Jim Chapin

James Forbes "Jim" Chapin was an American jazz drummer and the author of popular texts on jazz drumming, the first two volumes of which are Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol. I, and Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol. II.

In the early 1940s, Chapin began working on a drum instruction book that was eventually published in 1948 as “Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Volume I, Coordinated Independence as Applied to Jazz and Be-Bop.” This book has been known as "the definitive study on coordinated independence" for jazz drummers. After the release of the book, he carried a pair of drumsticks in his back pocket at all times in case he was called upon to demonstrate a particularly difficult passage so as to prove that every pattern in the book could be played. Still in print today, it became known among drummers simply as “The Chapin Book.”

From the 1940s through the 1960s, Chapin performed and toured with a variety of bands, including Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra and groups led by the likes of Mike Riley, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey and Tony Pastor. He also performed on occasion with his sons, Tom, Steve and the late Harry Chapin who was on a career high as one of the more notable singer-songwriters of the 1970s and a founding member of the World Hunger Year. And he led his own bands well into his 80s.

Many of the great drummers in the past 60 years have paid their dues with The Chapin Book, which is the much-imitated, standard work on the subject. In 1971, Chapin published “Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Volume II, Independence–The Open End”, a work subsidized by his son Harry. The book was a monumental undertaking that utilizes overlays to illustrate its complex points. In the preface of this work, Chapin admitted that even he could not play every pattern that is presented, thus getting him relieved of the demand to prove that everything printed can actually be executed. Volume II was considered ahead of its time nearly 40 years ago and it is still considered modern today.[citation needed] Some of Chapin’s techniques were captured on an instructional video first released in 1992 called “Speed, Power, Control, Endurance”, which is now available on DVD. In this video, Chapin spent the entire time on a practice pad, demonstrating the methods of his instructor, Sanford Moeller, of which he was evangelistic about and to which he attributed his longevity as a drummer. It was Mr. Chapin’s mission to get as many drummers as possible to utilize The Moeller Method to get the maximum results from the minimum effort, thus avoiding fatigue and injuries.

Chapin taught the Moeller Method of drumming to Dom Famularo, Cesar Zuiderwijk, Claus Hessler and Thomas Lang, as well as many other drummers over his 60-year career. Chapin was friends with drummer and fellow Moeller method users Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich.