How to Improve Your Drumming Skills
Get your basics right., Differentiate between practice time and jamming sessions., Track your progress., Create and maintain a practice log book., Experiment with alternative methods of practice and use alternative techniques., Understand the...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Get your basics right.
Practice and master basic drum rudiments like the single (RLRL LRLR) and double stroke rolls (RRLL LLRR).
Incorporate these in your practice routine, even if it feels monotonous because perfecting your basics is the key that helps you unlocks complex beats and play them with ease.
Many drummers, in their impatience to play complex rhythms fail to dedicate enough time to practicing the basics.
Because of this they never get the technique right and often sound like amateurs even after years of playing. -
Step 2: Differentiate between practice time and jamming sessions.
Your practice time needs to be a focused, solo ritual that gives you the space and freedom to experiment with different beats and rhythms as well as with different playing styles.
It allows you to work on and improvise your technique and practice the rudiments.
A jam session on the other hand is an opportunity for you to apply the techniques that you have been working on in your practice sessions Most drummers allocate enough time to jamming sessions but hardly reserve time for focused practice sessions.
Thus schedule different times for practice and for jamming.
And this will help you concentrate on developing your independent style, manage your speed and have better control on your feet and sticks., Having a catalogue of parameters to focus on will help you evaluate and track your progress.
This was a famous tip given by Benny Gerb.
When practicing a technique multiple times or a paradiddle for that matter, things can get extremely boring and you might find your concentration wavering, however if you constantly have a set of parameters that you can measure yourself against it will help you focus your attention and listen to the sound in order to master consistency.
Benny Greb in fact posed a few of the parameters to measure yourself with.
For example-how much less muscle motion can you use to get the same effect? How is it, time-wise? Do you breathe enough? Are you able to focus long enough or do you dream away? What do you think about? Things like that.
If you do all these things then it's the technique that I talk about it and it's much more than just moving your muscles., It is common for drummers to practice the same techniques, rudiments and grooves over and over without realizing.
The lack of experimenting actually kills creativity as you become accustomed to and comfortable with a particular set of beats, which you automatically resort to.
The best way to avoid this is to record your practice sessions and maintain a progress journal.
This will help you keep track of your problem areas and help you move from practicing what you already know to trying out different routines.
Remember your log book is also your personal music diary.
It will help you identify your problem areas and chances are once you know these you will be able to overcome them more easily in your next practice sessions. , Practicing on the drum set diligently and regularly is ideal but can get cumbersome and eventually lead to boredom.
Introducing a temporary aid or a new method into existing routines would help keep things interesting and motivate further development. , When first learning the swing beat, it is learnt in the basic triplet blues format.
This may then be extended into its eighth note relative for the more classic rock ballad vibe.
However, in order to understand the ‘feel’ of the swing, you should attempt to feel the swing in quarter note pulses.
This may result in the changes becoming more difficult to discern and force you to make minute changes in time.
Master drummers are usually be able to manipulate this feel and play their groove slightly ahead of the pulse to make the song sound more driven or play it just behind the pulse for a lazy groovy rhythm.
This technique requires solid foundation of your sense of time and practicing it helps a drummer incorporate a sense of groove and feel to support the song which even when played at blisteringly fast tempos, can help them keep the song in the pocket easily. , This is one of the best kept secrets of the industry.
It is said that both Thomas Lang and Virgil Donati practiced with ankle weights to develop their speed and control.
Try wearing weights as you practice the heels-up and heels-down.
Once you remove them after 20-30 minutes of practice, besides the floating feeling in your feet, you will also be much faster and more at ease on the pedals. , This lets you play doubles with ease, speed and precision that cannot be achieved without it.
Use it with two pedals to play double strokes , and on one pedal for quick hand to feet combinations., The secret of achieving single stroke speed on double pedals lies in finding the correct spot on both pedals.
It's like a fulcrum point or the balance point on a drumstick which ensures least amount of effort. It is important for both your feet to play the same balance point and not have one foot different than the other.
Practicing this will ensure that you are able to synchronize your singles at high speed, which most drummers find very difficult to do due to lack of feet synchronization early on. -
Step 3: Track your progress.
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Step 4: Create and maintain a practice log book.
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Step 5: Experiment with alternative methods of practice and use alternative techniques.
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Step 6: Understand the ‘feeling’ not just the feel of the music.
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Step 7: Use ankle weights to develop speed.
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Step 8: Use the heel-toe technique.
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Step 9: Master double bass synchronization.
Detailed Guide
Practice and master basic drum rudiments like the single (RLRL LRLR) and double stroke rolls (RRLL LLRR).
Incorporate these in your practice routine, even if it feels monotonous because perfecting your basics is the key that helps you unlocks complex beats and play them with ease.
Many drummers, in their impatience to play complex rhythms fail to dedicate enough time to practicing the basics.
Because of this they never get the technique right and often sound like amateurs even after years of playing.
Your practice time needs to be a focused, solo ritual that gives you the space and freedom to experiment with different beats and rhythms as well as with different playing styles.
It allows you to work on and improvise your technique and practice the rudiments.
A jam session on the other hand is an opportunity for you to apply the techniques that you have been working on in your practice sessions Most drummers allocate enough time to jamming sessions but hardly reserve time for focused practice sessions.
Thus schedule different times for practice and for jamming.
And this will help you concentrate on developing your independent style, manage your speed and have better control on your feet and sticks., Having a catalogue of parameters to focus on will help you evaluate and track your progress.
This was a famous tip given by Benny Gerb.
When practicing a technique multiple times or a paradiddle for that matter, things can get extremely boring and you might find your concentration wavering, however if you constantly have a set of parameters that you can measure yourself against it will help you focus your attention and listen to the sound in order to master consistency.
Benny Greb in fact posed a few of the parameters to measure yourself with.
For example-how much less muscle motion can you use to get the same effect? How is it, time-wise? Do you breathe enough? Are you able to focus long enough or do you dream away? What do you think about? Things like that.
If you do all these things then it's the technique that I talk about it and it's much more than just moving your muscles., It is common for drummers to practice the same techniques, rudiments and grooves over and over without realizing.
The lack of experimenting actually kills creativity as you become accustomed to and comfortable with a particular set of beats, which you automatically resort to.
The best way to avoid this is to record your practice sessions and maintain a progress journal.
This will help you keep track of your problem areas and help you move from practicing what you already know to trying out different routines.
Remember your log book is also your personal music diary.
It will help you identify your problem areas and chances are once you know these you will be able to overcome them more easily in your next practice sessions. , Practicing on the drum set diligently and regularly is ideal but can get cumbersome and eventually lead to boredom.
Introducing a temporary aid or a new method into existing routines would help keep things interesting and motivate further development. , When first learning the swing beat, it is learnt in the basic triplet blues format.
This may then be extended into its eighth note relative for the more classic rock ballad vibe.
However, in order to understand the ‘feel’ of the swing, you should attempt to feel the swing in quarter note pulses.
This may result in the changes becoming more difficult to discern and force you to make minute changes in time.
Master drummers are usually be able to manipulate this feel and play their groove slightly ahead of the pulse to make the song sound more driven or play it just behind the pulse for a lazy groovy rhythm.
This technique requires solid foundation of your sense of time and practicing it helps a drummer incorporate a sense of groove and feel to support the song which even when played at blisteringly fast tempos, can help them keep the song in the pocket easily. , This is one of the best kept secrets of the industry.
It is said that both Thomas Lang and Virgil Donati practiced with ankle weights to develop their speed and control.
Try wearing weights as you practice the heels-up and heels-down.
Once you remove them after 20-30 minutes of practice, besides the floating feeling in your feet, you will also be much faster and more at ease on the pedals. , This lets you play doubles with ease, speed and precision that cannot be achieved without it.
Use it with two pedals to play double strokes , and on one pedal for quick hand to feet combinations., The secret of achieving single stroke speed on double pedals lies in finding the correct spot on both pedals.
It's like a fulcrum point or the balance point on a drumstick which ensures least amount of effort. It is important for both your feet to play the same balance point and not have one foot different than the other.
Practicing this will ensure that you are able to synchronize your singles at high speed, which most drummers find very difficult to do due to lack of feet synchronization early on.
About the Author
Charles Freeman
A passionate writer with expertise in organization topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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