The Beginners Guide to Drumming Part II

 In the last hub, I discussed an intro into drumming by relaying the most important message any drummer must learn....Know your rudiments!  I also gave the most useful piece of advice that I was ever told, don't set aside a specific amount of time for practicing.  People who plan to practice 15 minutes daily will practice that 15 minutes and keep their eyes on the clock the whole time so they know when to stop.  If you really want to learn and get better, all you have to do is sit yourself down and practice until you feel comfortable enough to play whatever you're practicing in front of an audience(but you don't have to actually play it for anyone else unless it's something that you must perform for an audience).  The next piece of advice I can give is to have a plan for what you'll be doing each time you practice.  If you're feeling a little creativity block, allow me to map out what my practice sessions are like, and feel free to use it exactly as is or as a template for your own practice plan.

 Many people have spent hundreds of hours creating different warm-ups for newcomers just like you, but most of them prove to be much more complicated than effective.  So I am going to reveal what I have found to be the most effective and simple warm-up of all in two parts.  The first part is called eight on a hand, and it is exactly as it sounds.  You start off with your right hand and play eight eighthnotes and then switch and do the same with your left hand.  The key is to keep each hit evenly spaced apart and make a seamless transition from your right to your left.  To keep things interesting, gradually speed up each time you complete a set of 64, that means you will have switched hands four times.  Do this for awhile to get your wrists loose and then move on to the next step, the double stroke roll.  This part is most important because double stroke rolls can be seen everywhere and it takes a lot of practicing to perfect.  To perform a double stroke roll, you just tap twice with your right and then twice with your left alternating hands and keeping each tap evenly spaced to create a consistent sound.  Try to keep a slow tempo without speeding up as you practice this because it will keep you from making one of the most common mistakes a drummer will make, letting the stick do all of the work.  Most drummers will just let their sticks bounce without using their wrist.  This takes away all control over the roll.  By practicing the roll slowly, you will build up strength in your wrist which will allow you to rely less on your sticks' ability to bounce, which will make your rolls much more controlled.

 After warming-up, it is essential to make sure that you review what you've been practicing before to ensure that you don't forget anything.  It also helps in memorizing pieces of music because practice makes permanent.  Also, by playing whatever again, you may realize that there was something that you've been playing wrong or realize that something needs to be cleaned up.  If that's the case, go ahead and fix what needs fixing.  If everything's all good, then finish up the review and move on to something new, like learning a new song or jazzing up one you already know by adding in some fancy stick tricks.  If you don't know any, just take a look at the video and I'm sure you'll pick up a thing or two.

So, remember to warm-up every time you practice.  Don't forget to review what you'be learned already, and clean up what needs fixing.  Also, stop at nothing to learn all that you can because the possibilities are endless.