The Best Way To Get More Practice Time

This is the biggest issue I deal with on a daily basis.  Sure, I teach and play for a living...but that doesn't mean I have it any easier when it comes to juggling home/work/practice time.  It's a constant push and pull to get those precious few moments to sit at the drums and improve myself as a player and musician.  But there is one tip that I give everyone that will guarantee you will get your practice time in everyday.  That is, if you're willing to pay the price.  I received a question about it the other day and this was my answer


"How can I work in more practice time with a busy professional career, wife, and two kids?"

 and my response...

"Man...I feel you with that issue. I teach and play for a living...and I STILL have trouble with the same thing. I've got two awesome kids and a great wife myself that I love spending time with.  And it's healthy to want to spend time with them.  But it's a constant juggle. You know what I've found that helps the most?  It's simple and requires some discipline, but I've been doing it for years.  Getting up half an hour to an hour earlier than anyone else. This is a great time for me to get in some practice pad time.  When I was in college, my wife woke up at 5:30 am to go to her teaching job. I would get up with her and be on the kit by 6 am. I could get 3 hours of practice time in before my first class (my neighbors weren't as excited as I was that I was getting that extra practice in at that time of the morning). I've found that no matter how busy I get, I can always set that early time aside.  That is, if I'm disciplined enough to get out of bed!  And for some it's after the family goes to bed.  I've also found that keeping a practice log or journal helps me stay focused and get the absolute most out of my limited time.  I actually have a whole section of the members area on my website set aside to talk about practice, how to organize it, and how to get the most out of your limited time.  And if you want to read some other short posts I've written on practice, you can go here.
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I wish I had an easy answer!   Lol, I would use it myself.  But this one thing has enabled me to get more practice time in on a daily basis.  As a matter of fact, I woke up at 5 am this morning, got some practice time in, and am now writing this.  On second thought, maybe I need to get a life..."

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Incorporating Left Handed Hi-Hat Patterns Into a Groove

I asked everyone on Facebook what they would like a lesson on. Well, I got a TON of requests so I had to pick one. One suggestion was how to incorporate left hand patterns on the hi-hat into ride cymbal grooves (ala Carter Beauford and Ray Luzier). I thought that would be a fun one. It was something that I sought to incorporate into my playing when I was coming up. Here's a simple groove that will help you begin to master this concept. Be sure and stop by the website to see what all of the new buzz is about! And if you haven't signed up for the free email lessons that I offer, well, you should. 'Cause it's free. And they don't suck. And did I mention they're free??? Enough said...GO PRACTICE!!!

Student Video Response

Every now and then you guys send me a video of your progress on a topic I post. I LOVE getting these! Seeing your progress pushes me to practice myself. Here's Robert kickin' it with The Helicopter...



it's a response to this lesson...

Drumming In a Jazz Group - What To Work On

"Hi stephen, i've subscribed to you on youtube and have a question. I'm going to start my sophomore year of high school in the fall, and i'm planning on joining the jazz band at our school. i haven't listened to much jazz, and im not sure what to expect. can you help me?"

-Geoff


What's up Geoff..

Thanks so much for the email man...and SO SORRY it's taken me a hot minute to get back with you. Being a one man typing army can be time consuming, lol...on to your question.

That's awesome that you're going out for the jazz band! Alot of players avoid getting involved in the jazz programs. If they only realized how much they were missing out on though. You'll be forced to learn a ton of different styles, play with dynamics, learn to read charts, learn to LISTEN and support the soloist, etc. I was a jazz studies major in college, and I'm so glad that's the major I chose instead of performance.

What to expect...

Alot of work! Lol, and alot of fun. You need to start listening. I never realized how beneficial listening was until I had some older players sit with me and help me learn to listen to songs, to pick them apart, figure out why the parts worked, why the players played what they did. If it's a big band, go download some Count Basie stuff (The stuff with Sonny Payne is my favorite...simple, understated, and GREAT setups to learn from). As far as getting your swing together (which you'll work on constantly), go listen to some Art Blakey ("Moanin'" is a great one). Concentrate on the ride cymbal, mainly the quarter note pulse. That's where the swing is gonna come from. Play along to recordings using just the ride cymbal and try to make it really swing.

Practice your chart reading. You'll be doing alot of it. Learn to set up the ensemble hits. Listen to how other big band drummers set things up. Also listen to smaller groups and how they set things up in those settings as well.

Approach it like you would any other style of music...with enthusiasm, with curiosity, and most of all with an open mind.

I'm stoked you're taking the opportunity to expand yourself man. Let me know how it goes and if you have any more questions!

-Stephen T.

Stick Endorsement with Silverfox Drumsticks and Grover Pro Percussion

Be sure to hit Silverfox Drumsticks up on their website to check out all of their GREAT sticks and swag!

And if you don't need drumsticks, you should check out Grover Pro Percussion...percussion galore, mallets, marching sticks, drums...seriously good stuff.

A Sample of What I Get to Read Everyday

I hear from you guys daily...I went out of town this past weekend and it took me 2 hours to catch up last night with the emails, messages, and comments...and I ain't complainin'! I really do love talking with all of you and being able to provide a place for drummers to hang and hopefully motivate you to become a better player...and person in the process. Here's a sample of some of the things I get the privilege to read everyday...

From FB:

"Hey steph what's up!! That's with pleasure that i saw you answered on my wall's post. I'm fabian, 29 from belgium and i felt in love with drum long times ago but i decided to achieve my dream 5 month ago. I bought advanced funck studies (rick latham) stick control (g lawrence stone) drum set warm-ups, drum backbeats encyclopedia, the breakbeat bible, mini monster book of rock drumming... At the moment i'm totaly hypnotized by funck, and the patterns you've put on drummer connection is very good, you're kind of a good teacher... my problem is fills, so i try to work on that... i whrote all that book just to thank you.. because my only teacher is the internet ;)
take care!"

fabian aka the belgian ;)


Email:

"Hey bro,
Love your site and I guess I have to admit I'm not really a drummer. I do have a kit and took a few lessons but I'm ancient (don't ask) and I suppose being able to keep a simple rhythm doesn't make you a drummer. I love the diversity of styles that you teach, it reflects much of what I gravitate towards. I think I actually found your blog looking at Stewart Copland stuff online. You could probably guess my age based on that alone but I grew up musically in that transition zone, loved prog rock/hard rock but latched onto punk/post-punk especially stuff like the Clash, Police, Slits, etc that were adventurous enough to incorporate more interesting textures and rhythms into their music. I was originally a bass player (probably explaining some of my drum fascination) but now play guitar and sing on a worship team in a crazy contemporary Saturday evening service at our church.
So I'll continue to set up my drum kit every now and then and make all kinds of racket.
Would love to see a lesson based on the style of Sly Dunbar.
Thanks again for the great lessons and website."
Dean the drummer wannabe.


You Tube from GIDDISDRUMMERBOY:

"You're an inspiration
Hey man I just want to give you a word of encouragement. Your videos are very very helpful and have improved my approach and technique alot. Hopefully you will notice that in my new drum covers when I upload them. I showed my friends in Nigeria your videos and they were blown away.

God bless you and keep doing what your doing man."

You Tube from Rydmking:

"First off thank you for making these videos. The quality of your instruction and the audio quality is first rate. I can tell that you have a background in audio engineering. The mic placement and types of mics you use are clearly on another level. Your overhead mics look like the coveted AKG EB414. Nice!

Anyway, enough of gear porn. Just wondering if you could at some point break down the Porcaro/Rosanna groove. Even the master himself (Porcaro) explains it on Youtube but I prefer your style of teaching instead. Seriously.

I know you have the Purdie half shuffle and Bonham lessons up already. I just think your teaching style would be much easier and concise to follow.

Thanks for considering! Keep up the great work. You've managed to help me get back into practicing again. Thanks!!!"

Twitter:

From @wmdrums
@DrummerEtc Hey Stephen, just found your drum blog! Just want to say very cool and I will be checking it frequently!

You Tube from maluguita


"Hi, i have just seen videos of you playing the drums and it liked me a lot.
You are soo good :)
I play drums and i want to learn of you !
I am from Barcelona, and my english is not soo god.
Congratulations of your good work ;) :D"

You Tube from cssmoke1234

"Thank you so much

Your video's are helping me 1,000 times more then my school band director ever could.

Thanks to you my chances of making the U.S.M.C Jazz band are increased vastly. Keep the video's up please!

Me:

"Man, that makes my night! I'm really glad they're helping so much!

If you have any particular questions or you get the audition requirements and need lessons on a particular subject, let me know. I'll do my best to help ya out!"

-S

Jakub Cipny Grác from Facebook:

"Hey dude! Finally joined the FB page up here aswell. I have to say I´m REALLY digging your lessons and your blog posts. The Pyramid warm-up is a really sick idea. It sounds so simple but I actually have a pretty hard time with keepin´ that hi-hat straight. But since I understand that hi-hat independance is pretty much essential, I´ll keep going. Also those excercises ya come up with actually make it interesting to practice, so really really happy that ya do what ya do, and I hope you´ll keep at it!"



I posted these simply to say THANK YOU...seriously, I think it's really cool that a bunch of drummers can jump online and hang. The fact that you guys enjoy it makes it all the more gratifying to me. Cheers to you guys.

Latin Styles Drum Lesson Series

I've been putting out a bunch of "Latin" (which is a really wide and generic term) drum lessons lately. I wanted to explain the basics of alot of the styles. I thought I'd just lump them all here for easy reference. There will be follow ups, especially on the Mambo and Samba lessons, that will go a bit deeper.

Led Zeppelin Drum Lesson Series...aka, "John Bonham is such a beast it makes me wanna puke!"

I recently got a request to explain the groove for Led Zeppelins "Poor Tom"...and then another...and another...and it's turned into something of a series. I still have a couple of more I'm working on, but here's the ones that are up so far..."Poor Tom", "The Ocean", and "Fool In The Rain"...Hope you dig 'em!

P.S. All of my videos should be in HD from here on out...Who's your daddy?!