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The Art Of Practicing Drums (https://www.drumeo.com/blog/love-
Brandon Toews (https://www.drumeo.com/blog/author/brandon-toews/) - drums/)
February 6th, 2018

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When drummers say they’re going to practice, they will often sit down at their drum-set and
play along to their favourite songs or practice their favourite grooves or lls. This is awesome
– but is this really all there is to practicing? If they are only practicing songs, grooves, and lls
that they can already play, the point is being missed. Practicing is about targeting your
weaknesses and pushing yourself in di erent areas of drumming.
(/)
Everything we practice on the drums can be broken down into four main categories:

Technique
Vocabulary
Independence & Coordination
Musicality

If you take the time to practice speci c material from each of these categories, you will see
signi cant improvement in all areas of your drumming.

Technique
The technique category includes both hand and foot technique. Hand technique includes
techniques like Moeller technique, nger technique, push-pull technique, etc. There are also
di erent grips like German, French, American, and traditional grip that are used to develop
di erent hand techniques. Foot technique includes techniques like heel-toe technique, slide
technique, constant-release technique, heel-down technique, etc.

Developing technique will allow you to be able to play more e ciently around the
drum-set. It will also enable you to express more vocabulary on the drum-set as certain
techniques are required to play certain patterns, grooves, lls, etc. You can think of technique
 as being the tools that allow you express your ideas on the drum-set. The more tools that you
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(/) have available to you, the more ideas you’ll be able to express!

Love Drums
(https://www.drumeo.com/blog/love-
drums/)

One of the best ways to practice hand technique is on a practice pad while sitting in front of a
mirror. Practicing on a practice pad will allow you to focus on your technique without the
distraction of other drums and cymbals. They are also perfect for low volume practice. So
when it’s late at night, you can choose to work on your hand technique without waking up the
neighbors!

Practice pads will expose ALL of your mistakes. If your drumstick heights are even slightly
di erent, you’ll be able to notice the di erence between strokes visually (by using the mirror)
and sonically when playing on a practice pad. You may not notice these small di erences
when playing on a drum-set because of the volume. For that reason, it’s important to use a
practice pad!

You can also use a bass drum practice pad to practice foot technique in the same way. You
can use these for single or double bass drum pedals.

Vocabulary
Vocabulary is what we play on the drum-set. This includes everything from rudiments and
sticking patterns to grooves and lls in all styles of music. The more “words” that you can say,
the more unique “sentences” you will be able to create. In relation to drumming, if you can
only play ten di erent drum grooves, you will only have those ten options to choose from.
But, if can play 100 di erent drum grooves, you will have 100 di erent options to choose
from! Having a large vocabulary will allow you to become a more creative and versatile
drummer. (/)

The two most important types of vocabulary are rudiments and stylistic vocabulary.

Everything we play on the drum-set can be broken down into individual rudiments. For that
reason, it is very helpful to know a little bit about each one – even if it’s just the basic sticking
pattern. Even if you’ve been playing for years, make an e ort to go back and learn, or review
all of the rudiments. You will likely nd a few that you incorporate into your playing regularly,
even without consciously choosing to use them. You may also nd some new ones that you
want to try incorporating into your playing as well!
 
(/)

Love Drums
(https://www.drumeo.com/blog/love-
drums/)

Stylistic vocabulary includes grooves, lls, and other patterns that are associated with speci c
styles of music. If a drummer gets asked to play a show with a local rock band, the chances of
them being able to play a number of di erent rock grooves and lls are pretty high. However,
if they get asked to sit in with a Latin band, the chances of them having a number of samba,
mambo, or guaguanco grooves and lls at their disposal is much slimmer.

Having an arsenal of di erent grooves and lls for every style of music is an excellent way to
be prepared for any playing situation. You’ll also nd that learning these di erent styles of
music will bene t your playing in other styles you’re already comfortable with.

Independence & Coordination

Independence refers to being able to play separate rhythms or patterns with each of our
di erent limbs. Coordination refers to being able to play these independent rhythms
together in an e ective way. Just like technique, independence and coordination are tools
that allow us to express our ideas on the drum-set.

Here is a basic rock groove that incorporates all four limbs.

(/)
Having independence and coordination will allow us to create countless variations of this
groove. Here are four variations that will alter each limb pattern. This could be referred to as
groove independence. You can apply these ideas to any of your own grooves!

Lead Hand Variation

Alternate Hand Variation

Bass Drum Variation

 Hi-Hat Foot Variation

(/)

Love Drums
Practicing stylistic independence with ostinatos is another excellent way to develop (https://www.drumeo.com/blog/love-
independence and coordination. Styles of music like swing, samba, and baião are all based drums/)
on di erent ostinato patterns (these can be played with any of our limbs).

The samba and baião ostinatos are patterns that incorporate both feet while the swing
ostinato pattern, or the “jazz ride cymbal pattern” is played with our lead hand (and
accompanied by the hi-hat foot). Here are what these three ostinato patterns look like.

Samba Ostinato

Baião Ostinato

Swing Ostinato

Once you’ve become comfortable with an ostinato, there are a variety of ways to develop
independence and coordination. If the ostinato is played with the feet, you can practice
playing di erent rudiments and sticking patterns with your hands while continuing to play
the ostinato. You can also try playing di erent grooves that incorporate the ostinato.

If an ostinato incorporates one of your hands, you can practice playing di erent rhythmic
patterns or motifs against the ostinato. These rhythmic patterns could be played with your
hands or your feet. Even if these exercises aren’t the most practical – they will push your
technical abilities, ultimately allowing you to have more freedom on the drum-set.

Musicality (/)
This category is all about applying what you’ve worked on to a musical context. This could be
playing along to drumless play-along tracks, playing along to your favourite songs, jamming
with your friends, or playing with a band!

If you’ve been working on swing independence, nd a swing recording or a drumless play-

along track to practice with. This will help you turn the exercise into something musical and
applicable. If you’ve been working on a new challenging groove, get together with some
musicians and try creating a song based around that groove!

It’s so easy to spend all of your time sitting in your basement working on things like hand
technique. You can have the best technique in the world, but if you can’t apply it to anything –
what’s the point? Musicality is just as important as technicality.

Bonus: Active Listening/Viewing &

Transcribing
One of the best ways to learn is from watching and listening to your favourite drummers. This
can be done e ectively through active listening and active viewing. Many drummers will
simply listen to music while they’re doing another activity – like driving or working. Active
listening refers to listening to music as its own exclusive activity and fully concentrating on
what you’re hearing. The same concept applies to active viewing when you’re watching a
video of your favourite drummer.
 Transcribing takes these concepts one step further. Transcribing refers to writing out, note-

(/) for-note, what a drummer is playing. This is by far the most accurate way to determine
exactly what a drummer is playing. However, in order to start transcribing, an understanding
of theory and notation is required. If this is an area that you struggle with, this article may
give you some incentive to learn about music theory and notation (yes, you can learn all
about this on Drumeo)!
Love Drums
Now you may be wondering how this category is relevant to practicing. You could think of this (https://www.drumeo.com/blog/love-
category as a subcategory of the previous “Musicality” and “Vocabulary” sections. In relation drums/)
to musicality, all of these concepts will help drummers become more musically aware by
focusing on the details in music (this is especially true for those who transcribe). Being
musically aware is important because we are musicians – not just drummers.

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When we play with other musicians, we need to focus on how each instrument is contributing
to the overall sound. Even though we may just be concentrating speci cally on what a 2 weeks ago
drummer is playing (while actively listening/watching or transcribing), when we go play with The State Of The Music Industry | Drumeo Podcast
other musicians, we will likely pay closer attention to what other musicians are playing as | Episode #18
(https://www.drumeo.com/blog/state-of-the-music-
well. industry-podcast-18/)

In relation to vocabulary, active viewing/listening and especially transcribing are excellent 3 weeks ago
ways to learn new vocabulary. Whenever you hear a groove or a ll in a song that you want to The Yamaha EAD10 Overview
learn – transcribe it! Take the time to slow the song down (via YouTube, Logic Pro X, Reaper, (https://www.drumeo.com/blog/yamaha-ead10/)

etc.) and write out exactly how to play it. You’ll often nd that after transcribing a groove or
3 weeks ago
ll, you can sit down at your drum-set and play it almost immediately. Which Type Of Drumheads Are The Best | Drumeo
Podcast | Episode #17
(/)
Conclusion
(https://www.drumeo.com/blog/types-of-
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Depending on the amount of time you have to practice each day or week, it may be
impossible to work on material from each category in every single practice session. If it’s not
possible, try to work on material from half of the categories in one practice session, then in
the next practice session, work on material from the other categories. By doing this, you’ll
have a balanced practice routine that will help you improve as quickly as possible and help
you reach your drumming goals!

(/ultimate-toolbox/)
 Hi, I'm Brandon Toews

(/) Brandon is a drummer, educator, and performer based out of Chilliwack,

 

British Columbia. He is an online instructor at Drumeo and a local private Fix your hand
instructor. technique with this
FREE video course.
(Normally just for
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Add a comment...

Emmanuel Nwajei · Word of faith college, Asaba

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This is just what i need, been waiting for someone to divulge this kinda advice...thanks bruh
Like · Reply · 16 hrs
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Thomas Wesley Antonsen · Videnskabelig assistent at Aalborg Universitet
Any advice on good exercises on the practice pad? I usually end up playing paradiddles, double or
tripple strokes.
Like · Reply · Feb 8, 2018 2:52am

Robert Hawkins
The three Rs, Reading, Rudiments and Rhythm that's a practise session. Organise yourself, push
yourself in technique. Set targets and keep records so you know how you are doing. Check out
Stephen Taylor on Drumeo he has a great lesson on how to practise! Good article, very informative!
Like · Reply · Feb 7, 2018 5:05pm

Lawrence Futrell
I am excited to receive this new hand practice.
Like · Reply · Feb 7, 2018 11:24am

Damian Rijkers · Session Drummer at Self-Employed

Being able to read, write and understand drum kit notation is the best!!!
Like · Reply · Feb 7, 2018 11:03am

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