The Pat Petrillo Clinic on Septemer 15, 2007

On Saturday, September 15 2007, we held our second drum clinic and our featured guest was none other than Pat Petrillo.  For those of you who are not familiar with Pat’s work, his credentials are long and impressive.  First of all, he teaches at the Drummers Collective in New York – an institute designed to train and educate tomorrow’s generation of the world’s best players. Pat has done numerous studio sessions and has gone on the road with greats like Gloria Gaynor, Patti LaBelle, Dee -Lite, Patti Smythe, and Glen Burtnik. His versatility extends to Broadway in New York City, having played such shows over the years as "A Chorus Line", "Grease", "Footloose" and "Dreamgirls". And finally, Pat recently released his new book and DVD pack titled “Hand, Grooves, and Fills”.

The clinic began at 7pm and Pat played to a full house. It was literally standing room only and we easily had over 80 people in our small shop. From end to end, our shop was full of enthusiastic drummers and their families. A lot of our loyal customers came out to support the clinic and of course, Pat had a lot of fans which came to the clinic also. One fan even tried to come from 5 hours away (in NC) but had to cancel plans at the last minute.

Pat opened up the clinic with a great solo which demonstrated his amazing skills. He played some amazing grooves, great fills, and broke off from time to time to play free-form segments. During his opening solo and throughout the night, he made it obvious that good hand technique was essential.

Owner Shane Fowlkes introduces Pat Petrillo.

Pat opens the clinic with a great solo.

Pat opens the clinic with a great solo.

Pat played on a brand new Mapex Saturn drum set (Laser Canary Finish) which looked and sounded amazing. The kit had only been in our shop for three days and was bought that same night.

More of Pat's opening solo.

Pat played to a full house at Just Drums.

Standing room only.

After his opening solo, he came out and discussed his unique Rudiment Tab System (in his book) and also introduced his new P4 Pad currently in development. The P4 Pad is a very unique 4-zone practice pad where the four playing areas are at different heights and the surfaces have different densities. This allows you to move from the different zones and you have to adjust to not only different heights but surfaces that will produce very different rebounds - very much like a drum set would. For example, a double stroke roll will feel much different on a floor tom than it would on a hi hat. This pad helps you train for that. The four zones feel and sound very different. I got to play on this pad (it was a proto-type) and I loved it. Just Drums will be carrying these pads for sure when they become available.

This section of the clinic was by no means an advertisement for his pad. The focus was definitely on hand technique and stick control. Pat had some of the cleanest and fastest hands I had ever heard. I've heard dozens of players play blazingly fast around their drum set but I've never seen anyone like this. He played a series of single stroke rolls, rhythms, and rudiments and neck breaking speeds. Most importantly, it was all with complete control. It was amazing and it received plenty of applause. He also demonstrated how one could "compose" a series of rudimental phrases easily by using his tab system - kind of a short hand way of writing and phrasing rudiments. Pat's hand technique is without a doubt in the same league as Morello and Rich in my opinion. And just for kicks, he goofed off a little and demonstrated some of his stick tricks and flips.

Pat's P4 prototype pad.

Stick flips.

Pat was eventually asked about his Zildjian cymbal set up and he described his choice of models and sizes - mostly Zildjian K Customs.

Pat answering questions about his Zildjian cymbals.

To wrap it all up, Pat played to several music tracks demonstrating dozens of music styles. He explained how it's important to "think outside of the box" and not to approach grooves so generic and so "2 & 4". He took everyday grooves and made them much more interesting and fluid. Honestly, it was easy to see why Pat gets called for so many session gigs. He took a variety of grooves, from a Beatles tune, to a fast Drums & Bass groove and made them very interesting.

Pat is definitely a master of the grooves. To say that he is one of those "groove players" is not at all accurate. Pat has serious chops and knows how and when to use them.

Pat demonstrating several groove styles and fills.

The clinic wrapped with a standing ovation. Everyone was thoroughly amazed, impressed, and entertained. It was awesome to have such a great performance and have so many loyal patrons in our humble shop. The traditional giving of door prizes followed and the prizes were graciously donated by Zildjian, Remo, and Hal Leonard. Of course, autographs and photos ended the clinic.

Pat and Zach - a Just Drums student.

Pat and "Rockstar" Nick - another student.

Pat and Harold Yager.

Pat and a winner of a Remo Pro Pack.

Pat and Sam Marshall.

Pat and the owner of a new Zildjian Flat Top Ride. Sweet!!

Pat and Traylor.

Pat and Sherman - a former student of Pat's.

Pat and Adam - a Just Drums student.

Pat and Glenn.

Pat and Brad Cambell - the owner of a new 6pc Studio Mapex Saturn drumset!

Pat and Just Drums family.

After an exhausting show, we broke down and packed up. We had temporarily stored our entire store's inventory in an empty retail space next to us and we had to move it all back. We wrapped up the evening with a very late dinner. It was a great and memorable evening.

I can't say enough good things about Pat. He's a great player, a great clinician, and an all around great guy. We had a successful weekend, a great clinic, and most importantly, we made a great friend. It was a true honor to have him as our second clinician. If you ever get a chance to check out Pat, you should do so. I highly also recommend his book & DVD "Hand, Grooves, and Fills".

Thanks for reading.
-Shane

I would like to thank my staff Scott Wells, Scott Milliron, Sean Combes, our families, Chris and Curtis Lawyer from Mad Elephant, and all of our loyal volunteers (Harold, Ryan, Nick, Adam, and Khalil). I would also like to thank Zildjian Cymbals, Remo drumheads, Hudson and Hal Leonard, Pat Petrillo and most importantly - everyone who came and supported us. Thank you.