Our four limbs, it's like a fighter facing four opponents, they each deserve a separate response and reaction until they are under control. When in doubt, fundamentals will always work things out. Thanks and Blessings Stephen!
58 years old - new to drums - played guitar and bass my whole life - always loved drums and with the new electronic kits I can do it in my house finally - getting all four limbs is fine but what this exercise showed me is trying to keep both feet in sync and alternating arms is a great way to get close to limb autonomy - that is my big sticking point. Thank you for this. Your videos are awesome.
I have found INCREDIBLE value in two of the tips you gave here. Practicing things at a slow tempo until my hands learn it has greatly increased my learning curve. I have also found that recording myself and watching it afterward has helped me to honestly evaluate my drumming. We all know how when you are at the kit you sound great, and professional to yourself, after all your are a drumming god in your own head. LOL But when you record yourself and then evaluate it afterward there are subtle things that you catch that you would otherwise not notice. This is where you may notice a really cool fill, or perhaps you will see that you have a habit of hitting a rim instead of the center of the tom. I find that seeing my drumming from a 3rd person perspective is helpful to being more proficient at playing with other people as well. Once again, when we are in the moment, with the adrenaline flowing, it can seem like we are playing like Neal Peart, but in actuality, we are banging way too hard, and practicing musical logorrhea. It is a simple tweak really, by practicing things at slow tempos, and recording yourself as you do, you can greatly improve your drumming sound and your enjoyment of the drums. I have played drums for over 45 years and only discovered these tips in the last 5 yrs but I am so glad that I did as it has opened many opportunities in my drumming for which I am most grateful.
Recording is stress and is a catalyst for weaknesses to me. If the camera is on I want to do a perfect playthrough and must remind myself to stay relaxed. Afterwards it gets even more uncomfortable as I can clearly see each and every Mistake. I love it! By seeing the weakness I can begin to take action against it and be a better drummer. And Recording prepares for going on stage. You get used to people observing you and perhaps criticising you afterwards, so you can stay more relaxed and don't tense up and make your drumming feel sloppy or stiff. Recording is a powerful tool! Thanks Stephen for this valuable lesson!
Today I recorded my self and yes I fully see the value. Embarrassing a little yes but I quickly got over it and was able to analyze my playing. What I took away from this first recording was my posture. I tend to slouch “old age I guess” but having good posture I have found is very important.
Are you a Virgo Sun good sir? Your ability to whittle the complexity down to basics, with also a keen skill in clearly speaking to sensory data is astounding.
Singer recorded the band at the last jam we attended. It revealed a lack of dynamics in too many snare hits, but phone mic made it sound worse than it really was. Still, my left hand is both getting the knack of keeping a back beat solid and doing ghost notes that groove. Then foot work, not losing the bass drum. I just saw a Drumeo on Jonathan Sugarfoot Moffett that helps focus that kind of thing. 5 years on kit, 30 years with hand drums I can sometimes lose my feet if I get too expressive with my hands.
Good stuff. Also do these unison exercises using every combination of two limbs and three limbs. And although the slow tempo is very valuable, i do them alternating between quarter notes and eighth notes after every few measures. More than anything, explore and have fun!
Now we're getting down to basics! I tried this, at 70 bpm playing on the 1 and 3. It went pretty well, but I could hear some imperfections in the recordings. For one thing, 70 bpm is pretty slow! It was challenging to play right on the click because there's so much time between clicks. I had to really focus. As far as my playing goes, if there was any limb that was out of sync it was my left foot. I could hear it flamming slightly from time to time in the recordings.
Dont confuse your self with what it means to play slow. If you have issues playing slow at 80bpm play slow at 160bpm. It's the same thing but would teach you how to hear slower.
Our four limbs, it's like a fighter facing four opponents, they each deserve a separate response and reaction until they are under control. When in doubt, fundamentals will always work things out. Thanks and Blessings Stephen!
58 years old - new to drums - played guitar and bass my whole life - always loved drums and with the new electronic kits I can do it in my house finally - getting all four limbs is fine but what this exercise showed me is trying to keep both feet in sync and alternating arms is a great way to get close to limb autonomy - that is my big sticking point. Thank you for this. Your videos are awesome.
I have found INCREDIBLE value in two of the tips you gave here. Practicing things at a slow tempo until my hands learn it has greatly increased my learning curve. I have also found that recording myself and watching it afterward has helped me to honestly evaluate my drumming. We all know how when you are at the kit you sound great, and professional to yourself, after all your are a drumming god in your own head. LOL But when you record yourself and then evaluate it afterward there are subtle things that you catch that you would otherwise not notice. This is where you may notice a really cool fill, or perhaps you will see that you have a habit of hitting a rim instead of the center of the tom. I find that seeing my drumming from a 3rd person perspective is helpful to being more proficient at playing with other people as well. Once again, when we are in the moment, with the adrenaline flowing, it can seem like we are playing like Neal Peart, but in actuality, we are banging way too hard, and practicing musical logorrhea.
It is a simple tweak really, by practicing things at slow tempos, and recording yourself as you do, you can greatly improve your drumming sound and your enjoyment of the drums. I have played drums for over 45 years and only discovered these tips in the last 5 yrs but I am so glad that I did as it has opened many opportunities in my drumming for which I am most grateful.
Recording is stress and is a catalyst for weaknesses to me. If the camera is on I want to do a perfect playthrough and must remind myself to stay relaxed.
Afterwards it gets even more uncomfortable as I can clearly see each and every Mistake.
I love it!
By seeing the weakness I can begin to take action against it and be a better drummer.
And Recording prepares for going on stage. You get used to people observing you and perhaps criticising you afterwards, so you can stay more relaxed and don't tense up and make your drumming feel sloppy or stiff.
Recording is a powerful tool!
Thanks Stephen for this valuable lesson!
I’m only 5 minutes in but dude, this is such good advice so far!
Today I recorded my self and yes I fully see the value. Embarrassing a little yes but I quickly got over it and was able to analyze my playing. What I took away from this first recording was my posture. I tend to slouch “old age I guess” but having good posture I have found is very important.
Brilliant, simple, first-principles advice. Thank you!!!
A house is only as sound as its foundation. And this is harder than you think.
When you hear fine playing, articulation isn't absent. Another good lesson here! Thank you.
Are you a Virgo Sun good sir? Your ability to whittle the complexity down to basics, with also a keen skill in clearly speaking to sensory data is astounding.
Singer recorded the band at the last jam we attended. It revealed a lack of dynamics in too many snare hits, but phone mic made it sound worse than it really was. Still, my left hand is both getting the knack of keeping a back beat solid and doing ghost notes that groove. Then foot work, not losing the bass drum. I just saw a Drumeo on Jonathan Sugarfoot Moffett that helps focus that kind of thing. 5 years on kit, 30 years with hand drums I can sometimes lose my feet if I get too expressive with my hands.
Your the best drum instructor online period. Love your channel❤
Great advice and lesson, thanks. I’m backing the bus up to do this for sure 🤘
Good stuff. Also do these unison exercises using every combination of two limbs and three limbs. And although the slow tempo is very valuable, i do them alternating between quarter notes and eighth notes after every few measures. More than anything, explore and have fun!
Now we're getting down to basics!
I tried this, at 70 bpm playing on the 1 and 3.
It went pretty well, but I could hear some imperfections in the recordings. For one thing, 70 bpm is pretty slow! It was challenging to play right on the click because there's so much time between clicks. I had to really focus. As far as my playing goes, if there was any limb that was out of sync it was my left foot. I could hear it flamming slightly from time to time in the recordings.
Thanks , this is really helpful and interesting
Wonderfull workout, thnx!!
Whew! Love this!
I practice on an e kit. Does this same exercise work? Will it translate to my real kit?
I think double stops should be the 4th rudiment. This is a great exercise.
I'm tight with the comments 🙌
So how long do we need to practice this each day?
"I practice unisons" :Tony Williams
half-speed playback can be a ruthless critic
Dont confuse your self with what it means to play slow. If you have issues playing slow at 80bpm play slow at 160bpm. It's the same thing but would teach you how to hear slower.
That I sound like some one has a gun to my head, IE tense ( recording on phone )
slow is smooth. smooth is fast
There is a filthy roach on your snare
Great drumming and great advise but my dude you need to eat more. I hope everything is ok with you.