practice advice

[MtenkelyA1]

Hi everyone,
I'm quite green when it comes to drumming only been playing a year and i am wondering what are people doing for thier practice routine.

Thanks

Mark

[Goliath|Audio]

We are all reading this thread.

[PyroDano]

What helped me push my playing to the next level was playing many different styles Afro Cuban,Brazilian, Latin ect 2nd line,Cajun,zydeco even though I'm a hard rock drummer.
You can practice Rudiments to your hearts content.Play in your bedroom for 6-8 hrs a day ( i think we all go through these periods) But for me none of it came together until i started playing with as many different players,in as many styles as possible.Open mike nights,Jams, ect no matter how good or bad the players may be. Drummers collective helped me immensely as well

[deve]

I used to make a three month projection like "I will be playing this three months from now". And that would be my main focus during those months. I wasn't very strict about it but it helped me to nail some grooves and fill some gaps in my playing. Nowadays I am keen on seven and ten stroke rolls with singles. It looks like they are gonna keep me busy for a while.

[HeavyG]

The great Buddy Rich once said something that resonated with me...

"Practice? Nah. I wasn't that into practice. You only get better by PLAYING...playing music. "

I really dig the suggestion of playing to different styles of music. Make a playlist on your iPod that has flamenco, reggae, rockabilly, blues, jazz, etc....and just hit random play. Sometimes...try to minimize your playing to the point of just hitting your bass drum, hi hat or ride cymbal. Learn to GROOVE...create that rhythmic texture that makes your toe tap. Try to play entire songs without playing a fill....and play the groove so good that it doesn't need a fill. Distill your playing down to the simplest point...and build up from there...you would be amazed at how many drummers can not do this...their timing is all triggered from a shotgun right hand bashing the hi hat. See if you can do an entire song just tapping your left foot on the "and" (syncopated) of the beat with the hi hat...then add in the ride cymbal...bass drum...snare...etc. A lesson in independence and discipline...

[MtenkelyA1]

Thanks guys that helped alot im working on the groove its going quite well so far

[Jidis]

MtenkelyA1,

I may just be more paranoid than most, but one thing which has always helped me in making practice progress has been in keeping a practice setup on which you can comfortably play things that sound like crap. Endurance, feel, and things you'll get from playing music are way important too, but to build certain independence and technique you may need to struggle in ways that make experienced drummers sound like thirteen year-olds just the same. It's a really obnoxious instrument to play when you're screwing up the same pattern over and over, and having everybody hear all that stuff might encourage you not to do it and to play things that are easier or sound better. I started with a folding set of Remo pads for home, but have gotten into electronics more for practicing over the years.

[RobDrmz]

Yeah above all don't stop!

What I was always told is "..you really only get better by playing with musician's better than you. Come sit in."

I found that to help me with my drumming, build a sense of confidence, just falling into it, like Zappa said.

Set goals and achieve them. Enjoy life!

[mrmike186]

Play along with music CD's. Lots of fun and it's really all about playing music.

Record yourself. The tape machine doesn't lie!

Use a metronome. Develops a solid internal clock and evens things out. Seems to be common tool used by most of the great players.

[drumzealot]

Originally Posted by HeavyG

Sometimes...try to minimize your playing to the point of just hitting your bass drum, hi hat or ride cymbal. Learn to GROOVE...create that rhythmic texture that makes your toe tap. Try to play entire songs without playing a fill....and play the groove so good that it doesn't need a fill. Distill your playing down to the simplest point...and build up from there...you would be amazed at how many drummers can not do this...their timing is all triggered from a shotgun right hand bashing the hi hat.

Along these lines:

Here is an exercise that gets more difficult as the tempo and number of notes you play decrease which is backwards to most drummers.
Get a metronome that allows you to control the volume of various subdivisions. Set it at a very slow tempo with eight notes, quarter notes and whole notes turned up. Think of the eight notes as being quarter notes. This way the whole-note click with sound off every 2 bars.
Practice an ostinato, pattern, rudiment, beat…whatever. After you’ve locked in with the metronome turn the eight notes off so that only the quarter notes and whole notes are audible. After a while, turn off the quarter notes so that only the down beat is audible.
At this point you should be grooving with a click that only sounds off every 2 bars. At 50 BPM, that ain't much clicking.
The difficulty of this exercise increases as the quantity of notes you play decreases. In other words, if the pattern you choose to play consists of only whole notes played on the down beat, then by the end of the exercise you will only be playing when the metronome clicks. Now try this without any movement or sound at all between strokes, totally relying on your inner clock. If this sounds easy either you have an unusually good sense of time or you haven’t tried it.

To make this even more difficult, start with 16th notes acting as quarter notes and set the tempo really f-ing slow. . This way, at the last stage of the exercise, you will be playing to a click that sounds off every 4 bars.

[Jax]

Originally Posted by HeavyG

Learn to GROOVE...create that rhythmic texture that makes your toe tap. Try to play entire songs without playing a fill....and play the groove so good that it doesn't need a fill.

Steve Ferrone is the king of this, especially his work with Tom Petty. Anyone who wants to hear a great example of how to play with a BAND and never sound like you think you're more important than any other element... have a close listen!

[HeavyG]

Originally Posted by Jax

Steve Ferrone is the king of this, especially his work with Tom Petty. Anyone who wants to hear a great example of how to play with a BAND and never sound like you think you're more important than any other element... have a close listen!

brilliant

[drumzealot]

Originally Posted by Jax

Steve Ferrone is the king of this, especially his work with Tom Petty. Anyone who wants to hear a great example of how to play with a BAND and never sound like you think you're more important than any other element... have a close listen!

YES! A few other ego-free players:

Jim Keltner (even in settings where most drummers would "stretch-out" - like a jazz trio - he keeps it musical, understated, grooving)

Hal Blaine

[mrmike186]

Originally Posted by drumzealot

Along these lines:

Here is an exercise that gets more difficult as the tempo and number of notes you play decrease which is backwards to most drummers.
Get a metronome that allows you to control the volume of various subdivisions. Set it at a very slow tempo with eight notes, quarter notes and whole notes turned up. Think of the eight notes as being quarter notes. This way the whole-note click with sound off every 2 bars.
Practice an ostinato, pattern, rudiment, beat…whatever. After you’ve locked in with the metronome turn the eight notes off so that only the quarter notes and whole notes are audible. After a while, turn off the quarter notes so that only the down beat is audible.
At this point you should be grooving with a click that only sounds off every 2 bars. At 50 BPM, that ain't much clicking.
The difficulty of this exercise increases as the quantity of notes you play decreases. In other words, if the pattern you choose to play consists of only whole notes played on the down beat, then by the end of the exercise you will only be playing when the metronome clicks. Now try this without any movement or sound at all between strokes, totally relying on your inner clock. If this sounds easy either you have an unusually good sense of time or you haven’t tried it.

To make this even more difficult, start with 16th notes acting as quarter notes and set the tempo really f-ing slow. . This way, at the last stage of the exercise, you will be playing to a click that sounds off every 4 bars.

This is a great exersise that I use myself. One thing to be careful of is making sure not to rush the first part and slowing down just the last part before the click to match. I would recommend recording yourself to make sure it sounds even and applying the quarter/eighth/sixteenth notes click over the recording to really hear how the whole phrase shapes up or just listen to see if it flows.