1. Time
2. Feel
3. Balance

How do I practice these musical qualities?

1. Playing rudiments with a metronome.
2. Working on technical exercises for limb independence.
3. Recording my playing of the above and listening back.
4. Lastly, repertoire: Early New Orleans Jazz, Swing, Modern Bebop, Classic Rock, Blues shuffles, Classic funk, rudimental drum solos, Scottish Highland drumming, and modern styles derived from Dance and Hip Hop. As always, listening back to the practice recordings as I go along. I always know why I'm repeating a passage in my practice time.

Philosophy of practice

1. Practice is a privilege.
2. I know what to practice, why I'm practicing it, and what success sounds like before I begin practicing. 
3. My practice space is organized with everything ready at hand.
4. I enjoy every part of learning. There are no boring bits.
5. I play before or after I practice.

Cheers, 

David

Got this yesterday. What a heap of fun, and a great way to explore, review, and make some music with rudiments on my pad.

Drummers need a few things.

1. Great time feel
2. Great hands
3. Big ears

​
​A close study of rudiments helps us to improve all three. 
​
David

Learning to play the drums is a long-term project. We must learn posture, grip, timing, reading, transcription, ear training, rudiments, beats, fills, repertoire, the list goes on. Oh, and develop endurance.

But sir, I just want to thrash to my favorite tunes?

Me too.

So what do we do?

For beginners I suggest spending 70% of your time playing along with your favorite recordings. Thrash, bash, and scream out your joy. 

Spend the other 30% on the technical side of drumming and your teacher's homework assignments. All your drumming heroes at some point in their drumming journey got down to business and spent that 30% thoughtfully and methodically learning the business side of playing the drums. As time went on, they worked out their own ratios. 

Side note to parents and adult students. Technical progress is needed to maintain enthusiasm. Not unlike other human endeavors. The trick is not to kill the joy of movement that thrashing about gives, while making time to learn to how play the drums. 

If I can help, call me. 
​
​David

1. Warm-up: singles, doubles, paradiddles over feet ostinatos with metronome.
2. Rudiments, rudiments, rudiments. Today Flam rudiments are on order.
3. Sight reading: Good sight-reading chops are required for all teachers. And, community band musicians. When I sub in a big band, fumbling with unfamiliar charts is out of the question. Sight-reading skills are one of the cornerstones of my professional success as a musician. Forty-five years and counting!
4. Repertoire review: Pandemic will over next year. I will have my classic rock repertoire up to speed and ready to go.
5. Double bass drum pedal rudiments: Single and double patterns.
6. Drumming skills: Bebop vocabulary including fills, riffs, and set-ups.
7. Review my students' repertoire and lesson plans.
8. Work on a mix of a track I recorded with pianist Jacqueline Leung this week: New Music/Improvisation. 
9. Transcribe a short drum groove from a current pop hit. I'll put it up here later today.  Say so, Dojo Cat drum groove. What a lot of fun that was. So simple, but so effective against the bass line.

David

There are drum books for technique, styles, and advanced concepts. I own more than a 100. But let's start simple, the basics.

1. posture
2. kit set up
3. grip
4. basic rudiments: singles, doubles, paradiddles, closed flams, ruffs
5. sticking patterns
6. counting out loud
7. reading
8. playing in time
9. learning tunes

None of these fundamental concepts and techniques require a book. All of them can be learned while you learn some tunes and have some fun. 

So, why a book?

Books lay out a roadmap, give a sense of accomplishment, develop reading skills, and impart important drum culture attitudes in students among other things. 

​Below are a few favs of mine.

​With the following steps in order, success and fun will be so much closer.

1. Your drums set up properly and in working order
2. The lighting is good
3. Sticks and brushes ready at hand
4. Music stand in place
5. Your books and videos are open at the relevant pages
6. You have a plan of what to practice
7. Your pencil and eraser are ready to make notes and highlight areas of concern in your books.
8. The sound system loaded, turned on and ready to play your play along tracks
9.  Phone in airplane mode
10. Metronome or metronome app beside you
11. The teachers notes are on the music stand
12. Audio recorder is ready to record your efforts
13. Ear protection on
14. Bonus: Drum journal ready to be filled in. More on this coming up.

Have fun.
 
David
“Musicians live to practice, and practice to live”
​

1. Thirty percent of your time working on your drills, rudiments, and homework as prescribed by your teacher.
2. Seventy percent pf your time playing along with your favorite recordings. 

Remember you signed up to play, so play. As you acquire skills the playing will improve. And, you will be having fun as you slowly get there. 

Now, there are other ways to allocate your time, I tend to flip it 70%  drill/time/feel etudes, technique and 30% repertoire.  But, I'm not a beginner. 

Best, 

​David

Beat #1: RL Accent with a high stick with the Right, low height with the Left will create a good accent without resorting to caveperson drumming. :-)
beat #2: A super opportunity to practice our open handed drumming. Try the Left hand on the high hat, Right on the floor tom.
Beat #3: Crosshanded with Right on High hat. Or, if you wish, stay openhanded.

​The fills are tricky, call me. 

Have fun. 

David

​How?

1. Set time aside to practice on a regular basis. Start with 10-minute blocks in the calendar. You can accomplish quite a bit in that time. Over time increase the practice duration.
2. Use a metronome, a loop, drum machine, or a favourite recording (with steady time) to practice your rudiments and patterns with.
3. Set time aside to jam along with recordings. Playing the same tunes, over time, will help you dig deep intro what is happening.
4. Organize your practice space. Have all your tools ready at hand.
5. Take lessons.
6. Do your homework. :-)

I can help you out.
 
David