Drummer Mitch

A blog about life, drums, music and other things.

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The lads at work. Beautiful cymbals!

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Installed a kick port on this beauty today! So punchy!

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#4: A Path To More Interesting Fills

I'm back this week with another exercise that works out your hands and gives you some new spice for your drum fills.

I was first introduced to this concept in my first year of university, when I asked my drum teacher how I could start to incorporate my less used rudiments into my playing. Going on the basis that the single-stroke probably the most commonly used rudiment, he gave me exercises like the ones below to show me how I could begin using flams, doubles and drags alongside my single-strokes.

This particular exercise starts with some basic 8th-note and 8th-note triplet stickings (RLRL, RLR LRL) which are then augmented with the addition of flams and double strokes (which can be played like drags). 

Start by learning the sticking/accents and then move progressively through each pattern. Once you have mastered these you can begin to combine them as you wish and begin making your own patterns with different accents and sticking. 

When you are comfortable with the stickings you can start to try them on the drum kit. Try playing your flams with each hand on a different drum. E.g. Floor tom/Snare Drum combinations sound huge!

This exercise not only gets your hands really working but it really opens but your ears to adding variety and eventually creating some awesome patterns. 

Enjoy!

Mitch

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Recording some tunes!

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Learning a new piece!

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#2: Single Stroke Development/Faster Hands

Here is an exercise you can use to really speed up your hands. When I began studying for my degree, this was one of the first exercise given to me by my teacher because my single strokes were rubbish. I have written a starting tempo of minim = 65bpm, this may be either too slow or too fast depending on your current level. I did this exercise everyday for a month and over that time I steadily raised the bpm up and by the end of the month I couldn't believe how fast my hands were. A good way to do this is pick a comfortable starting tempo such as 70, then play the exercise at each bmp from 70-80 bpm e.g 70, 71, 72....etc.

If you do 20 minutes a day I promise your hands will be much faster, even after 2 weeks.

Have fun!

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New Vater T7 Classic Legato Mallets! Awesome!

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The beautiful kit I bought earlier this year.

Tama Silverstar Jazz kit. 100% Birch.

12x8, 14x14,14x5,18x14

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#1: The Paradiddle And Its Inversions

This is my first proper post in this blog and the beginning of a series of exercises I have/are finding useful to better myself on the drum set. I discovered this exercise from the great Mike Adamo (author of The Breakbeat Bible) in the April 2013 issue of Modern Drummer Magazine and I am still getting through it.

The idea with this exercise is to become comfortable with the paradiddle and its three other inversions over a range of different 16th note bass drum sub-divisions. By doing this exercise you will achieve a greater understanding of 16th note subdivisions, improve your hand and bass drum co-ordination/execution, become more aware of ghost-notes/accents and ultimately hone your groove playing.

Start by getting comfortable with the different Paradiddles between your hands on a snare drum or practice pad, making sure to get an accent on beats 1, 2 ,3 and 4 before moving the hands to the Hi-hat and Snare drum. The next step is to add the bass drum. These exercises are not overly musical, however once you are able to play everything below you have countless options for variation and then it ultimately comes down to your own creativity.

Have fun!!

Full credit to Mike Adamo and Modern Drummer Magazine for this fantastic exercise!