What have you practiced lately?

[king]

What have you guys been working on lately? For me, it's been the hi hat stomp. This is an awesome technique for you to use while playing the hi hat. Although I've seen several people do it, it never really sank in until just recently. I was taking a private lesson from Randy Van Patten of Vanz Drumming. Randy is a great guy to study with and I'd recommend his DVD to anyone. Check out this clip of randy demonstrating the hi hat stomp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orRddsaD4q4
Also be sure to visit his website here!http://www.vanzdrumming.com/

[kyle7863]

I've gotten my double strokes to a great speed and my singles are rockin too.

Lately i've been working on my double bass trying to learn heel toe. I wanna get it up to around 200 or 210 eventually so i still need to get one of those bass drum practice pads so im not always making a racket xD

[king]

Gibralter makes a good one for about 50 bucks.
Here you go my son http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibraltar-GBDP-Bass-Drum-Pad?sku=446025

[kyle7863]

Thanks man, was looking at the pro-mark one, but the size of the pad just looks too small. The gibraltar one looks pretty sturdy. i'll look deeper into it.

[king]

I've played on it and it holds up really well. You just have to make sure you keep the pad tightly adjusted to the base.

[Hawkeyes83]

Being pretty new to the drumming game, I'm working on stick control and limb independence.  I have a very musical background (started playing violin at age 4, 25 now) and luckily I know how to practice, not just bang around for an hour.  I've been practicing the paradiddles with all of my limbs alot.  I'm mostly trying to work on my left foot and hand.

Oddly enough, I am able to bring some Violin techniques over to the drums.  If you ever watch a classicly trained violinist, pay attent to their right hand.  You'll notice alot of the same techniques we use on the sticks.  Lots of finger and wrist flexibility and control.  Unfortunately, my right hand is making my left hand seem retarded on the drums, but I know I just need to practice and keep my strokes consistent.

Any suggestions for exercises to build technique in the weak hand?

[drumfreak]

I always manage to get paradiddles in each practice / noodle session with my cowbell and other drums. Along with that, I jam to Garage Band loops quite frequently. They are fantastic. Also I try to get on the metronome as much as possible.

As far as songs go, I usually grab some Cake, or Sound of Muzak (Porcupine Tree), along with some Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers (Stadium Arcadium mostly) and a few other great bands like The Doors, and etc.  I find it equally important to play along to songs as it is doing metronome and rudiment work.

I wish I had more time in the day....

[king]

Congratulations Hawkeye! You've just encountered the age old problem of getting your weak hand up to speed. It's an ongoing process my friend. One thing I do is learn to play REALLY SIMPLE beats (ACDC) open handed. That helped me out a lot because after about ten minutes it gets boring just working on specific exercises for coordination. Just keep at it an listen to ANYTHING Jojo Mayer has to say. He has some of the best stick control in the biz right now. SICK HANDS!

[Hawkeyes83]

Thanks King.  I was actually inspired to try doing that before I read your post by one of my old teachers.  He used to always say "don't practice what you're good at, just practice what you'd be embarassed to play in front of people!"

I will apply this to practicing on the kit.  I'd just been doing it with my hands on a pad (and my desk at work).  Practice practcice.

[king]

It's cool that you jam out while you're working. I keep a set of Hansen Futz pedal under my desk here at work. Every little bit helps.

[kyle7863]

Hey hawkeye, a great exercise we do in our drumline is 7 sets of triplets and than you play triplet rolls forever or until you fail. GREAT way to build wrist muscle, and if try hard enough, its also a good way to get those rolls clean and in time.

Just don't overdo it.