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Exploring Indian Grooves On The Drums

Sarah Thawer  /  UPDATED Aug 25, 2022

When it comes to percussion, Indian music relies heavily on the use of a varied array of hand drums. However, over the last several decades, many drummers have studied and discovered ways to bring the drum-set to Indian music by transforming the rhythms to work in the context of a full kit – and that’s exactly what Sarah Thawer will teach you in this lesson.

Don’t be daunted by the title! Sarah’s approach to playing Indian rhythms on the drums is very modern and digestible for the average drummer. Don’t forget to download the PDF sheet music so you can follow along!

Lesson Index:
0:00 – “Building” by Sarah Thawer
3:15 – Introduction
5:38 – Rhythm #1a
7:15 – Rhythm #1b
10:28 – Rhythm #2a
12:00 – Rhythm #2b
13:10 – Rhythm #3a
14:14 – Experimenting with sound sources (#4)
16:06 – Rhythm #5
17:52 – Rhythm #6
19:27 – Adding a stack to the Kherwa (#7)
21:34 – Kherwa Fill (#8)
24:02 – Garba Groove (#9)
26:02 – Dadra Groove (#10)
28:40 – 6/8 Groove (#11)
30:59 – “GAIA” by Kaz Rodriguez

About Sarah:
Sarah Thawer has been making a name for herself since setting foot on stage to perform for the very first time when she was only 6 years old. A self-taught drummer at heart, Sarah has found great success by embracing the world of formal education, by studying jazz and world music at York University where she was the recipient of the Oscar Peterson Scholarship, the highest award given by the institution, in addition to graduating with the Summa Cum Laude distinction. All her accolades and work ethic have taken her to share a stage with world-class artists including AR Rahman, Ruth B, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, Del Hartley, and D’bi and the 333, just to name a few.

Sarah Plays:
Yamaha Drums
Zildjian Cymbals
Evans Drumheads
Vic Firth Sticks


Jared Falk is a lifelong drummer, drum teacher, and the co-founder of Drumeo. For over 18 years, Jared has been a leader in the online music education industry, publishing his first online video lessons in 2003 and founding Musora in 2005.

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