Joey Jordison

≈ 145 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 1 — Foundations — tight singles and hi-hat foot control

Primary technique:

Machine-tight fast groove

Also trains:

Stroke consistency, Kick accuracy, Crash accents

Key groove:

A fast, driving 16th-note groove held with metronome-level evenness

Signature fill:

Rapid snare fill launching into the explosive chorus

Transition:

Sudden lift from a tight verse groove into a huge, crash-driven chorus

Listen for:

How even every stroke stays despite the tempo and aggression

Training:

Sustaining a fast groove with machine-like evenness throughout a full song

Challenge:

Record the groove against a click and check for zero drift across the song

• Intro: Establishing the fast, even groove
• Verse: Driving 16th-note groove under the riff
• Chorus: Explosive groove with crash accents
• Fill: Rapid snare fill launching the chorus
• Outro: Groove sustained to the final bar

≈ 130 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 3 — Signature techniques — fast, machine-tight consistency

Primary technique:

Exact breakdown hit precision

Also trains:

Half-time pocket, Crash punctuation, Riff-locked groove

Key groove:

An iconic driving main riff groove that stays tight through constant dynamic shifts

Signature fill:

Huge, exact breakdown hit landing with the whole band on the main riff

Transition:

Instant switch from the driving main groove into the half-time breakdown

Listen for:

How exactly the breakdown hit lands with zero anticipation or drag

Training:

Landing huge accented hits with total precision alongside the full band

Challenge:

Play along with the recording and land the breakdown hit with zero drift

• Intro: Establishing the iconic main riff groove
• Verse: Driving groove under the riff
• Breakdown: Half-time pocket with a huge exact hit
• Chorus: Full groove returns with crash accents
• Outro: Groove sustained to the final hit

≈ 150 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 1 — Foundations — tight singles and hi-hat foot control

Primary technique:

Left-foot independence layered under a fast groove

Also trains:

Four-limb independence, Open hi-hat dynamics, Fast groove

Key groove:

A fast groove with the hi-hat foot playing its own syncopated layer underneath

Signature fill:

Fast fill that keeps the hi-hat foot pattern going independently underneath

Transition:

Groove intensifies through open hi-hat accents rather than a full stop

Listen for:

How the hi-hat foot pattern stays independent even during the busiest fills

Training:

Keeping an independent hi-hat foot layer going under demanding hand patterns

Challenge:

Play the whole song keeping the hi-hat foot pattern independent through every fill

• Intro: Establishing the fast groove with hi-hat foot layer
• Verse: Layered groove under the aggressive riff
• Chorus: Fuller groove with open hi-hat accents
• Fill: Fast fill keeping the hi-hat foot layer going
• Outro: Groove sustained to the final bar

≈ 175 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 1 — Foundations — tight singles and hi-hat foot control

Primary technique:

Relentless fast groove sustained at full aggression

Also trains:

Snare displacement, Crash accents, Hi-hat foot layering

Key groove:

A relentless, punishing fast groove that barely lets up for the whole song

Signature fill:

Sudden snare displacement creating a lurching accent mid-groove

Transition:

No real letup — sections blend through sheer intensity rather than dynamic contrast

Listen for:

How the tightness never slips even as the aggression stays maximal throughout

Training:

Sustaining full aggression and tightness across an unrelenting fast song

Challenge:

Play the whole song at tempo without any dip in tightness or energy

• Intro: Establishing the relentless fast groove
• Verse: Punishing groove under the aggressive riff
• Bridge: Snare displacement creating a lurching accent
• Outro: Groove sustained at full intensity to close

≈ 140 · 4/4

Prep with: Stage 4 — Fills & transitions — sharp, exact fills

Primary technique:

Start-stop breakdown precision

Also trains:

Half-time pocket, Crash punctuation, Snare-tom fills

Key groove:

A groove that alternates between full-speed drive and hard stop-start breakdown hits

Signature fill:

Sharp snare-tom fill marking each stop-start transition

Transition:

Sudden hard stop into a breakdown hit, then instant return to full speed

Listen for:

How tightly each stop-start hit locks with the rest of the band

Training:

Locking stop-start breakdown figures precisely at speed

Challenge:

Play along with the recording and land every stop-start hit with zero drift

• Intro: Establishing the full-speed groove
• Verse: Driving groove under the riff
• Breakdown: Hard stop-start hits with the band
• Fill: Snare-tom fill marking the transition
• Outro: Groove returns to full speed to close

≈ 120 (shifting) · 4/4 with tempo and feel shifts

Prep with: Stage 3 — Signature techniques — fast, machine-tight consistency

Primary technique:

Tempo and feel changes handled cleanly

Also trains:

Half-time pocket, Crash accents, Groove consistency

Key groove:

A groove that shifts feel between driving and half-time without ever losing the pulse

Signature fill:

Fill marking the shift between feels, timed exactly with the riff change

Transition:

Deliberate feel change requiring a confident internal sense of the new pulse

Listen for:

How confidently each feel change is executed without any hesitation

Training:

Handling tempo and feel changes cleanly within a single song

Challenge:

Play the whole song executing every feel change exactly where the recording does

• Intro: Establishing the primary groove feel
• Verse: Driving groove under the riff
• Bridge: Shift into a half-time feel
• Fill: Fill marking the return to the driving feel
• Outro: Groove sustained to the final bar