Spend some time with each line on the snare drum until you're comfortable with the pattern. Then start moving it around the kit. Loop each line multiple times before moving on. I try to run each one for 10 minutes straight with absolutely no variation. It can be very tempting to deviate from the pattern or rhythm and add flams or rolls, but strictly limit yourself to only the one pattern and move it around the kit. You'll be amazed at the combinations you'll come up that you've never thought of before.
I've also found this exercise quite beneficial to the strength of my ears. We've all heard that you can only play as fast as you can hear. I used to struggle with my ears shifting the time by a 16th note or so when soloing at very fast tempos. Take, for example, the second page. Occasionally, when playing a pattern similar to this with accents moving around the drums, if a very strong note, say, an accent on the snare drum, fell on the "e" or "a" of a beat, my ears would shift that note to a downbeat. By working these exercises one line at a time, starting at extremely slow tempos and working my way up I noticed that my ears were getting much faster. In a sense, I was no longer guessing at what I played, or just letting my limbs fall where they may. Rather, I began to feel that I knew exactly where my sticks were going and when. Every note began to have a definite purpose, which, in my mind is the mark of a truly mature drummer.
After you're comfortable with all of these patterns start to mix and match them. At first stay within the same rhythm, but move from one accent pattern to another. Then begin mixing the triplet and 16th note patterns.
In a coming post I'll have a Part II with double stroke combinations.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteis there a pdf version of there?
By the way, wonderful work!
Thank you, I'm glad you like it. Shoot me an e-mail at adamosmianski@hotmail.com and I'll send you a PDF.
DeleteExcellent stuff Adam thank you for the help!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I hope it helps.
DeleteThese are great. The only problem I have is that I don't have much practice time these days. How would you suggest I tackle these exercises with only around 30 mins of practice a day? I was thinking about one whole line(both hand leads) per day that I get to practice. Is that a good idea?
ReplyDeleteI think that's an excellent idea. I wouldn't try to dive into too many per day. As you suggested, take one line per day leading on each hand. Start extremely slow and gradually bring the tempo up. Or, if you get comfortable with them pretty quickly, you might want to consider doing three lines per day. So, for example, on the first page, work the three different hand-hand-foot triplet combinations with the accents. Then the next day work the foot-hand-hand triplet combinations. That way it won't be as long before you make it back around to the beginning again.
DeleteHope it goes well. Let me know how it works out for you.
I realized that you can reply directly to the message above using this button. In pages 2 and 4, you say that we should attempt to play this in four bar phrases. What do you mean by this? Thank you.
DeleteHi Froster,
DeleteThe exercises on pages 2 and 4 (all of the 16th note exercises) naturally resolve after three bars. What I mean by that is that you end up back on the hand or foot that you started with and you are also back to beat one. So, when I suggest that you play them in four bar phrases I mean to say that you should continue playing the pattern for one more bar of 4/4, so that you play four bars of 4/4 instead of just three. In this instance you will not end up back on the same hand or foot that you started with, but it is more applicable to most musical situations.
I see, that makes a lot of sense. Again, thanks so much for these. I tried some lines out today with my limited practice time and I can say that I enjoyed the challenge of not playing any sort of variations to these exercises.
DeleteThanks for the reply! Awesome idea too. I'll keep you updated with my progress.
ReplyDelete