minimal groove built from very few notes, each chosen deliberately

Signature fill:

There is barely a fill at all, proving the point that sound matters more than quantity

Transition:

A single accented note is enough to signal the next section

Listen for:

How much groove and feel comes from so few actual notes

Training:

Resisting the urge to add extra notes when restraint serves the music better

Challenge:

Play the groove using half as many notes as you'd normally choose

• Intro: A single repeated note establishing the feel
• Verse: Minimal groove, one or two added notes
• Accent: A single accented note signals change
• Chorus: Slightly fuller, still minimal
• Outro: Returns to the single repeated note

≈ 106 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 1 — Foundations — hand technique and Moeller basics

Primary technique:

Dynamic hi-hat colour under a driving groove

Also trains:

Linear fills, Crash placement, Dynamics

Key groove:

A propulsive groove that uses open hi-hat splashes to mark dynamic peaks

Signature fill:

A linear fill that builds directly into an open hi-hat crash combination

Transition:

The open hi-hat itself functions as the transition into the next section

Listen for:

How the open hi-hat changes the groove's energy without adding extra notes

Training:

Using hi-hat openness as a genuine dynamic tool inside a driving groove

Challenge:

Play the groove using only hi-hat dynamics to build energy, no extra fills

• Intro: Closed hi-hat groove, driving feel
• Verse: Hi-hat begins opening on accents
• Fill: Linear fill building to an open hat crash
• Chorus: Fully open hi-hat, peak energy
• Outro: Hi-hat closes back down, groove fades

≈ 85 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 1 — Foundations — hand technique and Moeller basics

Primary technique:

Basic groove with ghost-note texture

Also trains:

Dynamics, Hi-hat foot, Tone

Key groove:

A deliberately simple groove used to teach dynamic and tonal control from the ground up

Signature fill:

A basic snare fill played identically at three different dynamic levels

Transition:

The fill simply repeats louder or softer depending on the section

Listen for:

How the same simple pattern sounds completely different at different dynamics

Training:

Building the habit of thinking about sound before complexity

Challenge:

Play the identical groove at three dynamic levels back to back without a metronome drift

• Intro: Groove at a quiet dynamic
• Verse: Same groove at a medium dynamic
• Chorus: Same groove at a loud dynamic
• Fill: Basic fill repeated at each dynamic
• Outro: Returns to the quiet dynamic

≈ 110 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 7 — Independence — ostinato practice method

Primary technique:

Structured independence practice applied musically

Also trains:

Ostinato independence, Polyrhythm, Odd groupings

Key groove:

A groove built from independent moving parts across all four limbs at once

Signature fill:

A fill that briefly locks all four limbs together before separating again

Transition:

The brief unison moment acts as the pivot into the next independent section

Listen for:

How each limb feels genuinely independent yet the groove still feels unified

Training:

Applying structured independence drills directly to musical groove writing

Challenge:

Play the full groove with each limb able to be isolated and heard clearly on its own

• Intro: Each limb introduced one at a time
• Verse: Full four-limb independence groove
• Fill: Brief unison moment before separating again
• Bridge: Polyrhythmic layer added on top
• Outro: Limbs drop out one at a time

≈ 100 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 3 — Signature techniques — Moeller strokes in a groove

Primary technique:

Orchestrated groove writing

Also trains:

Snare-tom combinations, Written fills, Crash placement

Key groove:

A groove that moves accents around snare and toms to create a melodic shape

Signature fill:

A composed fill that continues the groove's melodic shape rather than breaking it

Transition:

The fill's final tom hit becomes the groove's first note again

Listen for:

How the tom and snare accents form a recognisable melodic shape

Training:

Writing groove-orchestration ideas that read as melody, not just rhythm

Challenge:

Hum the groove's melodic shape before playing it, then match the two exactly

• Intro: Melodic snare-tom pattern introduced alone
• Verse: Full groove with orchestrated accents
• Fill: Fill continuing the same melodic shape
• Chorus: Crash-accented peak of the melodic phrase
• Outro: Returns to the opening melodic pattern

≈ 90 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 1 — Foundations — hand technique and Moeller basics

Primary technique:

Full hand-technique vocabulary applied freely

Also trains:

Flams, Dynamics, Independence

Key groove:

An open, improvisational piece where Moeller-based hand vocabulary drives the whole performance

Signature fill:

Improvised flam and accent combinations that change every time it's played

Transition:

Transitions are dynamic and improvised rather than fixed, following the hands' lead

Listen for:

How every choice, even improvised, still serves the sound of the groove

Training:

Improvising freely while keeping every note's dynamic and tonal purpose clear

Challenge:

Improvise your own version of this piece, keeping the same dynamic-first philosophy

• Intro: Free improvisation on hand technique alone
• Verse: Groove emerges from the improvised material
• Fill: Improvised flam-and-accent combination
• Peak: Full dynamic and technical intensity
• Outro: Improvisation fades back to a single voice