Freddie grew up in the New York be-bop scene and gigged with Charlie Parker, among others.

He became friends with his roommate, fellow drummer Buddy Rich, and Freddie observed Buddy's "style, technique, and guts" and eventually based most of his teaching method on what he assimilated.

Freddie's student list was long and varied. It included such drum luminaries as Vinnie Colaiuta, Neil Peart, Steve Smith, and Dave Weckl.

At the Winter NAMM 2010 show Freddie was honored by Zildjian for his lifetime of achievement in the drumming world.

One teaching concept of Freddie's was to "have the drum stick be an extension of one's hand". It should be as natural as waving a cab or waving hello to someone on the street.

In a 1998 interview with Dutch drum magazine Slagwerkkrant, Freddie stated:

"What they want to learn from me? I still do not know. What I do know is that I can make something good even better and do that really well. That has nothing to do with technique, especially at this level. You do technique asleep. Technique is something to show. Put a nice frame around it and and hang it in your garage. Never look at it again. It's about skills. For convenience. To understand music. I think that's what I can: let someone play for three minutes, it can be anybody, and I know all about his phrasing, what he does with time and space, and the notes in it, his sound, his timbre and his pain. Three minutes. Boom. And from there we start working."

In the video below you can watch Freddie Gruber share some of his insights with Rush drummer Neil Peart, to give you an idee of why Freddie will be missed by the worldwide drumming community: