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!!!

How To Drum - Intermediate Groove

Drumming - Live Playing w/ Lovers and Liars

I've had a bunch of people asking for some live footage of me playing. I have a few videos of gigs up, but not that many. This is one from a couple of months back that I never posted because the audio was so bad. But ask and you shall receive I guess...nonetheless, here's a live clip.

How To Drum - Opening The Hi-Hat

Had a lesson request come in on opening the hi-hat within a groove...simple, but necessary.

The Gig - On The Road

I was out last weekend...and took my camera. Couple of great shows...one in Branson, MO to about 2,500 people and one in Kentucky to about 3,000 people. Both outside...hot weekend...

Summer NAMM

So Silverfox Drumsticks invited me out to NAMM this year. I've been endorsed with them now for a few months, and they're absolutely a stellar company. Got to have lunch with Dave from the A&R department. Good stuff. Here's a couple of short videos I shot.



And I saw this guy kickin' it. Ironically, someone on You Tube knew him from Facebook...so now he and I have actually started talking. The internet is a funny place sometimes.

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...

Drum Lesson: Beginner 16th Note Pattern (But Twisted)

Another drum lesson from my book. The book is about permutations. Hope you enjoy.

Applying Rudiments To The Drum Set and Learning New Fills

Had a question via email come in...

"Hey man, I hope this message gets to you! I'm 18, and my name is Ryan.I just graduated High school and attending college next year. I live in Maine, and I too love drums. I'm 100 percent self taught. Out of all the drumming videos I have seen online, you seem to be the nicest, most understanding guy I see on there. so messaging someone because of their video on youtube is highly unlike me. But I had a question for you. I am in a band and get through it just fine. Most of my fills though are basic, and half the tim I dont know what I am doing, it is just muscle memory. How do I expand my knowledge of fills? I mean, I was told to learn rudiments and what not, but how do I incorporate those into fills? I want to be able to play drums and throw down some awesome triplet fills,or 32nd not fills, or what have you. and on top of that, I would want to do them on time:P so as of right now, Im not making any progress with my drumming.. what do I do? Thank you so much for your time, I hope you get this!"



What's up Ryan!

Thanks so much for the email...and yea, I try to answer all of the messages and emails I get in. Although these days I'm getting alot of them, so it's getting a bit harder.

To your questions...

You're going through something that's ordinary. Even I go through it. You realize that you've just been on autopilot and now you're actually wanting to expand your knowledge and push yourself to learn new things. The first step is realizing you're in a rut...and you're already past that step, so kudos to you for noticing it.

First step

-Take 3 of the "boring" fills that you already know and play all of the time. Now, instead of playing them like you usually do, dissect the sticking. Just play that sticking on the snare until it's in your head. Now, keep the left hand on the snare and move the right hand to the floor tom and play the fill on just those two sound sources. Then keep the right hand on the snare and move the left hand to the top tom. Now pick a cymbal and one tom to play the fill on...continue doing this for as many combinations as you can. What this will do is not only give you variations to your normal "boring" fills, it will start to open your thinking up...and that's the most important part. Getting your mind used to thinking in different ways.

Second Step

-Yes, you absolutely should learn your rudiments. They just give you a larger rhythmic palette to pull from. You're stuck where alot of guys get stuck...how do I apply them. Begin to think of the rudiments you learn as simple sticking patterns. Paradiddle is simply RLRR LRLL. you can take that sticking and move it around the kit just like you did with your other fills. Move the right hand first and keep the left hand on the snare. Move it to as many sound sources as you can. Do the same with the left hand. You won't use all of the combinations you come up with...some of them will sound quite bad actually...but that's not the point. The point is to open up your thinking.

Now that you've moved them around some...replace all left hand hits with your kick drum and play the rudiment between your kick and right hand. Move it EVERYWHERE on the drum set. Then play all of the right hand hits with your kick so that the rudiment is played between the left hand and the bass drum. The important thing to remember is that there are NO rules here...there's no right or wrong way to apply these rudiments. Some of your ideas will work, some will be horrible...that's ok. The point of practicing is to push yourself to new places. If you sound good while you're practicing, that's not really practicing...that's reviewing old material. Save some of your practice time for reviewing old things and polishing them and a large chunk of your time for pushing yourself to new places...you'll sound bad, you'll improve quickly, and you'll have a blast doing it!

Check out my YT channel and comb through alot of the old lessons...there's over a hundred up there so they should keep you busy for a while. I put them up there specifically for people like you...self taught chaps that want to improve.

I hope that helps Ryan...let me know if I can answer any other questions! You can also check out my blog for other questions and practice tips at www.DrummerEtc.com

Now go practice!!!

-S

Drum and Bass

You asked for it...and I finally figured out a logical way to break it down for ya...hope it helps...

Advice on Rolls and Fills

So I got a question earlier from a drummer in India (the internet never ceases to amaze me)...typed up a WAY to lengthy response...and decided I would post my answer (for what it's worth) here...

Question:

I've just recently started playing in my church and I need some hints regarding rolls and fills...any ideas?

Answer:

Hints regarding rolls...hmmm...that's kinda've an ambiguous question, but I'll give you a long answer and hopefully it'll hit on something that will help...and if it doesn't, hit me back up w/ a more specific question. First let me say, kudos for playing in church! I started playing in church at 14 and it gave me 3 times a week to perform in front of a live audience...PRICELESS! You're gonna get TONS better just from learning and working through the music and getting that much on stage experience and time. Stoked for ya!

The most common problems I see w/ rolls are as follows:

1. The roll gets out of time with the song or the drummer comes back in incorrectly.

2. The fill rushes/drags.

3. The fill is to "Chopsy" (in other words, it's really flashy and shows off the drummers chops).

4. The fill doesn't fit the style of music being played.

Ok...now that I've diagnosed the majority of problems drummers have w/ fills, here's some quick fixes...

1. The roll gets out of time with the song or the drummer comes back in incorrectly.

This is very common w/ new drummers...lets face it, we didn't start drumming so we could play 30 minutes of groove timekeeping...We like the flashy stuff! And fills can be flashy. Alot of times a young drummer will get excited when they go into a fill, causing them to lose the beat and get "lost" in the fill. And when we're lost, we do the first thing that makes sense...we come back into the groove...and often we come back in on the "and" of 4...or two...or we turn the beat completely around...I did ALL of these when I first started! The cool thing about a church gig (and lots of others) is that you'll get the music beforehand, often up to a couple of weeks beforehand. THIS IS THE BEST GIFT THE BAND LEADER COULD EVER GIVE YOU!!! It not only gives you the chance to learn new music, it gives you the opportunity to PRACTICE to that new music. So pick out a simple fill you've been working on, listen to the song, learn where the transitions are, and then practice playing that same fill throughout the song. Once you get that one down, make up another fill and do the same thing, and another, and another...do this repeatedly. What repitition does is build confidence. When you go to play live in front of people, you're going to be nervous...and if you're not nervous, you're going to have extra adrenaline and endorphins kicking in, so the likelihood of you "screwing up" is higher due to the intensity and excitement being higher...and the way to defeat onstage nerves is to practice the things you'll be playing in front of people until you can do them in your sleep...that and stay away from the Red Bull ;^)

2. The fill rushes/drags.

My answer for the last one comes into play quite a bit with this one as well. That being said, this is where your metronome (Sounds of drummers moaning and cursing) comes in handy...and if you don't have one, please get one. There are several you can find online that will let you use them for free. Pick a groove, pick a fill, and pick a comfortable tempo. Play 4 bars of groove, one bar of fill (In time preferably). Repeat this eight gajillion times.

3. The fill is to "Chopsy" (in other words, it's really flashy and shows off the drummers chops instead of serving the music).

This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine...PLAY FOR THE SONG! When you're playing with a group of musicians (especially in a church setting), you're a part of a group, something bigger than your own individual playing. A huge out of place fill does nothing but detract from the song and draw attention to the drummer. Fills can often be one or two notes and fit the moment perfectly. This is very true in a church setting where the purpose is to draw peoples attention towards God rather than towards the musicians. Focus on simple fills that fit the mood and the moment...if you're going to the bridge of a song maybe an eighth note build between the floor tom and snare is all you need to build the moment. If you're going from the verse to the chorus maybe 2 beats of sixteenth notes on the snare will suffice. There are literally MILLIONS of options, just choose one that fits. The longer you do this, the more you'll actually stray away from the chopsy style of playing and aim more for the tasty style of playing...one that serves a purpose bigger than you...and you'll be suprised to find that there are a few places to throw some flash in AND serve the music!

4. The fill doesn't fit the style of music being played.

If you're playing reggae, there are certain fills that are native to that music...if you're playing funk, there are certain fills that are native to funk...if you're playing jazz...and so on and so forth. LISTEN to the style of music and the types of songs you'll be playing...take the time to transcribe and learn note for note some of the recurring fills you here in a certain genre of music. Take the songs that you'll be performing and try playing these transcribed fills over them. Any language has words and phrases that are native to it...and music is just another language...learn it, learn how to connect your phrases...the best thing you can do is listen...in the car, at the gym, while you're falling asleep...listen and learn.

Carpal Tunnel Avoidance Stretches

A while back I wrote what was supposed to be a 3 part series on my experience with what I thought was carpal tunnel but turned out to be nerve entrapment...and turns out, alot of people don't really have carpal tunnel syndrome, they have nerve entrapment. The first post explained what it was and how it could be fixed, complete with an interview with Dr. Preston Wakefield. The second part was on my experience with the problem...and then I got busy and never posted the third part...so here it is, finally! I put it in video form, so it should be easy to take 5 minutes, watch the video, and then incorporate the stretches into your daily life. Sorry it too so long...but better late than never I guess...

Preparing Your Drums for a Session...

After I posted a couple of weeks ago on how to tune a drum on the fly, I got a few questions on tuning and preparing drums for an actual studio session. I'm by no means an expert on the subject but I do have a running checklist that I use when preparing for a session.

The thing you'll need to remember is that every sound is captured in the studio...EVERY sound, both good and bad. Small things that you may not notice on a live gig become large issues when put under the microscope, so you might as well confront them before the red light comes on.

Clean Your Drums- This sounds simple...and it is. You want to sound and look professional in this type of situation and lugging in a set of drums that have half an inch of dust on them doesn't look professional in the least bit. I mention this for a couple of other reasons as well though. You want the best sound possible out of your drums when recording. You want the tone of the wood to shine through. Eliminating excess dust and dirt from your equipment not only lets the brightness of the wood cut through, it keeps the moving parts in better working condition. Lugs and rims should be periodically taken off, cleaned and oiled if needed. Taking the time to detail your drums also alerts you to other problems that may have gone unnoticed if you hadn't taken the time to carefully look them over. A couple of weeks ago I discovered a missing lug on the bottom head of my floor tom that I otherwise would never have noticed (I guess I lost it at a gig...who knows...). A good wipe off with a dry rag will usually work. If they're really bad, you can use an appropriate cleaner to really make 'em shine.

Check All Lugs- You hit drums, therefore they occasionally break in places. I have a snare right now that needs to have a lug casing replaced...after 2 or 3 hard hitting tunes it starts to back out, resulting in the overall sound of the drum changing. Not a huge deal live, but consistency is the key with recording.

New Heads- Over time heads wear out. Since you're with your drums all of the time you may not notice the head dying, but once you get in the studio you'll find that you won't be able to get half of the tones that you want out of your drums without good heads. I prefer to change them the evening before. This gives them time to seed to the drum over night and you can then revisit them the next day and fine tune them. My personal preference in the studio is some type of single ply, coated head (Remo Coated Ambassadors, Evans J1, etc). I find I get a much cleaner tone with a single ply coated than I do with a doubly ply (Remo Pinstripes, for instance). And let's not forget the bottom heads...they don't need to be changed as often, but they affect the tone of the drum every bit as much as the top head...so if it's been a while, change them out.

Pedals- You'll want to take your bass drum pedal off of the kick drum and press it a few times without hitting a drum. Any squeaks or rattles? Those have to be addressed. Again, that's something that can be let go on a live gig but that will come through on a recording. There's nothing worse than recording a great drum track for a soft ballad...and then realising that your kick pedal is squeaking everytime you press it. Some WD40 will fix the squeaks. If the pedal is rattling, you probably have some loose hardware. Most pedals have several places to adjust the tension and play in the pedal, so you'll want to visit every bolt and make sure they're tight.

Same thing with the hi-hat. You need to also check that the springs are set at the proper tension so that your top cymbal rebounds quickly and quietly after you press it.

Faulty Hardware- On to the stands. Make sure that all stands that support a drum or cymbal are sturdy. If you hit a cymbal and the top arm swings a little to the left, fix it. If there's a lock bolt that isn't functioning, fix it. You don't want to be wandering if the cymbal stand is going to stay still while you're playing...there's enough to worry about without that. It sucks to be in the middle of a great take and have something like a stand collapse or malfunction...because you probably could have attended to that problem before the session.

You'll also need to make sure that every cymbal stand has the appropriate cymbal sleeves and felts so that no part of your crash or ride cymbals touch the stand. Metal on metal is a less than pleasant sound as well as it affecting the tone of the cymbal you're hitting. Doing this also extends the life of your cymbals by preventing cracking at the bell.

Tuning- Like I've said before, tuning is very personal and varies from drum to drum and person to person. Some drummers tune their drums to specific notes on a keyboard...i.e. a major third apart, a minor fourth, etc. and others just go for a good sonic range that sound well when played in succession. Neither theory is wrong, just a different way to approach it. I'm with the latter. I've never tuned to specific notes per say, just what sounds good to my ear. However you prefer to tune is fine...just take time to get the tones you want. Don't forget to consider what kind of session this is...Is it a pop recording where the drums need to be cutting and powerful...a small group jazz session where the drumset is heard as a whole and not necessarily as individual drums...tune accordingly.

When you arrive at the studio (you'll be early, of course, because if you're not early you're late in my book) you'll want to re-visit the tuning of your drums, especially if they've travelled in extremely hot or cold weather conditions. Let me also say a note about Studio Engineers...USE THEIR KNOWLEDGE! They do this for a living, therefore alot of their suggestions come from practical application in recording situations. They're not just trying to cover your musical voice or dictate how you should tune...They're trying to help get great sounds. Don't forget they're getting paid for this too and want the best possible outcome. Just keep an open mind to their suggestions is all. And lastly...

Cymbals- If they're broken, replace them. Nuff said.

That's a small sample of what I do with my drums before a session...following is a short list of "extras" or necessities you might want to bring along with you to the session in case a malfunction happens...

Extras

-Extra hi-hat clutch

-Extra bass drum beater or bass drum pedal

-Rug...most studios are hardwood or concrete...they generally provide a rug, but not always. Chasing your hi-hat all day while laying down tracks is lame...make sure it's more than big enough for your whole kit to comfortably fit on.

-Extra snare strainer and snare head, or just bring a completely different drum (which is a good thing to do anyways...artists love variety!)

-Drum key

Again, all of the above are simply suggestions. I can tell you, being over prepared is far better than being under prepared anyday!