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How Todd Sucherman Writes Musical Drum Solos

Todd Sucherman  /  Aug 12, 2022

Styx’s Todd Sucherman is known for writing delightfully musical drum solos. If you’ve ever wondered how to come up with rhythms that tell a story, watch this video!

You’ll see Todd play a solo (“Evening The Odds”) that transforms over time (things get especially cool around 3:06) and hear him break down some of his creative choices, including:

  • Why he phrased the 16th notes/flams section in groups of 5/5/3/3
  • How he took a note from Tony Williams to create ‘triads’ on the toms
  • …plus a samba-inspired moment and a double bass shuffle.

You can watch another epic Todd Sucherman drum solo here.

If you’d like to learn more about building drum solos, join Drumeo and watch Todd’s good friend Steve Smith’s course, “The Art Of Drum Soloing” (check out a free excerpt here).


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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