What You

Actually
Need to
Know on the
Drums
•
The 4 Most Important
Skills, Boiled Down into a
Short Booklet
Table of Contents
-

Basic Hand Technique 1

Coordination 2

Time/Dynamics 3

Listening 5

How to Make Your Drums Sound Good 6

How to Make MORE Progress in LESS Time 11

How Can I Follow a Practice Routine Without 18

Getting Bored??

Glossary of “Terms” 20

Blank Charts You Can Use 23

Copyright 2019 by Stephen Clark.

All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced nor transmitted by any form
without the prior written permission of the author.

If you find this content to be valuable and worth sharing, please direct others to purchase a
copy (through the means by which the author has made it currently available). This book
may be small, but a good deal of time and hard work went into creating this document.
Thank you for your support, and thank you in advance for your honesty!

Most of this publication is based upon the author’s knowledge and experience on the
subject. Although some topics presented do enter into the realm of subjectivity (this is
music, after all), they are presented in the most accurate, correct way possible as it relates
to drumming.

Although the author has made every reasonable attempt to ensure complete accuracy, he
claims no responsibility for any errors or omissions discovered in this document.
 This booklet is for YOU!!
If you’ve downloaded this booklet, chances are there are some things that are
true about you:

1. You want to spend less time practicing and more time making progress.

2. You want to know exactly what to practice so that you can accomplish #1.

3. You want to be able to play what you hear in your head.

4. You want to be able to play naturally and more fluidly, maintaining solid time.

5. You want to be more ambidextrous.

6. You want to make your drums sound better.

7. You’re overwhelmed with the amount of complex content out there on the
internet telling you what to practice, and you’re hoping that this booklet will
simplify things a little.

8. You want to be able to play with other musicians, improvising and making
music as a group.

This booklet won’t provide ALL the answers... After all, it’s about a 10 minute
read designed to skim the surface and get you on track to getting results.
But that’s the point - To get on track actually working toward the skills that
you desire in your playing. Each section ends with an “action step,” which is
a specific action you can take in your practicing to implement what you’re
learning. Learn exactly what you need to work on, so that you can work
more efficiently and reach your goals sooner. That’s the key to being a solid,
Non Glamorous Drummer!

Let’s get started!

 BASI(HAN#IHNIQUE
Having good hand technique is the single
most important fundamental skill to have as
a drummer. You can work, work, and work
some more at every other rudiment or lick
out there and still never get to where you
want to be if your wrist and fingers aren’t
doing what they’re supposed to do. The
unfortunate truth is that so many aspiring
drummers skip this step because they want
to move on to the fun stuff. To be
completely honest though, the fun stuff is
significantly more fun if you learn it from
the foundation of good technique. So
enough of that. What is good hand
technique, anyway?
Having good “grip” really has more to do with
what you aren’t doing than what you are
doing. It’s easy to squeeze the sticks too
tight or let your arms do the heavy lifting.
Holding your sticks correctly really just starts
with being relaxed. Hold your sticks so
loosely and lazily that your hand is actually
very “open.” The magical thing that happens
now is that your stick is free to move the way
it wants to, reducing the work that your body
actually has to do. To complete this
relaxation, practice moving your arms as little
as possible, letting almost all the motion
happen from your wrists. This is the key to
speed, control, and fluidity around the kit.
Make this something that you work hard at
every day, taking priority over any rudiments
or exercises. Use whatever exercise you’d
like to practice this, but remember that the
concept and the skill are more important than
whatever exercise you use to get there.

Make a conscious, consistent effort to

grip your sticks loosely. Make sure that
they are resting between your thumb
and first finger, with your other fingers
loosely wrapped around. Make sure the
stick is free to move within your hand

ACTIONSTEPI
as you play, especially when playing
loudly. Remember that as mundane as
this step seems, it is absolutely crucial
that you master this in order to make
the progress you’d like to make on the
drums.
These photos are actually screenshots from some high frame rate footage of me playing loud
singles on a practice pad. Your hand doesn’t have to look identical to mine, but you do want to
achieve a lot of “looseness” in your hand, letting the stick rest between thumb and first finger. You
also want to open up your hand to allow for maximum rebound after hitting the pad/drum.
Co0RDIN_ATI0N
In order to play drums well, you
obviously have to achieve
independence between limbs. I don’t
know exactly what place you’re starting
from as you’re reading this, but it’s safe
to say that you desire to become more
ambidextrous on the kit, and you want
for your limbs to be able to actually play
what your brain tells them to play.
MUSIC
over
EXERCISES
ACTION STEP
-
Practice playing grooves between
your feet (right foot on kick, left foot
playing snare part, right hand keeping
time on the ride). Gradually make the
grooves more syncopated and
interesting, to really push that brain-
to-foot communication. If you’re
feeling adventurous, practice slow
paradiddles between the kick and the
hats (left foot). This exercise works
surprisingly well to free up the left
foot.
# 1
There aren’t any secret exercises that will
magically develop your coordination. It
takes time and patience, which also makes
it super important to practice this skill
musically. What I mean is this: If you drown
yourself in exercises in order to increase
your coordination, you could become so
burned out that you lose patience with the
entire process. Play along to your favorite
songs, gradually piecing together the
grooves that you’re hearing on the record.
Yes, you can work through numerous
books that will help to take your
coordination to the Jazz/Latin level. But if
you’re a beginner, this isn’t something you
should be focusing on yet. Practice basic
grooves, even if it leaves your left foot out
of the mix. As you master grooves, try
voicing them differently on the kit by
switching out the snare (left hand) for the
hihat (left foot) instead. In other words, play
the same groove, but play the snare part
with your left foot. You’ll get a cool “back-
and-forth” kick/hihat pattern happening,
which will quickly help to coordinate your
left foot.
# 2
As your left foot becomes more
coordinated, try keeping time on the
hats by playing “heel-up” with your
left foot. Use a steady bouncing
motion to keep time, regardless of
whether you’re actually playing the
hihats. Practice adding a quarter or
eighth note time-keeping pulse to a
groove.
z
TIME/DuNAnIC=
I mentioned playing along with
recordings a minute ago, but that can
easily become frustrating if you feel like
you’re unable to stay on track with the
drummer on the record. If you’re getting
your hand technique / grip together,
you’re making progress on your
coordination, but you’re still having
trouble with time… this next step will
At this point, playing with solid time actually
has more to do with listening than anything
else. We’ll talk more about different aspects
of listening next, but for now we’re basically
talking about listening to ourselves as we
play. Beyond the obvious tips of “practice to
a metronome,” or “play along to your
favorite records,” we need to understand
the core, internal method of timekeeping.
What is a solid drummer actually doing or
thinking through as he’s playing in order to
achieve that near-perfect time?

hopefully get you on the right track.

The key point to grasp here is that playing

IQs with good time isn’t “listening well to the

click” or “focusing super hard on the drums
on the recording I’m playing to.” The most

ACTI0NSTEP_ # / important aspect is that you’re listening to

Set your metronome to 60bpm, and play
a slow groove along with it. (You could
set your metronome to 120bpm instead
if you find it difficult to play with the
yourself because you know exactly what
good time feels like. Don’t glue yourself to
the metronome so much that you aren’t
hearing what you’re actually playing. If this
sounds more mystical than concrete, I get it.

-
slow 60bpm click. Still play a slow This is a topic we can spend a lot of time
groove, though.) Play a super basic on, no pun intended. To get started learning
groove along to it - any kind of groove this skill, try THIS exercise:
that is simple. Keep time on closed hats.
As you’re still keeping time with your
right hand, adjust the metronome to (Most metronome apps will let you
play “less.” (Set it to play on only beats 1 do what I’m about to talk about -
and 3, instead of 1, 2, 3, 4.) Keep the my personal favorite is the “Frozen
groove going a little longer. If you’re still Ape TEMPO” app.)
staying with the metronome, re-adjust
the metronome to play even less (only
clicking on beat 1).
At this point, you get the idea. The goal here is to wean yourself off of the
metronome. You’ve probably heard of this exercise before; it’s definitely nothing new
or revolutionary. However, doing this consistently every time you practice teaches
your ear to focus less on the clicking of the metronome and more on the sounds
you’re making on the drums. This teaches you to maintain solid time…even without
a click or recording playing in your ears. Practice this exercise at different volumes
as well, even altering your dynamics during the exercise.

.
 ACTI0NSTEP_ # 2
Let’s take this discussion of “time” a little further. Most of the time, playing with good
time alone doesn’t automatically make a groove feel right. The groove has to be played
with the right dynamic and the right “kit balance.” Here’s something very specific that
you can implement in all of your playing...

Hit your drums hard and your cymbals lightly.

We could actually stop right there because that statement sums it up pretty well. Go
light on your hihats, but hit the snare hard. Go light on the crashes, but give the toms
some energy. Be sure to keep the kick drum strong to give the groove a solid
foundation. Test this by recording yourself. If you balance your kit right, it should
actually sound good even if you record it with your phone. The cymbals shouldn’t be
overwhelmingly piercing, and the drums should sound strong and punchy. Strive for
this kind of sound, regardless of whether you’re playing loud or soft. Maintain this
“dynamic ratio” between instruments on the kit.
"

"
pYhfAn¥¥
'

SOFT

Isn t
'

KICK LOUD
It’s also worth mentioning that we’re talking about dynamic ratios in a rock context. If
we were playing Jazz or Latin, most likely the cymbal and/or hats would be driving the
groove. That’s a totally different story! Since most of us are playing mostly rock, funk,
blues, R&B, country, or anything that’s “rock-based,” it’s safe to say we can generally
adhere to this particular “dynamics pyramid.”
4
 LIsTENINf

#
We talked a little bit about listening just
now, but in this section we’re moving on to
the “funnest” kind of listening. I’m going to
suggest you do something that you may
find strange, and that some may disagree
with. However, I credit this method with
helping me consistently grow in my playing
and my ability to listen to other musicians
as I play.

Spend more time listening to music than playing your drums. WAIT WHAT?? One of the
biggest frustrations among new drummers out there (especially self-taught drummers) is
the “I don’t know what to play!” problem. How do you learn “what to play”? By listening to
the best drummers in the world show you what to play! Listen to any great records - pick
your favorites. If you don’t have any favorites, do a google search on some of the top
records of all time. Listen to ANY of them, from any era or style you prefer.

The next step here is simply to listen, listen, listen. Don’t immediately jump on your kit and
start jamming along (you can do this if you’d like, but I don’t want you to sacrifice your full

ACTIONSTEPS
ability to simply listen to the music). Right now we’re talking about being a sponge and
absorbing as much music as you can. Listen to the songs. Listen to the vocal and how it
fits with the other parts. Listen to the drums and how the drummer tells a story with his
parts throughout the song. Pay attention to how everything FEELS (speaking of teaching
yourself what playing with good time feels like). Learn the parts the drummer plays so that
you can play them back in your head. At that point, you can then go sit down and
practice, then translate the things you’ve heard to the kit.

Taking this approach ensures that you will grow your music vocabulary, learn “what to
play” and “how to play it”, be musical, and accelerate your path toward “musical
maturity.”

Pick a favorite record, and sit down with a pair of headphones or with a good set of
speakers. Listen in detail through the whole record. You can do this in the car,
although that’s not the ideal listening environment. If you can devote an hour to
focused listening, that hour will pay off in your playing more than an hour of rudiment
practice will. If it’s an album you like, listen to it all the time. Get those musical parts
floating in your head all the time. As you’re practicing and playing, some of that
musical vocabulary will start to naturally come out in your playing.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR DRUMS SOUND GOOD
-
Nothing is more frustrating and
uninspiring than a terrible-sounding
drum set. However, we all start out with
pretty average, even low-budget drum
sets that don’t sound extraordinary.
While cheap cymbals will always be
cheap cymbals, cheap drums can be
optimized to sound surprisingly great.
My kit that I use in all the videos, on
most gigs, and in all my practice is a
pretty cheap kit that probably isn’t
worth more than $500. It sounds pretty
decent, though, because I’ve made an
effort to work off of its strengths.
Here are the elements that most
prominently affect the sound of a drum,
in order of importance:
The drummer
The head (batter and resonant)
The muffling (or lack thereof)
The rim/hoop
The shell
I didn’t list that first point in order to be
sarcastic or snarky - I really mean that.
The way that a drum sounds has a lot to
do with how you hit it.
Be sure to strike your toms in the center
(or slightly off center if you want a tad
more resonance - especially from a floor
tom), and make sure that the drums are
angled in such a way as to allow you to hit
the head square-on so that the stick isn’t
“scraping” across the drum head. Doing
this alone will get you on the right track to
achieving good drum sounds. Beyond
that, simply focus on listening to yourself
and being honest with how your drums
are sounding.
You can check your progress at this over
time… Look at your drum heads and
notice where the stick marks are. If they’re
all within a 2 or 3 inch radius of the center,
nice work! Furthermore, if the marks are
all tiny, that’s a very good thing as well. If
you’re seeing wide, long, scrape-like
marks, you know that your sticks haven’t
been making “square-on” contact with the
drums. The better you hit your drums, the
smaller the marks will be.
6
As Far As Tuning Goes...
There may be an “ideal” set of heads out there for your
kit, but that’s up to you to find. Any heads made by

35
4.
f:
Remo, Evans, or Aquarian will be fine. Any details further
than that are up to your personal taste, which you’ll
>
figure out as you go along. When you tune your drums .

(any drums), first try to get all the lugs even in tension.
Begin to tighten them by finger-tightening, literally using
your fingers to twist the screws. This helps get them
started in an even fashion. From there you can grab the
6 .

key and begin tuning in quarter-turns or half-turns,

making sure that you’re adjusting each lug equally. Work
in a “star” pattern, always going to the lug across the
drum from the one you just did.
.

.
3
8
At this point you have your drums “in tune with
themselves,” which forms a starting point from which
you can then choose the pitch. There aren’t a lot of right-
or-wrongs as we get into this territory, and there’s a lot of
subjectivity and grey area. I’ll just suggest a solid
starting point, and you can make adjustments from
there.

P FEEL T
TOPHEADTOFEEL
(roushpitif
( and roughly to pitch ) ,

BOTTOM HEADTOTONE Tone ,

San
'

( quality ) Quality
;±AfH
sand

7
 SNARE
I like to tune the top head of my snare somewhere
in the middle, maybe lower depending on what
I’m playing. Generally, a “good” snare sound
these days just consists of a medium-tuned top '
C
head, though this completely depends on the PITCH I
music that you’re playing. Tune the bottom head
pretty tight so that you achieve maximum Tight
sensitivity with the snare wires. You want your
snares to pick up every detail of what you play.
for sensitivity #
As for the snare wires themselves, start out with
medium-loose. There’s often a sweet spot that
provides a good, natural response.

KICK
If you’re going for a rock sound, tune
Butter fairly low. However, don’t go so low that
to Reso you lose tone, and don’t over-muffle. I
FEEL to like to do a low-medium tuning on both
heads, making sure the drum has a
good, low hum. I then insert a folded
TONE towel that I set against the batter head.
You don’t actually have to tune a kick
insanely low to get low end. Because of
the drum’s size, you’ll achieve low end
no matter what as long as you’re not
tuned high.

TOMS
Tune the top heads to where you like the feel. I '
prefer the medium/low-medium range. Then
adjust the resonant heads until you have the type ( Top to
of tone that you’re looking for. Too high and the
feel /pitch
drum will choke out and lose body. Too low and
the drum might have too much growl. If you’re

sign
For desire {
aiming for best resonance and “fullness,” go "

somewhere in the middle. This takes a lot of

experimentation, because every kit is different. "

Everyone’s musical tastes are also different, so I

can’t tell you a right or wrong way to do this.

8
Let’s Wrap This Up…
Circling back up to the list of “elements affecting the sound of a drum,” you may have
noticed that only one of those is an element that you can’t change without buying new
drums:

:
The drummer
The head
The muffling
The rim/hoop
The shell ?

:
(1) You can optimize your playing, and you can strive to make good sounds by hitting well.

(2) You can put any heads on your kit, and you can tune them well.

:
(3) You can alter your sounds by using muffling.

(4) You can replace a rim or hoop with a different type or material that will alter the sound of
the head.

. shell type, which is the least important of the five and the only
That leaves us with #5,
element we’re actually stuck with on a kit.

If we want to think about this mathematically, we could say that you can make an 80%
improvement to any drum set by improving four out of the five elements. That’s worth
shooting for!

9
Taking It To The Next Level

We could definitely go much more in depth with these topics than we went
here in this short e-book, but hopefully this booklet has gotten the ball
rolling for you and has given you solid direction for developing skills on the
drums that REALLY WORK.

Let’s take the next step!

I’d love to work with you through the full “5 Qualities of a Great Drummer” video
course. Here we go waayy in depth with these super important topics, spending
over 6 hours gaining a real understanding of the drumming skills that matter most.

Here’s What the Course Does...

.
Streamline your practicing.
.
Increase your vocabulary.
.
Play more fluidly and naturally around the kit.
.
Improvise with a creative vocabulary.
Play tastefully and naturally on great sounding drums.
: Find that deep satisfaction in accomplishing something great on an instrument!
Check it out
TheNonGlamorousDrummer.com/the-video-course ← HERE
!
RIGHT
How to Make MORE Progress in LESS Time...
-

The following section is basically a “Practical

Application” of everything we’ve talked about so far. It’s
now time to take what you’ve learned and start practicing
it! Often this is easier said than done...until now.

These next few pages are essentially a collection of

guidelines and suggestions for how to organize your
practice time for maximum effectiveness. Use these
charts to create your own “perfect practice session,” and
remember to stay flexible and not be too hard on yourself.

Have fun!
•

It
Practice Session Method #1:
Full Drumset (No Noise Restraints)
Method #1 assumes you have a full drum set and practice space at your
disposal. You’re able to play at whichever volume you choose without
bothering anyone. This is obviously the ideal situation, although you can still
benefit from some pad practice that focuses on hand technique.

Since we’re on a real kit, we might as well spend lots of time working on
things we can only work on when at the kit. I’ve divided these times out to
provide more time for musical-practice and songs than for pad exercises. You
could choose to leave out pad practice altogether, saving that for a time that
you’re away from your kit or you have to practice quietly.

Full
Drum
Kit 12
 €⇐
Practice Session Method #1: Full kit & practice space are available

- - - - . - -
.

y
- -

→ → →
① ② ③
I TECHNIQUE / MUSICALITY I SONGS /

EXERCISES → APPLICATION → REAL -

WORLD

Practice Pad Drum Kit Drum Kit

Hand Exercises
Coordination
Listening

Technique / Grip
Grooves
Time (locking in with a
Rebound
Fills
recording)

Time
Navigating Around the Dynamic Consistency
Staying Relaxed Kit Smoothly
(making sure every
Hitting the Drums Well backbeat is the same
(getting good sounds)
volume)

Time
Fills / Vocabulary

Dynamics
Feel

Feel
Sounds (developing
Ergonomics musical drum sounds)

m
*By the way, the green arrows
up at the top of these method
sheets aren’t there to remind
you to recycle. I put them there
to remind you (and remind
myself!) that all three of these
areas of practice work together.
Each one influences the other,
and it’s important to always go
back and work on all three
areas.

13
Practice Session Method #2:
Full Practice Kit or E-Kit (noise constraints)
Method #2 assumes that you have some sort of kit at your disposal, although
it’s not a full-on, full-volume acoustic kit. This is perfectly fine for practicing
grooves, fills, time, dynamics, songs, you name it (pretty much). The only
things you can’t really work on are “getting good sounds” (making sure to
tune well and hit the drums right), as well as some of the nuances and
subtleties associated with acoustic drums. You CAN work on dynamics,
however, as long as you’ve turned the kit off (in the case of an e-kit) and
you’re making sure to listen to how hard you’re hitting the pads and cymbals.

If you’re practicing on an e-kit, don’t give

E-Kit
yourself a false sense of how good you’re
sounding by listening to the electronically
produced sounds through your
headphones. Take the headphones off,
turn the kit off, and pay attention to your
velocities and how you’re hitting things.
This is the best way to achieve semi-

Or
realistic practice on a non-realistic setup.
That’s not to say you can’t turn it back on and jam out
every now and then. Just don’t make a habit of “not really
hearing yourself” when you practice. It’s important to hear
and feel how hard or light you’re hitting.

& Practice
I chose to allot the most time out of the 30 minutes to the

Kit
middle section of basic kit practice. Might as well save the
majority of pad practice for a separate time when you’re
away from your kit (if you prefer). You can spend more
time than I wrote on the 3rd section also. The reason I
gave less is because we’re leaving out the practice of
“getting good sounds” that we’d be doing on a full kit.

14
 €
Practice Session Method #2: E-Kit / Practice kit available (noise constraints)

C-
- - - - . - -
.

y
. -

→ → →
① ② ③
/ TECHNIQUE / MUSICALITY / SONGS /

EXERCISES → APPLICATION → REAL -

WORLD

Practice Pad Practice Kit Practice Kit / Away

from the Kit
Hand Exercises
Coordination

Technique / Grip
Grooves
Listening

Rebound
Fills
Time (locking in with a
Time
Navigating Around the recording)

Staying Relaxed Kit Smoothly

Dynamic Consistency
Time
(making sure every
Dynamics
backbeat is the same
Feel
volume)

Ergonomics Fills / Vocabulary

Feel

Tm Ism
8M

IS
Practice Session Method #3:
Practice Pad & Sticks are Only Available Tools
Method #3 assumes you have nothing but a practice pad and a pair of sticks.
Not a problem! You can get a surprising amount of productive practice done
even with this simple setup. (Also, if you’re a beginner, there’s absolutely no
shame in just practicing on a pad for a little while before purchasing a kit.
That’s not an investment you want to dive straight into immediately anyways.)

Naturally, the “pad practice” segment is weighted more heavily for this
method. You can still work on coordination via tapping your feet on the floor,
and you can get creative with finding extra surfaces to play on. You can
actually build some pretty decent coordination by practicing this way...even
without a kit.

Practice
My suggestion for working on

Pad
songs is to spend more time just
listening to the music than
playing along. In my experience,
I’ve gained a LOT of necessary
listening skill just by listening
closely to great recordings. Sure,
you can play along on your pad,
but don’t underestimate the

Only
power of listening by itself. This
is something you can do
anytime, away from the sticks as
well.

16
 €
Practice Session Method #3: No drumset or practice kit - Just pad & sticks

1①→
C-
- - - - . - -
.

y
. -

→ →
② ③
TECHNIQUE / MUSICALITY / SONGS /

EXERCISES → APPLICATION → REAL -

WORLD

Practice Pad Practice Pad Practice Pad / Away

from the pad
Hand Exercises
Coordination

Technique / Grip
Dynamics Listening

Rebound
Charting Songs

Time
Writing out Grooves /
Staying Relaxed Fills

Building “Mental”
Musical Vocabulary

12M Nm 8M

17
How Can I Follow a Routine Every
Day Without Getting Bored??
The next page is a simple chart you can use to organize your day-to-day
practicing. Whether or not you practice 4 days out of the week, you can use
these guidelines to create a balanced routine.

(6 days a week is ideal, but most of us are doing good to get

in 3 or 4. I think four serious 30 minute practice sessions per

=
week is a great goal.)

I’ve also highlighted which of the 3 categories I’m preferring to focus on most
each day. Although you can follow a steady amount of practice from each
category if you like, I find it beneficial to shake things up a little throughout the
week.

For instance, Day 1 is a technique-heavy day, but I’m moving toward more
“musical,” “song” practice on Day 3. I like to reserve at least one day of the
week (whether or not it’s actually the fourth day) for picking a “favorite” category
and focusing on that solely. This can be very helpful if there’s a particular area of
practice that’s bothering you, or maybe there’s something challenging that you
need to spend extra time on. Whether you work on a song that day, or you just
continue to perfect your grip, make that last day dedicated to something
specific.

An alternate method would be to treat the final day of each week as a “recap,”
where you make sure to practice a little bit of everything. That’s fine, too, and
you could even do both of these methods on separate days. The point is - There
are a lot of approaches to organized practicing. Find what works for you. The
most important thing is to make sure you’re consistently practicing the things
you NEED to practice.

SIDENOTE: Don’t just practice the “fun” things that you’re good
at. Always strive to challenge yourself, working on the things you
know don’t sound good. You need to not sound good in your
practicing, that way you can sound great at the gig.

18
Practice Schedule Based on a 4-Day Week:

DAY # I DAT # 2

Technique Improve Loose Technique Work on a more

Grip natural rebound

Musicality Musicality
Navigating around

the kit smoothly

Songs Songs

DAY #3 DAY #
4

Technique Technique
PIACK
CATEGORY
Work solid time
Musicality Musicality
to
on

and dynamic
consistence focus ON .

Songs Songs

( )
"
Practice not "
rushing RECAP DAY
the X
groove in
song .

Work on fill also .

19
Glossary of “Practicing Terms:”
. Hand Exercises: Doesn’t have to be complicated. Something as simple as slow

=-
I

singles on your pad works (slow, repetitive hits, one after another). Start with one
hand at a time, then practice alternating hands as well (RLRL-RLRL).

Technique/Grip: Make sure you’re holding your sticks loosely and not squeezing
too tight...Yet make sure to keep your fingers wrapped around. This is a tricky
balance to find, but it’s well worth focusing on as you play singles on your pad.

Rebound: If your grip is “working,” your rebound will look great as well. Make
sure that the sticks are freely bouncing up every time you hit the pad. If they’re
not, then something your hand is doing may be inhibiting the motion.

Time: Time is inherently “worked on” when you’re practicing anything, so long as
you’re playing with a metronome. Make a habit of practicing with a metronome all
the time. You can find some good ones on the App Store.

. Staying Relaxed: Constantly remind yourself to RELAX while you play. Every part
I

of your body needs to be relaxed. Any “tenseness” will come out in your playing,
and it will damage your ability to play smoothly, consistently, and with good time.

. Coordination: Practice basic grooves, and work on playing one combination of

I

notes with one hand while playing another with the other hand (i.e. - 8th notes
with left hand while playing quarter notes with right foot).

Grooves: Take a favorite groove from a favorite song, and practice playing it
(simply put!).

Fills: Find a favorite fill (also from a favorite song) and practice it until it feels
great. Start with something simple, because you may actually learn more getting
a slow fill feeling good compared to a fast one.

Navigating Around the Kit Smoothly: As you’re practicing grooves and fills,
simply practice playing slow singles around the kit. Keep your grip loose and
your motion open (same as you’ve done practicing on the pad).

. Hitting the Drums “Well:” This encompasses a lot of subtleties, most of which we
T

can’t cover here. But to sum it up...Be sure to hit the drums consistently in the
middle, and make sure your snare backbeat (every 2&4) sounds the same each
time.

20
 Dynamics: This is also one of those topics that encompasses a lot of minute

=
skills. At a basic level, practice playing loud AND playing soft. Practice gradually
getting louder (without speeding up) and gradually getting softer (without
slowing down).

Feel: This topic is a bit illusive, because there are several ways to define good
“feel.” However, here’s a good starting point: This is really the culmination of
good time and good dynamics, so as you’re playing, listen to yourself. Ask
yourself whether it “feels” good...or if there’s something uncomfortable about
your playing that you can fix.

Ergonomics: Make sure that your kit is working FOR you and not AGAINST you.
It’s all too easy to make a habit of playing on a kit that isn’t actually adjusted
well for YOUR body and the style of music that you play. Don’t be afraid to
move things around and raise and lower stands. Make sure you’re comfortable.

Listening: This skill is actually the key to playing with good “feel.” Listen well to
yourself and to other musicians around you. Listening to lots of music helps
with increasing this ability!

. Dynamic Consistency: This is one of the specifics behind “hitting the drums
I

well” from the previous page. If you’re playing a loud rock groove, make sure
that every kick note and every snare hit is loud. Make sure they’re all the same
velocity, that way the groove FEELS right. The same principle applies to playing
quietly. Still make sure that your dynamics are even so that the groove feels
steady.

. Vocabulary: Listening to music will help to increase your musical “vocabulary.”

I

This is your “mental repertoire” of musical ideas. The more you listen to, the
more groove/fill ideas you’ll have to tap into on the fly.

. Sounds: This is all about finding the best way to tune a drum AND the best way
p

to hit it in order to find the “right” sound for the moment. Experimentation is key
here. This is a super fun process if you have the ability to record your kit and
listen back to what you come up with!

21
Blank
Charts
You Can
Use
Feel free to print these, copy these, fill
them out...However you can best use
them!

tg
Custom Practice Session:

C- ⇐
- - - - - - - -
.

y
. -

→ → →
① ② ③
/ TECHNIQUE / MUSICALITY / SONGS /

EXERCISES → APPLICATION → REAL -

WORLD
Practice Schedule Based on a 4-Day Week:

Day 1: Day 2:

Technique Technique

Musicality Musicality

Songs Songs

Day 3: Day 4:

Technique Technique

Musicality Musicality

Songs Songs