4-Practice Tips

Here are some important things to remember when using the exercises in these books.. this ideal approach will result in more perfection of sound AND faster tempos, in the shortest time.

Step 1: The Physical Drumming Machine

 

-MAKE SURE TO WARM UP if your goal is to strengthen muscles or gain speed or endurance. The best approach is to exercise your whole body for a few minutes, and then stretch a little.
 

-ALWAYS STRETCH your drumming muscles during and after using workouts on them. Loose muscle fibers twitch faster and have lots more endurance.

-MAKE SURE TO USE IDEAL TECHNIQUE / POSTURE / MOVEMENTS when building physical habits (muscle memory) with patterns.

Step 2: Build Muscle Memory For An Exercise

 

-START SLOW TO LEARN THE EXERCISE, playing very carefully without strict timing, and just pay attention to how it feels and sounds.

-FOCUS ON YOUR QUALITY OF PLAYING the exercise.  Listen and feel, to monitor (1) consistent timing and volume, (2) your relaxation, and (3) correct posture with easy/efficient movements.
 

-PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to the experience of playing the pattern, while repeating the exercise enough times to establish some muscle memory for it. Play slowly and carefully enough to use your highest quality playing.

Step 3: Use The Exercise For Improvement

 

-TRY VARIOUS VOLUME LEVELS, with as wide a range as possible (unless otherwise indicated).  Learn to maintain top quality of consistent timing/volume, relaxation, and posture for all volumes.
 

-TRY VARIOUS TEMPOS, with as wide a range as possible.  Maintain top quality of consistent timing/volume, relaxation, and posture for all tempos.

-GET TO KNOW EACH EXERCISE, and what it takes to make improvement on it.  Experiment with the volume and tempo, as well as where you choose to place your focus, in order to dial in the right level of difficulty for that exercise.
 

-STRIVE FOR ENDURANCE when playing an exercise- try to play it with perfection for as many consecutive repetitions as possible.  Stay focused on improving the quality of your playing the whole time.