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Mike Portnoy is well established as one of today's top rock drummers. In thisarticle, we're going to take a look at some of the aspects of Mike's drumming

that have helped shape his impressive career.

One of Mike's favorite "tricks" involves different combinations of beats on the snare drum and toms, followed bytwo strokes with the feet. Here are three basic examples.

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Once you're comfortable with each pattern, try combining them together and orchestrate them around the toms.There are endless variations. Here's an example from the classic track "Pull Me Under" off of the disc Images &Words. (6:32)

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Now let's take a look at how Mike's drumming relates to Dream Theater's music. Mike and guitarist JohnPetrucci write most of the band's material together, and their collaboration has led to some magnificent arrange-ments. One technique they often use is called metric modulation. Metric modulation is a device that uses subdivi-

sions of the original pulse to shift to a faster or slower tempo, depending on how the subdivisions are grouped. Forthe following examples, the guitar rhythm is notated above the staff to illustrate the modulation.

In the track ''The Mirror" from the album Awake, the 16th notes in the guitar part are turned into 8th-note tripletswhen the drums enter. As a result, the dotted 8th note in the original tempo becomes the dotted quarter note afterthe modulation. (0:05)

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Mike modulates back to the original tempo a few measures later, with the dotted quarter note becoming the dot-ted 8th note. (0:13)

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To change things again, one 16th note is added to the measure, producing a bar of 17/16. Then Mike moves to adouble-time feel that follows the constant rhythm of the guitar. (0:34)

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IIJZf JZf JZf JZf JZf JZf JZf. Another example of metric modulation occurs in the song "This Dying Soul," from the album Train Of Thought.

First, Mike solos under the guitar riff for four bars. Then he modulates to a slower tempo with a deep, crunchy-. groove. Here the original quarter note becomes the dotted 8th note. (6:31)

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Mike is always exploring different ways to play over a guitar riff. In the Train Of Thought track "Honor ThyFather," he incorporates three different feels over the guitar ostinato. Initially the guitar sounds like it's phrased onthe beat until Mike establishes a double-time groove in the fifth bar. But the off-beat guitar phrasing isn't complete-ly apparent until Mike slams out the half-time feel in measure 9. (0:13)

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Dream Theater is known for their complex unison figures, and Mike always finds cool ways to playoff of them.In the instrumental track "Stream Of Consciousness," from Train Of Thought, the unison hits sound random. Butwhen Mike lays down a killer groove in the fifth bar, everything falls into place. (3:04)

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In the song 'The Dance Of Eternity," from the disc Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory, the unison figuresounds like the first four notes of a 16th-note triplet. However, once Mike comes in with the tom groove, the truerhythm is clear. (1:44)

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Mike also has many ways to spice up triple meters such as 12/8 and 6/8. Often times he uses the ride cymbal toplay syncopated rhythms while the bass drum and snare lay down a steady shuffle pattern. Here's an example fromthe title track of the album A Change Of Seasons. (10:31)

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And here's another example, which occurs in the song "Take The Time," from Images & Words. (3:00)

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The next two examples are both from the Images & Words track "Learning To Live." In Example 14, Mike shiftsthe snare to align with the ride cymbal. (7:37)

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Later on, he modifies one of his favorite off-beat ride patterns to fit over the time signature changes. (8:26)=

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The last aspect of Mike's playing we'll examine is how he implies a triplet feel (6/8 or 12/8) over a duple rhythm(4/4 or 6/4). These ideas are tricky, so be careful not to lose your place. In "This Dying Soul," there's a strong half-time feel in the first measure. Then, when the snare lines up with the guitar a few seconds later, the groove jumps toa 6/8 feel. (1:44)

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"Take The Time" also has some great examples of the concept, occurring at 1:03,4:37, and 8:01 respectively.Good luck!

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