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Thread: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

  1. #1

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    Default Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    Hi,

    I'll give you a little background knowledge of why I need to ask this in the first place.

    Basically, I started drums when I was 10, and i'm now coming up 17 and, having achieved my grade 8 at 14, i'm preparing for my diploma. My drum teacher has got me into loads of jazz, funk and latin music and I think it's awesome! (I used to be a bit of a "the faster my feet go, the better drummer I am" kind of person... I'm glad I grew out of that!).

    Anyway, since I first started playing, my drum teacher has told me to practice rudiments every night, and I did... for about 6 months, before realising most of what I played, I could do without the "rudiment workouts", not to mention that I was bored so easily by them (I was only 10 remember).

    However, now that I am up to diploma standard, my years of not practicing my rudiments is really starting to catch up with me at an alarming rate, and, without trying to sound too big headed, this is the first time in my years drumming that I really feel I can't play what i'm supposed to, i've always found it quite easy to be honest.

    So, on to my question: Aside from practicing rudiments (which I am going to start doing now!) what wrist exercises can be done to help advance my learning quicker?

    Thanks in advance for your help and time
    mrmeister

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    dont forget to use your fingers, but doing them over, and over, and over ..........

  3. #3

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    http://clstrikers.com/prdrumline/exercises.html Here is a link to all the excersizes we use. They help very much, and when you do doubles and paradiddles, keep them in control. Use a little bit of wrist and a little bit of push. That is what helped me get onto our drumline as a tenor player.
    PHROGGE'S AQUARIAN ARMY
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  4. #4

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    Quote Originally Posted by bloodylipp View Post
    dont forget to use your fingers, but doing them over, and over, and over ..........
    What do you mean by use your fingers? Could you shine a little more light on that please?

    And Concrete Building, thanks for the link
    Mapex M Birch - 10x8, 14x14, 16x16, 22x20 (kick), 14x5.5 (snare) - Less is More
    Tama Iron Cobra Powerglide (although tend to use just the one pedal at the minute)
    10" Sabian XS20 Splash, 14" Zlidjian ZXT hats, 15" Sabian AAXplosion, 18" Sabian AAXplosion, 20" Sabian XS20 Medium Ride
    Apple Macbook Pro 15" (late 2008) running Logic and Mainstage linked up to a CME VX5 MIDI keyboard - My drumboard
    Practice your rudiments! - lack of doing so will catch up with you in later life, believe me...

  5. #5

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    Welcome to DrumChat MrMeister! Make sure you become a frequent poster!

    Where you at?

    "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    Quote Originally Posted by AlexGoodwin View Post
    Welcome to DrumChat MrMeister! Make sure you become a frequent poster!

    Where you at?
    Hi,
    Thanks i'm sure I will.

    I'm in Newcastle in the UK at the moment and hoping to go to university in either Surrey or Leeds as of September 2011 (I was wanting to go to Berklee in Boston, USA but it would have ended up costing around £30,000 per year not including flights and living, so I think i'll give that one a miss!)
    Mapex M Birch - 10x8, 14x14, 16x16, 22x20 (kick), 14x5.5 (snare) - Less is More
    Tama Iron Cobra Powerglide (although tend to use just the one pedal at the minute)
    10" Sabian XS20 Splash, 14" Zlidjian ZXT hats, 15" Sabian AAXplosion, 18" Sabian AAXplosion, 20" Sabian XS20 Medium Ride
    Apple Macbook Pro 15" (late 2008) running Logic and Mainstage linked up to a CME VX5 MIDI keyboard - My drumboard
    Practice your rudiments! - lack of doing so will catch up with you in later life, believe me...

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    I'm thinking of getting a Powerball, would that help?



    Last edited by drummer; 06-12-2010 at 06:11 PM. Reason: Commercial Link
    Mapex M Birch - 10x8, 14x14, 16x16, 22x20 (kick), 14x5.5 (snare) - Less is More
    Tama Iron Cobra Powerglide (although tend to use just the one pedal at the minute)
    10" Sabian XS20 Splash, 14" Zlidjian ZXT hats, 15" Sabian AAXplosion, 18" Sabian AAXplosion, 20" Sabian XS20 Medium Ride
    Apple Macbook Pro 15" (late 2008) running Logic and Mainstage linked up to a CME VX5 MIDI keyboard - My drumboard
    Practice your rudiments! - lack of doing so will catch up with you in later life, believe me...

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    i wish i could, i would need to do a video to show it, i dont have a good way to write it out. im not saying its all in the fingers, its mainly in the wrist, but theres a little finger action in there. i played drumline and form was drilled into me. i dont have camera so when i have time ill do some youtube searching.

  9. #9

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    Thanks bloodylipp
    Mapex M Birch - 10x8, 14x14, 16x16, 22x20 (kick), 14x5.5 (snare) - Less is More
    Tama Iron Cobra Powerglide (although tend to use just the one pedal at the minute)
    10" Sabian XS20 Splash, 14" Zlidjian ZXT hats, 15" Sabian AAXplosion, 18" Sabian AAXplosion, 20" Sabian XS20 Medium Ride
    Apple Macbook Pro 15" (late 2008) running Logic and Mainstage linked up to a CME VX5 MIDI keyboard - My drumboard
    Practice your rudiments! - lack of doing so will catch up with you in later life, believe me...

  10. #10

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    don't forget the pushups

  11. #11

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    Quote Originally Posted by itchie View Post
    don't forget the pushups
    Interesting point, would this provide a significant improvement if I did enough every night?
    Mapex M Birch - 10x8, 14x14, 16x16, 22x20 (kick), 14x5.5 (snare) - Less is More
    Tama Iron Cobra Powerglide (although tend to use just the one pedal at the minute)
    10" Sabian XS20 Splash, 14" Zlidjian ZXT hats, 15" Sabian AAXplosion, 18" Sabian AAXplosion, 20" Sabian XS20 Medium Ride
    Apple Macbook Pro 15" (late 2008) running Logic and Mainstage linked up to a CME VX5 MIDI keyboard - My drumboard
    Practice your rudiments! - lack of doing so will catch up with you in later life, believe me...

  12. #12

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    Quote Originally Posted by mrmeister View Post
    Hi,
    Thanks i'm sure I will.

    I'm in Newcastle in the UK at the moment and hoping to go to university in either Surrey or Leeds as of September 2011 (I was wanting to go to Berklee in Boston, USA but it would have ended up costing around £30,000 per year not including flights and living, so I think i'll give that one a miss!)
    Ah sweet man!

    So you are doing AS's? Or music? Im doing As's at the mo, looking at Canterbury, Leeds & London Met
    Last edited by AlexGoodwin; 06-13-2010 at 05:41 AM.

    "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill

  13. #13

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    Quote Originally Posted by AlexGoodwin View Post
    Ah sweet man!

    So you are doing AS's? Or music? Im doing As's at the mo, looking at Canterbury, Leeds & London Met
    I'm doing AS's at the mo: Music, Maths, Physics and Geography. Looking to drop geography next year.

    What are you wanting to do at uni - performance or recording? or something that isn't music? I think i'm swaying more towards recording

    Also I forgot to mention Liverpool before, thats my second choice
    Last edited by mrmeister; 06-13-2010 at 06:53 AM.
    Mapex M Birch - 10x8, 14x14, 16x16, 22x20 (kick), 14x5.5 (snare) - Less is More
    Tama Iron Cobra Powerglide (although tend to use just the one pedal at the minute)
    10" Sabian XS20 Splash, 14" Zlidjian ZXT hats, 15" Sabian AAXplosion, 18" Sabian AAXplosion, 20" Sabian XS20 Medium Ride
    Apple Macbook Pro 15" (late 2008) running Logic and Mainstage linked up to a CME VX5 MIDI keyboard - My drumboard
    Practice your rudiments! - lack of doing so will catch up with you in later life, believe me...

  14. #14

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    Default Re: Wrist Exercises for Drummers

    Just one question.... Is your ultimate goal to be the best drummer on the planet by the age of 18? If not, ease up and enjoy life!


    MAPEX - Orion Classic Series / Transparent Diamond Blue
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  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by tomtomkick View Post
    Just one question.... Is your ultimate goal to be the best drummer on the planet by the age of 18? If not, ease up and enjoy life!
    Well I guess that would be pretty good
    I like a challenge, so I don't want to stay put at a certain level of playing. There is always room for improvement, you have no limits in your abilities.
    Mapex M Birch - 10x8, 14x14, 16x16, 22x20 (kick), 14x5.5 (snare) - Less is More
    Tama Iron Cobra Powerglide (although tend to use just the one pedal at the minute)
    10" Sabian XS20 Splash, 14" Zlidjian ZXT hats, 15" Sabian AAXplosion, 18" Sabian AAXplosion, 20" Sabian XS20 Medium Ride
    Apple Macbook Pro 15" (late 2008) running Logic and Mainstage linked up to a CME VX5 MIDI keyboard - My drumboard
    Practice your rudiments! - lack of doing so will catch up with you in later life, believe me...

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrmeister View Post
    Well I guess that would be pretty good
    I like a challenge, so I don't want to stay put at a certain level of playing. There is always room for improvement, you have no limits in your abilities.
    You're on the money. I'm driven like you are. Go for it man!

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrmeister View Post
    I'm doing AS's at the mo: Music, Maths, Physics and Geography. Looking to drop geography next year.

    What are you wanting to do at uni - performance or recording? or something that isn't music? I think i'm swaying more towards recording

    Also I forgot to mention Liverpool before, thats my second choice
    I'm doing, Chemistry, Biology, Politics & History. . . .

    I'm looking to study Marketing at uni

    Would love to do somthing music wise, that would be a real dream, but I don't think it would be right for me, one of my friends does recording! he says it's awesome, not heard from him in a while though!

    "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill

  18. #18

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    Welcome aboard mrmeister! I love your attitude and devotion to progressing your craft! Rudiments are key, I know they are boring to just play over and over, there needs to be some structure. I like to suggest looking for some rudimental snare drum solo books, my favorite and the one I recomend the most would be The Rudimental Cookbook by row-loff productions. This particular book has several warm-up exercises and 25 snare drum solos that progressively adds more and more rudiments, the last and hardest solo utilizes all of them. I find that when you're actually playing and working on a full solo you tend to stay more focused and entertained than just plugging through the rudiments over and over. It also gives you a better feel for rudiment combinations in a playing situation.

  19. #19

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    Thanks for the advice Gretschhead, I'll look into getting that book
    Mapex M Birch - 10x8, 14x14, 16x16, 22x20 (kick), 14x5.5 (snare) - Less is More
    Tama Iron Cobra Powerglide (although tend to use just the one pedal at the minute)
    10" Sabian XS20 Splash, 14" Zlidjian ZXT hats, 15" Sabian AAXplosion, 18" Sabian AAXplosion, 20" Sabian XS20 Medium Ride
    Apple Macbook Pro 15" (late 2008) running Logic and Mainstage linked up to a CME VX5 MIDI keyboard - My drumboard
    Practice your rudiments! - lack of doing so will catch up with you in later life, believe me...

  20. #20

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    When you start learning rudiments it may seem boring but once you start to learn them and mix them up as you practice it can actually be fun.

  21. #21

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    I would say get yourself to a good teacher. Probably the best two in the country are Dave Hassle in Manchester, or Bob Armstrong in London. Many of the guys doing the best work in the UK went to one or the other of them.

    If you can't get to them, (and I used to get up at 5.00 am to get from Skegness to London to see Bob once a fortnight, ) find someone locally who really knows what he/she are doing. Find someone who knows what they are doing with the Moeller technique. Also check out anything by Dom Famularo, next time he goes to the UK, make sure you see him, he usually does masterclasees and clinics, sell your Granny if you have to to get to both.

    When I was pro I never met anyone from the Leeds University who wasn't an excellent player.

    Good luck with your career.

    Andy

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