“Its not about the click. It’s about music.”

Tommy Aldridge

Tommy Aldridge is larger than life – and it’s not just because of his insane showmanship or epic mop of curls.

His huge stage presence and punishing drumming have supported Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Pat Travers, Black Oak Arkansas and more. Rockstars have handpicked Tommy over the years for his groundbreaking, now-classic drum sound.

He was playing double bass runs before it was cool, and he’s proudly worn his heavy metal badge before many of us were born.

In this hour-long lesson, you’ll get breakdowns on key Whitesnake and Ozzy fills, find out what it was like working with Randy Rhoads (“You couldn’t make it heavy enough for Randy”), and watch the Bonham fan perform some of his favorite tunes.

You’ll hear how playing with amazing musicians helps you elevate your own game, and why “you don’t have to play 300 BPM to be successful.”

Oh, and if you’re a Drumeo member (or if you start a free 7-day trial here), you can get note-for-note transcriptions and practice tools to loop/slow down the track for thousands of songs, including the full Bark At The Moon album!

Lesson Outline:
0:00 – SONG: “Nowhere To Run” by Iconic
4:10 – Introduction
5:20 – Applying hand patterns to double bass
9:15 – The “Over The Mountain” drum fill
14:26 – Tips for double bass shuffles
18:40 – The “Bark At The Moon” drum fill
24:17 – SONG: “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake
30:00 – How Tommy approached the Whitesnake gig
34:45 – What it was like playing with Randy Rhoads
38:58 – Tommy Aldridge’s gear walkthrough 
42:21 – Hand drumming and showmanship
51:15 – Advice for young drummers
54:22 – SONG: “Enough Of Your Love” by Iconic

If you liked this lesson, watch Tommy break down Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” and Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again”!

Ozzy Osbourne, Yngwie Malmsteen, Ted Nugent, Gary Moore and Thin Lizzy could tell you what it was like working with larger-than-life drummer Tommy Aldridge.

But David Coverdale – Whitesnake’s recently retired frontman – has spent the most time with Aldridge, who has drummed for Whitesnake since 2013 and was a band member from 2003-2007 and 1987-1990.

“He’s a great and well-loved drummer,” Coverdale said in a 2013 interview, when Aldridge rejoined Whitesnake.

The wild-haired character is now 72 years old and playing better than ever. In this video, he breaks down Whitesnake’s banger “Here I Go Again”.

“A few different drummers have tackled this tune,” he says. The simple but fun tune has a “fat, wide, sassy groove that stays out of the way of the music. It’s a blast, believe me.”

The verse consists of a straight forward 8th note groove:

And once the chorus hits, the snare reverses so it falls on the 1 and 3 instead of the 2 and 4:

You don’t think Tommy would let the bridge be neglected, do you? It’s a much ‘drummier’ section:

While you might expect Whitesnake to save their biggest song for the end of their set, they didn’t:

“[“Here I Go Again”] always got the biggest response, but we always finished with “Still Of The Night”, which was for all the black death ninja dudes that wanted to hear something heavy. You’d think “Still Of The Night” was the biggest song, but “Here I Go Again” was definitely David Coverdale’s calling card.”

What do you think? Are you learning “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake? To get the full transcription, a drumless version and game-changing practice tools, start your free Drumeo trial now!

Former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Tommy Aldridge shows you how he played “Crazy Train” live. And it’s not what you’d expect!

“If anyone led me up the primrose path, it was Randy Rhoads.”

Tommy is known for many things – playing with Whitesnake, Motorhead, and Yngwie Malmsteen to name a few – but he arguably made some of his biggest impressions backing Ozzy Osbourne in the ’80s, joining Ozzy’s band for the 1981 Blizzard Of Oz tour and tracking drums on 1983’s Bark At The Moon and several live recordings.

A heavy-hitting rock guru through and through, you can imagine how Tommy translated Ozzy’s songs to the stage.

In this video, he walks you through some of the key “Crazy Train” components before playing the hit track. You’ll notice this performance is a lot more “drummistic” than Lee Kerslake’s original studio recording.

“The songs are so driving, they really play themselves” he says, adding that Ozzy guitarist Randy Rhoads was always asking for him to go heavier, so Tommy took a more “vicious, hair and teeth” approach with his live performances.

Fills, one-handed cymbal chokes, double bass licks…it’s not what you’re used to hearing on the “Crazy Train” recording. But you’re going to love it.

Did you know you can get the full transcription and drumless track for this song (and thousands of others) in the Drumeo members area? Get access to it all, plus handy practice tools, courses, documentaries and much more with a free 7-day trial.