Esteemed author, talented drummer, and brilliant percussion teacher Elliot Fine has passed away. He died peacefully in his sleep on May 4th, 2012, after a long and brave battle with cancer.
Elliot was born on May 7, 1925, and grew up playing jazz and backing some of the idiom's greats.
He played for several big bands before serving in the army during World War II. After the war and his education, Elliot began teaching percussion while still playing nights for hotels and in the burlesque circuit.
He began subbing in the Minnesota Orchestra in the early '50s, which evolved into a full-time position that lasted over 40 years.
As a sought-after educator and author Elliot was prolific, contributing to the art several drumming texts.
He is perhaps best known to percussion students for the method book he co-wrote with Marvin Dahlgren called '4-Way Coordination', which was first published in 1963.
It is one of the most innovative and highly regarded of all drumset method books. '4-Way Coordination' was recently named as one of the 50 best percussion instruction books ever written by Modern Drummer magazine.
