Increasing speed when playing drum rudiments

[cjh791982]

I got a snare drum for my birthday, and I am trying to teach myself the basic rudiments, however I can't really play them at a fast pace, and whenever I try to I have trouble trying to play the exact pattern. Does anyone here have any suggestions on how to improve this, besides getting a metronome?

[PearlDrummer18]

Practice, practice, practice and then practice some more. The speed will come in time just be patient young grasshopper. I learned my rudiments on my own without a metronome and just counted in my head. Doing that helped me to keep count and time without depending on a metronome. If you feel a metronome will help you i say get one though. Again just be paitient and keep practicing.

[drummer]

Yes you have to just keep playing them over and over. It will seem like you're not getting anywhere but you are. Trust us on this.

[cjh791982]

Thank you so much. I am thinking about just maybe working on one at a time and seeing how far I go, I will probably get a metronome to help me out. I don't really know (in terms of beats per minute) how fast I am going but I know it is going to take a while for me to do this. I bought a snare drum mainly to play by myself (I am in a concert band at college but I play bass drum, in addition to hand percussion instruments) and it's mainly the LLRR/RRLL rolls that are giving me trouble.

[cole1paul]

What I would do, instead of switching between them frequently, is set up a plan such as one rudiment a week so that you can have ample time to master each individually.

[cjh791982]

That's kind of what I figured on doing, maybe doing one a week and then progressing from there. Thanks for the suggestion.

[pastor_bob]

Welcome to Drum Chat cjh791982! Don't worry about the double stroke being difficult, because that's a common complaint. I'm still working on that one myself. It's all about controlling the bounce, and I am just getting to that place.

[Zetsumei]

Great suggestions, I want to add that you might want to start slow, make sure you have all the parts down correctly then start going faster. You don't want to get sloppy just because you're going faster, or slower for that matter. Don't just work on playing them really fast, being able to fill space and move the same way in those slower BPMs is a nightmare for many drummers.

[Hedon-]

you have to practice and let your muscle memory build, there is no way around that.
my teacher gave me an hour a day on the pad with 1-1 2-2 3-3 4-4 some flam and paradiddle excercises and its working wonders, for example i jumped on the paradiddle from 85 to 95 bpm comfortably in about 1 month which i think is great. just practice and patience.

[AndyC]

Why, "besides getting a metronome." ?

[Reverend D.]

Start "embarrassingly slow". Do not speed up until you master your material at a slow tempo. Continue to practice, mastering, then speeding up. Pretty soon you will it will become second nature.....at any speed.

[RickyT]

double sticking is all in the wrist. You can practice doubles using the radio.
whatever tune it is, just play along the groove doing doubles. once you get comfortable with the tempo, try accenting left and right sticking.
good luck!

[Reverend D.]

double sticking is all in the wrist. You can practice doubles using the radio.
whatever tune it is, just play along the groove.

Lol! I used to do that all the time as a child when all I had to play on was a practice pad or a snare drum. It was a lot of fun. Now days my pad and drum kit sessions have become very methodical. There is a method to my madness!!!

[JeffS]

Start slow,Count out loud,don't grip sticks too tightly,use wrist and fingers to control rebound.Let the sticks drop a little on the head/pad-like a pencil eraser on a desk when you were trying to come up with the answer during a test.Play close to the outside of the drumhead at first,it's tighter there and gives more rebound-more bounce .Get a feel for rebound,it's key to rudiments,start with singles-LRLR or RLRL,whichever feels comfortable for you.And getting a metronome wouldn't hurt a bit-just count out loud along with it,tap your foot etc.We remember more of what we hear or speak than what we think-So thus-count out loud,1-2-3-4=LRLR,singles.doubles-1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4=LLRRLLRR.As you progress you'll instinctively be counting,more than consciously.crawl before walk,walk before run,run before the alligator bites your butt.HaHa.

[Owens]

Not trying to thread jack, but I've been trying to learn flying fingers technique and can't get the feel of it, can anyone point me in a good direction? By the way that technique would be sick during some rudiments.

[fiacovaz]

Slow and steady stays the course...gradual speed will gain the most.

[Pwinnington]

Not trying to thread jack, but I've been trying to learn flying fingers technique and can't get the feel of it, can anyone point me in a good direction? By the way that technique would be sick during some rudiments.

I am not a master at this technique at all but all I can say is start slow. But at the same time make sure you can control it. i think the hardest thing about the flying fingers is that it is built for speed so it is hard to go slow as it is just not meant to be slow. It will take probably weeks to months before you start to feel comfortable with it. Also one thing that helped me when i first started was say I was doing the flying fingers with my left hand, then i would take my right hand and hold my left arm/wrist so I knew I could use only fingers. This is just a technique that requiers lots of practice. i am posting a link to a video that helped me when I started. Also the guy who does these videos does lots of lessons like the one i am posting so dont be afraid to check out his other ones. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDKlnNKN-5c"]YouTube - Drum Lesson 34 (Flying Fingers Technique For Blast Beats)[/ame]

[Quadcam79]

heres some advice that came from Tom Grosset, he won the WFD title in 2007, 1186 strokes in 60 seconds
he said "Practice all of your rudiments at a slow tempo. Don't move up the tempo so often. I rarely change the tempo. It's all about control and so the best way to achieve that is to practice slowly.

Pay close attention to what you're doing. This means that you take note of your posture, stick height, your grip, and always focus on locking in with the metronome.

Practice your fundamentals on a pad and try use a pillow or a surface with no rebound once in a while.

It's crucial that you stretch before and after you practice.

Another thing to keep in mind is don't try and isolate your fingers from your wrists or vice versa. I don't think its a very a good idea. You need to incorporate them both to have a solid technique."

there is also the Stone Killer. Joe Morello came up with this during his time with George L Stone. You start with groups of 4 with each hand:

RRRR LLLL RRRR LLLL - you repeat this 50 times (always at a comfortable level) - if you screw up - start over, and do another 50. Now there are a number of ways you can go from here: You can either double the number of strokes with each hand:

RRRR RRRR LLLL LLLL - and repeat 50 times, or you can start throwing on accents

>..... >.....>.... >
RRRR LLLL RRRR LLLL or the last beat:

......>.....>.....>.....>
RRRR LLLL RRRR LLLL

the accent of the first group was on the first note of 4 - the second was on the last note of the 4 grouping. The "a" of the beat: 1 e + a

[Scottie_Guns]

Does a Tigger outfit help you master the technique?

If yes, then that's one secret I wish was revealed to me many many years ago.

[powerbomb91]

does anyone have any way to make rudiments fun .....becuase its boring doing it over and over again....................my hopes in drumming are really low.... so i need to learn them please help

[fiacovaz]

Quit belly aching and just do it...no other way.

[Hedon-]

Quit belly aching and just do it...no other way.

yep

[Reverend D.]

Quit belly aching and just do it...no other way.

Exactly.

[pastor_bob]

does anyone have any way to make rudiments fun .....becuase its boring doing it over and over again....................my hopes in drumming are really low.... so i need to learn them please help

Powerbomb, the one thing you need to remember is that if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. If you want to become a member of the drumming community, there are dues to pay, and some of them will be "boring/difficult." Just remember that all the good drummers paid the same dues before you. Use that as motivation to push on when you are feeling down. It is said that it takes a repetition of 10,000 times to become a master at something. You can become good before then, but mastery takes dedication and 10,000 reps. Hang in there!

[powerbomb91]

ok thanx