Hey Stephen! Just wanted to say I appreciate your drum videos and I've gotten a lot of ideas off of them.
I have a question: When I start to play fast and begin to use my fingers, my left wrist seems to not sync with my fingers and in turn starts to almost "push" the stick away, which leads to my left wrist getting sore after playing for awhile.
Any ideas?
Thanks, Matt
What's up Matt,
It sounds like you're tightening up with your wrist when you get to more challenging speeds, which leads to compromising your technique, which leads to hurting (yourself and your playing). Find the tempo that this becomes a problem. Slow it down a bit from that and play singles and doubles alternating for long periods of time. Concentrate on staying relaxed and making sure your technique is solid. Then, push it up to the problem tempo for a few seconds, concentrating on the same things. Then slow it back down again and make sure you're still playing correctly. Then speed it up...then slow it down...and so forth and so on. I wish I had an "Easy" button you could push to help you, but I don't. It's just gonna take a lot of hard work and concentrating on that one small problem. Here's a lesson I did on finger technique if you haven't seen it yet. Maybe it will help.
Traditional Grip:
Matched Grip:
Sorry I don't have extremely specific advice, I would need to see you play to really be able to "diagnose" the issue. Feel free to record yourself (doesn't have to be great quality) and send it to me. I'll be more than happy to help you figure the problem out.
So glad the video lessons help you out...that's what they're there for! Thanks for the question!
-Stephen
3 comments:
Hi Stephen, just continuing on from this, when I play fast with my right hand on the hi-hats my fingers feel like they're cramping up. Is this poor technique (ive been told it looks fine) or just lack of strength? I'm guessing it's going to be a similar process to Matt's. I've been practicing at getting my right hand faster for ages but just physically can't get past a certain pace (think American Idiot by Green Day speed)
Oh and while we're on the health subject, and you being a trainer chap n'all... I've heard conflicting info on whether snacking on good stuff between meals is a good thing or not... Specifically for
energy levels and weight management
....What's your take on it?
As always thank you for your help. It still amazes me that there's selfless people like you out there in this big bad world.
Sarah (kettle's on) UK
What's up Glo...
I would go with lack of endurance. I'm also guessing that you're tightening up (maybe unknowingly) when you get to higher speeds. This takes repetition...starting at slower speeds, slowly working your way up. No easy way around it. Your technique is probably fine...but you can still tighten up with good technique.
As far as the food...Eating 4-5 smaller, well spaced meals is a much healthier way to conduct your day. Every 3-4 hours it's good to get a balanced "snack" or meal in.
I don't know about selfless, but I'm doin' my best to put quality info out there! And if I'm ever in the UK, I'm gonna take you up on a cup of tea!
-Stephen T.
Thank you Stepehen, that gives me something constructive to work with ...
Practice more, eat more - result! :-)
Well it's a truly genuinely nice thing that you're doing and I for one am very grateful and you've inspired me not only in drumming terms but also for my business in that I'm trying new ways of being helpful.
There is a cup of Yorkshire Tea ready whenever you are.
Sarah
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