Advanced Drum LessonsThere comes a point in every drummers life when they have outgrown rudimentary techniques. Everyone wants to challenge themselves.The reason most of us are so drawn to our instruments is solely due to the fact that they are so complex and bring forth so many possibilities. Learning how to play the drums takes persistence, patience, and some good lessons..There also comes a point when you may have hit the wall and run out of new ways to challenge yourself. No matter what your reasoning for wanting to advance your skills and open your mind, these advanced drum lessons will help you do just that.We will be taking an outside approach to doubles bass and snare using concepts such as odd time signature and syncopation. Get ready to have your body and musical spirit pushed to the limits!Lesson 1: Extreme Note Value Changes

UsingGuitar Pro 6to transcribe, this lesson involves the usage of odd drops in note value. Using only your bass pedals, we will also be exploring an uncommon time signature; 12/4. This exercise uses thirty second notes, sixteenth notes, and eight notes.Notice the oddness of the groupings of notes. This exercise has a very progressive metal feel to it, utilizing experimental, yet functional, groupings. The twenty two thirty-second notes followed up by the four eighth notes makes for a very difficult exercise.This exact tactic was employed to help you open your minds to drastic tempo changes and the ways that they can change the overall feel of the piece. It is important that you use a metronome to practice this exercise, starting off at around 80-100bmp.Lesson 2: Syncopation, Drastic Note Variation and Odd RestsThis exercise is a lot more difficult. Using the snare to accent the thirty-second note bursts, this exercise could take you months to learn. The syncopated sixteenth notes in place of eighth notes make for an interesting flare, as well.

Not only is this exercise extremely difficult, it is also in an abnormal time signature; 7/4. Before you even sit at your kit for this one, try clapping out the beat to memorize the rhythmic pattern. Another highly progressive and jazz influenced exercise, the best way to approach playing this is to learn it in sections.The first section is fairly attainable, but the last half after the third grouping of thirty second notes will take a lot of time and practice. This exercise was built to teach usage of odd rest placement and syncopation, as many modern experimental and progressive bands today use these techniques to add tremendously technical variation throughout their songs.Lesson 3: Non-GroovingOur final lesson has a more improvisational feel to it. The piece doesnt have a groove, but more of an experimental feel. Once more, this piece utilizes both odd rests and note groupings.

The hardest thing for a drummer to learn is to not always play like a drummer. If you listen to bands like Spiral Architect or Spastic Ink, you will see the full scale of this. When playing this last piece, as with the others,use a metronome, and be patient.They may seem wild at first, but these pieces will be invaluable tools in helping you to create your own image as a drummer. Once you have mastered these exercises, your will find it easier to approach music from a whole new level.List of Intermediate and Advanced Drum Lessons:

#1 Essential Snare Techniques And Drills You Need to KnowMost drummers use the snare drum as a method to keeping time but the use of the snare isnt limited to only that. In this lesson, we will explore the different ways in which the snares could be used.

#2 3 Steps to Increase Your Level of Drum-manshipDo you want to get better at your drumming? Using 3 simple tips, we will give you the tools that will help you achieve a higher level of playing in no time.

#3 Advanced Tom Tom Beats to Challenge Your SkillsTom toms are often overlooked beyond the beginner beats. In this article, we will show you 2 examples of advanced tom tom patterns that will enable you to challenge yourself and have fun at the same time.

#4 Drum Fills to Spice Up Your PlayingHow do you breakaway from the repetitive beats and rhythms in songs? As drummers, we can apply fills and improvisations to spice up your style and create your own signature sounds.

#5 6 Common Traits Among Great DrummersImitation is the highest form of flattery. Did you know that learning from the pros is one of the best ways to get educated and develop the skills that you already have? We list a series of positive traits that all great drummers should have.

#6 Accented Semi Quavers Rhythms to Spice Up Your StyleThe sixteenth note is very commonly found in different types of genres like speed metal, jazz, hard rock. Discover how you can make use of accented semiquavers to add dynamics into your playing.

#7 Off Beat High Hat Rhythms For Additional FlairLearning how to play an off beat can really add flair and uniqueness to your style due to the nature of the timing. Besides standing out with your own style, it can help you improve on your cymbal skills too.

#8 Produce Unique Sounds With Advanced Cross Sticks RhythmsCross-sticking is an interesting way to create new sounds and tones. Not only is it easy to learn, it can also add a whole new library of complex rhythms to your arsenal.

#9 The Benefits of the Moeller MethodThe Moeller Method is one of the most versatile and useful technique that was ever created. Since the 19th century, it had stood the test of time and is regarded as an essential technique in every drummers skillset.

#10 Creativity in Your Drum BeatsWhenever the discussion of improvisation and creativity is brought up by my students, I always tell them that they need to keep an open mind and experiment with things that they had never tried before.

#11 Imagination And IdentityIf you want to establish your own unique style for people to identify you with, it is time to start thinking outside the box. Setting yourself apart from other drummers is the best way to build up your reputation.

#12 7/8 Grooves And Unconventional Time SignaturesWhen we talk about odd timings, many drummers cringe at the thought of expanding their play to new areas of music. In 7/8 measures, it can create an impression of unfinished music and help expand your musical knowledge.

#13 Basic Syncopated Grouping PatternsSyncopation patterns can be attained through the additional off-beat strokes in a bar of music. This changes up the groove by making it slightly un-ordered and the trick here is to make it sound natural.

Snare Drumming Lessons And Techniques to Master

The snare drum is the most basic of voices in your drumming kit. We use the snare drum so often that we usually overlook just what it is. I mean, its there, and it helps us keep tempo.Yet do you really know how much the snare drum is capable of?Most drummers simply use the snare drum, as stated above, to keep tempo. Or they simply use it because they believe they have to, that its proper for a drummer to use the snare drum.But that shouldnt be the reason we do anything as musicians.In this article, well discuss different uses for the snare drum that you may not have thought of before. Hopefully, some of these uses will be interesting enough to change your playing, even in the slightest of ways.Holding Your DrumstickFirst, before we delve into this snare drumming lesson, you need to observe how you hold your drum stick. Believe it or not, all of your creativity is transferred through your mind, down your shoulder, into your arm where it makes a pit stop at the elbow, then out of your wrist and into your hand.This means that if you have a bad grip, youre already a step behind. Bad grip leads to pain. Pain leads to bad form, which leads to a bad little thing called in injury. Injuries will put your away from your kit for months.For general purposes, we will simply discuss atraditional matched grip.Point your palm towards the ceiling and lay your stick across it diagonally. Now wind your index finger and middle finger youre your stick. Your hand should be three quarter of the length down your stick. You shouldnt have a death grip on the stick, either; a loose grip is sufficient. Now turn your palm towards the floor, and as you do, cradle your ring finger and pinky finger around the stick.Ways Of Snare DrummingNow that you knowhow to properly grip the drumstick, we can talk about how to use the snare drum to make your music more interesting.Use accents. Accenting notes will help bring a note to the forefront. Not only this, but it will take your playing away from the generic time keeping properties. When you accent a note, your stick should fall roughly eight to ten inches to the snare drum head in order to generate sufficient power.If you love accents, you may simply cherish the grace note. A grace note is meant to be felt, not heard. That being said, your stick should fall no more than two inches onto the drum head. This helps to create a whisper. Again, this helps to highlight other notes, once more taking away from the general time keeping purpose of the snare drum.Finally on our snare drumming lessons is the off beat. Off beats are simply every other beat in an eighth note pattern. These, for obvious reasons, areodd feeling beats. They can also make a pattern more interesting.There are no set ways to play the snare drum, so in the end, try not to limit yourself. Keep your mind open, and overall, have fun.3 Steps to Increase Your Level of Drumming Today!Every drummer wants to get better. The world of music is such a vast pool of talent, and nearly everywhere we go we see someone who makes us envious and we wind up wishing we were that good.In this article, using three simple steps, we will give you all of the tools that are sure to make you that good.Step One: PracticeStop being lazy!There is no overnight program to becoming a drumming god or goddess. No amount of DVDs are going to help you if you dont practice.Practice is the only key component to making you a better drummer. Sit behind your kit every single day. If you make an excuse not to, dont try and fool yourself; youre weaseling your way out of practice. If you are okay with this, then you are also okay with not living up to your full potential as a drummer.If you believe that simply watching other drummers and commentating on their skills and techniques or lack thereof will make you any better, you have a whole world of other things coming. Unless you are putting in your hours every week, youll be at the same skill level next year as you are right this moment.But at least you wont be in for a surprise now, because you have been told.You can spend all of your time wishing, or you can spend it doing. The choice is yours, but let us warn you that wishing isnt a proven way to accomplish anything at all. In fact, it is the number one component to laziness. A good way to get started is with using good drum lessons on DVDs. You might want to check out ourreview page for programson different genres of playing.

Step Two: Play RightFlailing about your drum steps like some kind of animal isnt going to make you any better.If you believe that you can make up for your sloppiness by twirling sticks and jumping up and down, you obviously need to reevaluate your current situation.It is true that fans go to shows to be entertained to a certain degree. No one wants to hear an awful drummer smashing his kit to bits like a drunken man. Sit up straight and conduct yourself like a human behind your kit.Putting on a show is fine and dandy, but playing your set well should come first on your list of priorities. It will separate you and your band from every forty year old cover band that still thinks they are a bunch of rock stars because they can play Free Bird. Be professional, and take pride in your execution.Step Three: Refer to Step OneYes, yet again we are telling you to practice.And for good reason.There are no cheats to becoming a better drummer. You need to practice. There is no way around this, so you might as well learn it now.If anything, you should have been halfway to your kit after reading step one. Since you are reading step three, you obviously arent, so please take this as the incentive to get behind your kit and start practicing. You owe it to yourself, and any potential fans you may ever have; so do it.Advanced Tom Tom Beats to Challenge Your Current SkillsDrummers grow. As they do, they require more challenges. If there arent any challenges, how is playing the drums even remotely fun? One of the fun ways to advance your skill is through the use of the tom toms.In this article, we will go over two sample advances tom tom beats that will allow you to challenge yourself, as well as give you some ideas on how you can change your playing to create more challenges for yourself.Before we get into the bulk of the article, it is important that you look at your skill level. It is dire that you are honest with yourself. Honesty is the key to proper learning. If you attempt to tackle a lesson that is far out of your reach, you may have issues with mechanics.If you understand the use of syncopated rhythms and know how to play syncopated patterns, you are halfway there already. If you arent or you are new, head to thebeginner drum lessons sectionto hone your skills first.The other thing you need to assess is how comfortable you are with rests. Our examples will have odd rests, which means that you need to be completely comfortable with odd timings in order to tackle them.If youre comfortable with your syncopation, and your rests are as good as theyll ever be, then its time for our examples.Advanced Tom Tom Beats Example 1:

It is best that you clap this pattern out before tackling it on your kit. Make sure you know the timing of each note, as well as the rest placement. Remember to focus on each note as it comes. Thinking ahead will simply jumble up your hands. Once you can comfortably clap the pattern, use a metronome to play it. Start off slow and allow your hands to memorize their strokes.Advanced Tom Tom Beats Example 2:

As we mentioned earlier, clap this pattern out before you dive head first into it. The rest placement is a bit odd. This is why it is important to be comfortable with odd note placements. Once mastered, they can be your best friend as a drummer.The key is to take it slowly and allow your hands to do all the work. Some of the rests come on the primary beats, while some come on the secondary beats. Make sure that you are fully comfortable with this before you decide to sit at your kit to play the pattern.Broaden Your CreativityNow that you have seen some examples of advanced tom tom drum beats to spice up your drums playing, try creating your own.Trying different note groupings, and different patterns can have great results. Notice how the second example ascends and descends whereas the first mostly descends. Dont limit yourself to linear patterns; try different techniques. If you notice that most of your tom tom grooves are descending, try mixing it up and use some ascending patterns or some mix the two up.The only limits are those of your creativity. Try playing your favorite patterns in different ways. Add rests and different note values. You may notice we used all sixteenth notes; you dont have to do this. Keep your mind and ear equally open, and above all, practice.Using Drum Fills to Add Color to Your Practical Playing

No one likes to hear the same drum patterns throughout every song. Likewise, no drummer wants to play the same patterns day in and day out.The only problem is no one wants to rush to ruin a song.So how can we, as drummers, spice up our drum playing without sacrificing the integrity of our piece?The answer is simple really; through drum fills.Drum fills are, as the name implies, filling in spots with a quick run. They can add extra flavor and added texture to a piece, or they can completely ruin our piece.Avoid Messing Up Your PieceThe key to not ruining your piece, as most of us dont want to do this, is being tasteful.Drum fills can be extravagant, or they can be purely simplistic. The length and the style of the fill should depend on the piece itself.This means, in simplistic terms, that your fill should be an extension of the song you are playing it in.If you are playing a jazz piece, it is quite obvious that 250bmpdouble bass drum fillsare out of the question. They will simply ruin the piece, as they wont fit well. Be intelligent; you know what style you are playing, and thus you know what techniques are used within that style.In most cases, a simple run on the toms is sufficient. In other cases, you may want to use a cymbal choke. Its all about context.If you are playing a country piece, or a ballad, you want to keep you mind within that style of music. Consider it beforehand, and plan out your fills. Being spontaneous can lead to some great things, but it can also lead to some awful things. One of those things is playing to an extreme opposite. You may think it is a neat idea to add a blast beat fill to your blues song, but no one else will. Keep your listener in mind at all times as in the end, they are always right.Practicing Your FillsIf you plan out your fills, it is important that you practice them. Fills can be used in a variety of ways; to enter a chorus, to accent a riff, to outline a solo anything, really. The important thing is that you take the time to practice, as you dont want your great idea translating poorly due to poor execution.If you have an idea of what you want to add to a song as a fill, play it for your band members. Most of the time, they will tell you a complete honest opinion up front. This is because, not only are you playing over your song, but you are also playing over their song. They want it ruined just as much as you do.In the end, the best approach to spicing up your drumming through use of drum fills is to be careful. Outline your ideas thoroughly in your head, put them to work in practice, and if they sound good, use them. If not, chuck the idea and wait for something new.6 Common Traits Among Great Drummers You Should Take After

Learning from the pros this is probably the most inspiring way to educate and nurture the skills that you already possess. This concept is applicable to almost any field that needs learning. If you are trying to learn drumming, this same notion is a great way to learn.Although practicing and reading the technicalities of drumming is an imperative part of learning, understanding the common traits among professional drummers can provide with tips to reach success.This article will give you the 6 common traits among great drummers. Most of the traits are observable from the performance and the music of the great drummers of all time.Traits Any Successful Drummer Should HaveIf you are a real drummer, you should be able to detect those traits quite easily. However, just for clarity, this article enlists them. You can examine this list to ensure that you are developing the traits any successful drummer should have.1.Early birds Any drummer should have a sense of urgency. This is especially true if you are a budding drum player. Regardless of the event that you will be attending, it is important to be early or at least, on time. This also holds even during practice sessions.2.Diligence It would take more than just talent to succeed in the field of learning how to play the drums. You need to be diligent enough to attend all of your practice sessions. Some great drummers are even practicing in their home after their practice sessions. Indeed, taking full responsibility of your own skill will pay in the future.3.Creativity All drummers should be considered artists. If you are planning to be one, you should start developing a great sense of appreciation for art.Composing beat patternswill indeed need creativity, so you should be able to articulate yourself freely using notes.4.Eagerness To succeed in a field like drumming, you would need an unending source of eagerness, the most important trait in the 6 common traits among great drummers. All of your idols today have grabbed every opportunity given to them to reach drum mastery. This is the reason why you should be eager enough to face every opportunity in reaching success.5.Adaptability Hand in hand with creativity, adaptability should also be a trait you should possess. Since most drummers can make sudden changes in the music they provide as dictated by the surrounding, it would be a very important trait. You should develop this characteristic as early as your beginner years.6.Musically inclined This trait seem to be the most obvious, but you should still develop it as a musician. Drummers use their set of ears to create masterpieces, and your goal to do the same. Keeping your mind sensitive to what is good beating will help you through composing your own solos.The 6 common traits among great drummers listed above should not serve as a borderline. Every good drummer possesses more than just the six traits listed above. The question now lies on how you can become develop your own traits. Make it your goal to surpass the number of traits that you can enhance.Accented Semi Quavers Rhythms to Spice Up Your StyleThe sixteenth note has made quite a name for itself. Speed metal, jazz, hard rock; those are only a few of the genres that incorporate the sixteenth note into their music regularly.Before we get into accented semiquavers, first you need to take a look at your drums playing.When you are striking, how high off the drum is your hand?How even are your notes?How even are your accents?Do you use too much or too little power?Once you analyze your playing while keeping these questions in mind, undoubtedly, you end up with quite a few answers. Some might even shock you.If you play with greater stick height, keep in mind that your strokes take longer to fall. If your power is distributed unevenly, work on keeping your notes within an equal volume range. The same goes for your accents; you dont want a pleasant accent to be followed up by a cringe-inducing ear splitter. The key to learning to accent notes is to be able to keep your accents the same, and your regular notes the same, that way listeners can easily distinguish one from the other.Here Are Some Examples Of AccentsHere are some examples of semiquaver accents, transcribed usingGuitar Pro 6.

This first example shows the accent on the first beat. You want the accent to have as much power as possible, while still maintaining pleasantness. You dont want your friends and family going deaf. Remember that the power is mostly in your wrist and forearm, so dont drive the stick with your bicep like a wild man, either.This second example has accents on every other beat. This means that you will be accenting with both your main hand and your off hand. Accenting with both hands will make the piece more difficult, but it will also help you control the power of both hands much more efficiently.

To help yourself remember the pattern of accents so that you can maintain your accent consistency, count your one-twos (one and two and one and two and). Each time you say one or two, you will be accenting the note. Each and is a regular note. Counting along is a great way to help muscle memory as well.The third and final example is a little more difficult. With doubled accents, followed by doubled, regular notes, your power has to really be in check. This exercise is a good tool to gauge exactly how in control of your striking power you truly are.

When accenting the first two notes, be aware of stick height. If you end the second accent with your sticks too high, you will inevitably strike much harder than you intend. This will mash together your accented notes and your regular notes, making them indecipherable from one another.Using Your MetronomeWith your metronome, slowly practice these drum exercises on your pad. Be sure to take note of your form. As I said earlier; stick height is very important when accenting notes.With accented sixteenth notes in your arsenal, you will have the ability to begin to take on jazz, hard rock, and even fusion.Keep your form good, and practice hard!Off Beat High Hat Rhythms to Add Flair in Your StyleStylized playing; everyone wants it, but not everyone knows how to obtain it. One of the easiest ways to give your playing a new flair that will make other musicians take note is by accenting on the off-beat.So what is an off-beat? When you play a song, there is almost always a pattern to the way you accent, whether that pattern is withcymbal work, or with the snare. Regular patterns accent on what is called the on-beat.If you were to play a song in 4/4, using only four quarter notes, the on-beat would be on beats one and three, and the off-beat would be on beats two and four.There are, of course, on-beats and off-beats in every time signature, but for now we are going to focus exclusively on 4/4 as this is the standard timing that most drummers are used to.When you accent on the off-beat, it gives your playing a different, more unique feel. It also lends itself healthily to experimentation.Follow The First PatternUsing the information we have gathered about off-beat patterns, get your metronome and try one out for yourself. This simple pattern, made usingGuitar Pro 6, uses high hat off-beat rhythms.

As you will see for yourself in this drumming lesson, your first foray into off-beat accents may be a little difficult. Drummers are primarily taught to follow a groove, and this can make learning off-beat patterns take a bit more time, as off-beat patterns tend to follow a stranger course. While they do have their own groove, off-beat patterns, to some, may seem odd and unpleasant.Notice that this simple pattern uses only the high hat and the bass drum. This will help you to establish off-beat coordination between your legs and arms. This is usually the hardest part of learning off beat patterns, as when using both of your hands the groove seems to just flow in reverse.See The Second PatternOnce you have mastered the first example we can move on to a bit more difficult version of the off-beat high hat rhythm. This example involves theuse of double bassand the snare, utilizing both of your hands and one to two of your legs (depending on how you want to play it).

I do suggest running through the piece at least once using all four limbs, as this will increase the difficulty greatly and help you to gain better awareness of your limbs as well. With better awareness, you increase both accuracy and fluidity, not to mention dexterity as well.When playing this example, be sure to strike the snare, the high hat, and the bass drum on the off-beat at the same exact time. On the on-beat, be sure that your snare and bass kick are timed as well. Observe your playing, and allow yourself to relax if you get tense. If you learn tenseness during practice, it will become a playing habit. This can lead to playing related injuries down the road.Implement Off Beat When PlayingWhen you are able to play these to examples without error or hesitation, try implementing the off-beat into your own playing. If you have some favorite grooves you jam out on a steady basis, try accenting them on the off-beat. This will help you accent the off-beat later one when you are improvising.For now, keep playing, and dont stop challenging yourselfAdvanced Cross Sticking Rhythms to Impress PeopleWhenever the subject is an irregular way to produce sounds using the drums, the first thing that comes to my mind is how I believed during my first drum lesson that using drums you can produce just about any musical sound.I did not know anything about drumming techniques, rhythms or grooves; all I knew that the solo my drum teacher played to me at the beginning of the class seemed so complex and astonishing that I immediately become a believer of limitless drumming.Cross sticking is not something that pushes your skill limits too far: it is basically an interesting way to produce sounds using your drums that is rather easy to learn.How Should Proper Cross Sticking be Delivered?In order to execute a proper cross stick hit, put the tip of the drum stick on the middle of the area between the center of the drum head and your left hand. Grab the shoulder of the stick with your left hand (in some cases you might use the right side, too), and hit the facing side of the rim with the butt of the drum stick.Pay attention to the direction of the drum stick: too many drummers execute cross sticking with the butt touching the drum head. Proper stick direction results in a brighter, cleaner sound and even if it might feel harder to deliver in the beginning, after a little practice it will surely feel natural.When is Cross Sticking Used?Cross sticking is mainly present in afro-cuban rhythms. Most reggae rhythms feature cross sticking, and so do a large portion ofLatin rhythms. However, cross sticking is really just a different sound that can be added to almost any drum rhythm. For example, a slow rock rhythm quite often gains a deeper character when played with cross sticking.

The Limitations of Cross Sticking Rhythms What?!As I said previously, I became a believer of what I call limitless drumming as soon as my first drumming class. Some people try to categorize different techniques and tricks and assign different genres or playing scenarios to them.I preach something else why would you limit yourself to use cross sticking only in reggae rhythms when your metal beat might become more interesting if you add a cross stick stroke at the third eighth note. There are two particular use cases of cross stick hits that I would like to mention.How Can I Use Cross Sticking Unusually?Firstly, you should forget about the common belief that cross sticking only works on the snare drum. Proving the contrary is quite easy. Just play some cross stick hits on your floor tom or your toms. Please note that playing on your toms might be a little harder to execute since you have to lean in towards them. Once you try this kind of cross sticking, you will realize that you have just discovered yet another interesting sound that your drum can produce.Secondly, there are endless ways for combining cross sticking with different drumming patterns. Using cross sticking in linear rhythms results in subtle, tight rhythm. Linear rhythms are a special type of drum rhythms where you only play one part of the drum set at any given time.That is, there are no overlaps, you do not play the hi-hat and the bass or the snare drum (or anything else) at the same time. Since linear rhythms often have a quite clean character, a subtle cross stick hit played instead of a louder regular snare hit often fits better with the pattern.The Benefits of the Moeller Method And What It Can DoThese days it seems that every single drummer has their own method on how to improve skill. I would be lying if I said that all of these methods work, or if even half of them are beneficial.I would also be lying if I said the Moeller Method fell into that negative category. I have come across very few drum methods that are even half as helpful as Sanford Moellers method.The Moeller Method is a method based around the snare drum. It was developed in the early nineteenth century, and has stood the test of time for a great many reasons.The Moeller Method Teaches How To Properly Control PowerMany drummers believe that they have great control, but the fact of the matter is many of them are wrong. We all tend to think we are better off than we truly are. Moeller teaches how to properly control power to help differentiate between different notes such as accents and grace notes. If you are interested in a DVD course specially dedicated to this, check outMoeller Method SecretsI know I have personally heard and feltmy fair share of over powered accents that made me cringe. I have also heard grace notes so light that they couldnt be felt with a stethoscope. Proper balance in power is an extremely important foundational skill for drummers, and you cant master styles such as jazz, blues, funk, punk, or heavy metal without it.Stick grip formmay seem like a basic piece of knowledge, and that is because it is. Just like any other basic, it is also often overlooked in favor for jumping head first into impressive techniques and show off skills.Moeller teaches how to properly hold your drumsticks to better control your power, and also elaborates on how to properly use the wrist to generate proper force.Importance Of Moeller MethodThis skill is more than important, it is necessary to avoid injury. The wrists arent muscular; they are fragile. Keeping your wrist stiff, while flexing your forearm and bicep to strike the drum head, is a sure way to injure your wrist. In other words, using your arm instead of your wrist to drum is wrong.It is also a form that I have seen far too many drummers adopt. New drummers dont realize how critical good form is, and thus many injuries follow as a result. The Moeller Method explains proper form for good striking.Finally, if you are a speed demon, or even a jazz man, you will be astonished at how much proper form benefits your drumming. Proper form leads to less exertion of energy, which in turn means that you will stay fresher for longer. Proper wrist technique also leads to quicker strokes. Regardless of what style you play, effortless speed is far more help than hindrance.If playing injury free and developing proper form are within your range of interest, the Moeller Method can be an invaluable tool to help you further your drumming. Balancing your power can not only help you groove more efficiently, but it can also help you to learn to play drums more dynamically, giving contrast between strokes and techniques.How to Infuse Creativity in Your Drum BeatsWhile the ability toread drum notationis still very important, the ability to look at the drum set or any other instrument you might be playing as one of your childhood toys is even more important.When you were a child you probably did not care too much about rules and constraints. You found the easiest and most beautifully simple way to express your feelings and emotions the most appealing.Make Your Listening LiberalFirst and foremost, you should reevaluate your judgment on what is good and what is bad music. If there is a tune that was made public or is played in front of a public, than either the author or even the public believes that the melody-rhythm combination in question is valuable.It might not be in your style, or it might not meet your criteria regarding musical abilities. But it definitely meets those who listen to it and play it. Every music conveys a message to someone, and we do not have the right to decide what message is correct or not and what tools should be used or not.By opening up your ears and heart to all sorts of music, you will have the opportunity to find interesting elements in that kind of music and maybe steal some of those and reproduce them in your own tunes. Remember, ignorance is bliss.Apply What You Have Learned for Creative Drums PlayingThere is no point in playingparadiddles,ratamacues,flam dragsand all sorts of seemingly meaningless rudiments if you do not apply them in your everyday playing. You have been playing the paradiddle for a year and still do not know what it is good for? I have seen cases like that before: well, apply it in your rhythms, in your fills, build up a drum solo. The list is endless; all you need to do is to make your practice practical: use what you have learned.

Do Not Fear The UnknownEvolution is not brought by the people who live the same way every day and are satisfied with their current state. Evolution is the product of those who always question things, who are not afraid of entering the void, who are comfortable with trying out new things.If you want more creativity and freedom in your drumming, try something that you have never tried before. Maybe play a beat backwards. Or chop off an eighth note from a 4/4 beat and only play the first seven eighths on a loop.Have you ever thought of just deliberately changing the function of one of your limbs in a beat? Lets take astandard rock rhythmscenario. Instead of playing the hi-hat, move your right hand and play eighth notes on your floor tom. It will give your beat a whole new feeling and this is only one example.By letting go of conventions, you will soon discover that the drumming world has a lot of undiscovered treasures to share with you you do not even have to be too brave (there is nothing to fear). You just have to be a bit playful when learning how to play drums.Pay Attention to the Other Members of the BandWhen playing in a band, it is not only you who can come up with interesting rhythm patterns. Even if it is the drum that is mainly responsible for the rhythm in the music, every instrument has a rhythmical function apart from their melodic one.Thus, a lead guitarist can come up with a riff which has a rhythm that changes the whole song. And you can play along with that fancy new rhythm, creating something new, something wonderful again. Remember, creativity in your drum beats holds no boundaries.

How to Develop Your Own Imagination And Signature IdentityThis is the single most important aspect of playing any musical instrument. When drumming you need to set yourself apart from other drummers if you want to be a success, and having a lot of imagination is the best way to do this.If you play the drums then its about time you start think outside the box. Try to play the drums differently to people that you hear on the radio or on records; establish your own unique identity.The Drummers IdentityIt can be very difficult not to copy other drummers. But remember, people already have John Bonham or Jimmy Chamberlin. They dont want to listen to rip offs, they want to find someone new. There is nothing wrong with taking inspiration from your favorite drummers, everybody does it. However you should try to make conscious effort to at least present what they are playing in a different way.A good exercise to follow is to listen to some of your favorite drum tracks, preferably from two different drummers. Take the best beat and the best fill from the songs and then try to splice them together. This method is commonly used by drummers that want to add their own specific flair todrum tracks.Another great exercise is to play along to some of your favorite music, but instead of playing the beat and fills that are in the background try to add in some of your own techniques. If a beat is played on a hi-hat then why not try playing it on the ride cymbal?Thinking Of New IdeasThe best way to come up with new ideas is to learn as much as possible. You should always be trying to increase your overall drumming vocabulary, and the best way to do this is to learn new techniques such as rudiments.There are 40 rudiments in total. Learning all of them will increase your speed, control and most importantly your imagination. Once you learn a rudiment you should always try to incorporate it into your playing.Trying to turn it into a beat, or playing it on multiple drums can be a great way to get started. Eventually you will find that new ideas will come to you and you will be able to hear them in your head before youve even picked up the sticks.Learn New StylesMany drummers are very one dimensional. They can play certain drumming styles and genres very well, and others poorly. If you learn to master a number of different styles then you will be able to take ideas from one style and incorporate it into another.This is a great way to add your own specific flair to a song or piece of music. Not only does it sound original and unique, but it will make you stand out over other drummers.As Ive previously stated; the most important aspect of imagination is establishing your own identity. And the only way to formulate your own identity is to create new things yourself. By following the exercises and ideas in this article you will find yourself in a better position to create.

Expand Your 7/8 Drum Grooves VolcabularyThe chances are high that the majority of the music you have heard or played was set in a 4/4 time signature. Music does not stop there, and by dedicating some time to the studying of alternative time signatures you will even develop a better sense for understanding and analyzing music.Even though the 3/4 time signature is the second most common, it still can be considered an even time, as it is analogous to 6/8, just as four quarter notes are equivalent to eight eighth notes.Understanding the Essence of the 7/8 Time SignatureThe overall feel of a 7/8 measure will be as if it was an unfinished 4/4 measure. It sounds rather unexpected and you usually have the impression that the drummer forgot to finish his beat.In order to be able to deliver solid rhythms in this measure, we first have to learn how to count in the 7/8 measure. In the example below I show you the four most common ways to count notes in the 7/8 time signature.First, you can count every single eighth-note in a measure, like this: one, two, three, four, five, six, sev you should not utter seven entirely, as the second syllable might confuse you. The next two variations are the most common. These are one, two, three, four, one, two, three and one, two, three, one, two, three, four.There exists another rather accepted way of counting in 7/8, that goes like one, two, three, one, two, one, two. In the divided examples I have added a bass drum for every count of one you should practice like this in order to develop a command of this rather odd and nifty time signature.

Crafting Basic Beats in This Time SignatureThere are two basic ways to compose simple beats in the 7/8 time signature. The first of these (exemplified on the first line below) is based on the augmentation of the most common bass-snare pulsation by adding extra eighth notes on the hi-hat between these two.The other alternative (see the second line of the example below) is to treat this time signature just the way I described it in the introduction: as an unfinished 4/4. That way, you should just lay a standard 4/4 rock beat over a 7/8 measure and let the unneeded remains fall into the void. This will create a fascinating, interestinglysyncopated beat.

Composing and Counting 7/8 Fills CorrectlyJust like any other time signature, 7/8 is not limited to rigid, common beats. Drum fills are sort of necessary in almost any kind of music, and the 7/8 time signature provides you with a very interesting and surprisingly simple platform to do that. The only thing you have to do is to count what you play until you have accumulated 7 eighth-notes.The first example shows the simplest possibility to do this. On the other hand, the second alternative goes a little bit further by incorporating eighth-note and sixteenth-note triplets into a bar of seven eighths. It is all just mathematics, so it is up to you to verify that the examples are correct. The procedure is the same as it is for 4/4 beats.

Basic Syncopated Grouping Patterns For Good DynamicsMost of the patterns and beats that beginner drummers are introduced to at first are driven by a constant pulsation of the hi-hat. In these beats, the other played parts of the drum kit usually the snare drum and the bass drum are synchronized to the hi-hat strokes.Such a straightforward beat can very often be played with wonderful dynamics and it can rule the entire piece of music through its simplicity. However let us face it there are situations when you need tospice up your playingso that it will match the music of your colleagues better. Syncopation can help you in that manner.Syncopation can be basically achieved through the addition of unexpected, off-beat strokes to a beat, giving it a slightly unordered groove. Composing such beats is easier than you would ever expect let us take a look at how it should be done!The Most Basic Kind of Example for The PatternWhen you are about to learn something new on your instrument, the first step you should take is to break the new material into small pieces, into building blocks. The easiest way to do that is to add off-beat sixteenth notes played on the bass drum or the snare drum between the standard eighth-note throbbing of the hi-hat.In the example below I have noted some of the simplest possible syncopated patterns. In the first two bars you can see four examples where only one off-beat is added to a group of a quarter length, whereas in the last two bars you can four examples of how two eighth-notes can be replaced with four sixteenths in a dynamic, interesting way.

Embedding Simple Syncopated Patterns in Drum BeatsIn the example below we show how incorporating one or more of the patterns presented above can bring some interesting vibe to your beats. The first line shows how two syncopated building blocks can turn a standard rock beat into a rather interesting groovy beat that goes nicely with funk music when played with clever dynamics. You might want to play the off-beat snare strokes from the second measure as ghost notes in order to create a really smooth groove.The second line shows a rather complex example of syncopation. It is interesting to note how sixteenth notes are seemingly randomly assigned to the snare or the bass drum and the result sounds cool, even that way.

Using These Patterns as Building Blocks for Drum BeatsOnce you have a solid command of the different building blocks, you can combine them in any way you want just make sure that you are not leaving your time signature without purpose.There are no rules on what order these blocks have to follow and there are no limitations regarding the inner composition of these groups that is, you can come up with almost any combination of notes featuring off-beat strokes and end up with a nice syncopated beat.In the first two measures I have added an extra bass drum for counts one and three, so that the beat would not feel that strange at first. However, the third and the fourth measure illustrates that beginning a beat with a bass drum is not compulsory and experimenting around can yield awesome results.