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The Nearly Impossible Drum Lick

Todd Sucherman  /  UPDATED Aug 20, 2022

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Years ago Todd Sucherman was hanging out and trading drum licks with Steve Smith (you may have heard of him). Steve showed Todd a pattern (inspired by Tony Williams) that really gave Todd a challenge, so he figured it’d be a perfect fit for this lesson title!

There are many elements to cover with this difficult pattern, but just focus on one step at the time instead of trying to tackle it all at once. This isn’t exactly something you can become comfortable within one day. You gotta build up that muscle memory…

Download the sheet music here and take it behind your kit. If you DO get it down, upload a video of yourself playing it to Instagram and include the hashtag #drumeo so we can see it!

About Todd:
Todd Sucherman is a highly demanded drummer for sessions, clinics, and drum festivals who is most well known for his work with the band Styx. On top of recording several top 50 albums with Styx and playing an average of 100 dates a year, Todd has recorded over 1,000 radio and TV spots and has worked with a wide variety of artists such as Peter Cetera, Brian Culbertson, Spinal Tap, Michael Bolton, and many more. Todd won the Modern Drummer Magazine Reader’s poll for #1 Educational DVD and #1 Rock Drummer in 2009, #1 Progressive Rock Drummer in 2015, and #1 Clinician in DRUM! Magazine in both 2009 and 2015.


Todd Sucherman has played thousands of rock shows, entertaining music fans around the world for decades. He’s a decorated clinician, winning multiple awards for his educational DVDs and enjoying a 20+ year tenure with the legendary rock band Styx.

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