Post your Greatest Weakness [Archive] - Page 2 - DRUMMERWORLD OFFICIAL DISCUSSION FORUM

chrisobrien54

02-01-2008, 06:56 PM

I have no weakness, im just a natural drumming God. My bass player thanks the lord every day he wakes for having me at his side... (edit - not in a gay way!)

That said...

Left hand is rubbish - I must have 15 years of practice ahead of me to get it the same speed as my right, until then, single stroke rolls are a distant dream.

My right foot needs to RELAX! i just get frustrated when I cant hit the quick notes and XXXXXXXXXXX up loads. Again, about 15 years of practice will see it to an average level

Playing in swing time - I rush the triplets and they sound sh!t

I speed up/slow down as I play, depending on how carried away I get. Pisses off my bass player.

Christ I could go on - im a very average drummer. Iv only been playing two year but you know what? Iv had more fun playing and learning than I thought i could ever have. Before picking up the sticks I wasnt much into music at all and I believe its improved my life no end, so much so I almost feel sorry for people who dont want to pick up an instrument.

mind_drummer

02-01-2008, 10:26 PM

My greatest weakness for my playing is having a family...

I have many responsabilities and only half hour per day allowed behind the kit :-(

jpf1138

02-03-2008, 10:02 AM

Mine is I will slip into a swing feel if I don't really pay attention. I was taught bebop jazz style and am used to playing in a real loose triplet feel, and sometimes I wish I could be more funky. I can be, but when jamming I always go back to jazz.

Joshua

02-07-2008, 05:08 AM

my weakness is..................my left foot

Lee Mangano

02-19-2008, 10:42 PM

My greatest weakness for my playing is having a family...

I have many responsabilities and only half hour per day allowed behind the kit :-(

That half hour day is problably more dedication than 50% of the drummers in the world today...keep up the good work...

Royal

02-19-2008, 11:10 PM

Resisting the urge to play impressive send-offs at the end of every number. (I do manage not to overdo it....but it's tough).

Loosing tuning keys...

And of course....Hot, Slim, Oriental women.

Big_Philly

02-20-2008, 08:55 PM

My weakness is my left foot.

And of course....Hot, Slim, Oriental women.

And that. I'm in love with Aya Ueto from the movie Azumi ;)

Cast

02-21-2008, 01:36 AM

I got a few kinks to work out lol

my left hand independence
Double Bass Petal (i don't use them in my style but it'd be cool to learn)
Some Tom grooves
Quick rolls that lead into a bridge or chorus
Latin stuff

Royal

02-21-2008, 08:35 AM

.

And that. I'm in love with Aya Ueto from the movie Azumi ;)

Go East & live the dream........Highly recommended. :-))

Lee Mangano

02-27-2008, 06:37 AM

blonds with d cups

sorry I had too
mike o

its ok Mike...Blonds with any cup is my weakness,

FunkRaft

02-27-2008, 08:19 AM

Lee Mangano

02-28-2008, 06:44 PM

my greatest weakness has to be ego. Thinking that i play better than i do has hindered me ever since i took up the instrument! I'm not that arrogant don't get me wrong, just tend to move to the next exercises way before im proficient at the basics.

Justin

Instead of thinking it in the negitive way as an ego & arrogants...think of it in the positive way, your excited to learn & move forward & dedicated to higher learning

We all do what your talking about...everyone loves to turn the page a little premature do to human curiousity...it is a good thing !!!

Peace !!! Lee

oikroitnik

02-28-2008, 09:02 PM

Letting my right foot know what my left,middle hand is doing.

That and flip-flopping between gripping the bats too hard(ow) and throwing them on the floor(eurggh).ho hum....

schist

03-06-2008, 09:01 AM

Lee Mangano

03-09-2008, 05:53 AM

Heads are too tight, therefore too much rebound, and I end up dropping sticks/fumbling rolls because of it.

Sometimes unable to keep time perfectly (chiefly with tempos below 120 - 130BPM), and on occasion my brain aligns whichever sound is the strongest/loudest (usually snare) with the click, usually in power metal skank beats (particularly the verses in Sonata Arctica's "San Sebastian" - theoretically I can get through the song, it's just this that stops me from nailing it perfectly)

perfect timing is the most difficult aspect of drumming to teach...I can crack the wip & stuff a metronome in your head, but you ultimately have to control your body to accomplish the main objective...coordinated your body to feel the groove & persue it

drums really are a full body feel instrument...from your head to your toes...other instruments don't demand every inch of your body like the drums do...

with that said, your whole body has to feel the timing & groove and with confidence you need to feel the meter and play it as solid with strength & definition and stay focused on the down beat...

SeveringDozza

03-09-2008, 09:57 AM

blade123

03-09-2008, 10:14 AM

Double bass, and making my playing interesting/something that you would actually want to listen to.

trysthedrummer

03-09-2008, 12:14 PM

I'm always working on my weaker hand and foot. I suppose doing single strokes on the double pedals, getting the right motion. I need to concentrate on my balance a bit more I think.

My left hand needs work, I occasionally play some rudiments in traditional grip but that's as far as that goes! I'm no good at that grip yet.

Lee Mangano

03-12-2008, 05:09 AM

Double bass.

I used to be better at it but one at one practice I went to use it and my endurance and speed was so crap and still is. Very frustrating because I have a college gig coming in up a few weeks and we are playing on stage and 2 of my band's songs have double bass in them which I can no longer do at that speed. I used to be able to though...

Stanima is very important...the best thing to do is change your parts...especially for that gig...rule #1 ...don't ever play anthing your not confident in playing...

Try breaking up the dbl Bass pattern, and make it a rythm to give your foot a break...that may help you pull it off ... another way to build your stamina is make practice dbl bass pattern for 4 minutes without stopping..the length of a song

Zildjian232

03-23-2008, 07:44 PM

my greatest weakness:

Beutiful woman with bad intentions

aydee

03-23-2008, 07:47 PM

my greatest weakness:

Beutiful woman with bad intentions

Mine's the other way around.

el_frenko

03-24-2008, 01:19 AM

my right foot (single kick)

plus spazzing out in the recording studio when that red light goes on

though i've recently started recording myself with a digital dictophone when i practise and its already helping loads

m1ck

03-24-2008, 09:17 AM

Greatest weaknesses: Beer, time management, and foolishly putting other responsibilities before practice time on the drums.

And my left side. It's not as fast.

Lee Mangano

03-26-2008, 08:47 PM

Mine's the other way around.

Too funny !!!...thats the best advice so far...

brennenlesser

03-27-2008, 02:28 AM

woman, they are nothing but trouble

GRUNTERSDAD

04-15-2008, 02:38 AM

My left side. I am quite happy with the right side after a 30 year break, but seeing Dom Famularo Thursday night he has inspired me to work on the left side. My first step was to commit to working on it. My second step was to order his book, The Weaker Side. Lets hope my efforts pay off.

KLittle123

04-15-2008, 06:09 PM

Babe's in the crowd....

They always get me. I either get really nervous and play like crap... or I get super cocky and want to show off... and then I play like crap.

It's the truth.

photon

04-15-2008, 06:15 PM

Same weaknesses common to most of the posters on this thread but the one that bugs me the most is lack of imagination/creativity. For personal reasons I have not been able to play for a few months and last weekend was over at a buddies who bought some drums for his kid. When I sat down at the kit to play something it was kind of like "Huh..what do I play" and settled on a few of the same old tired grooves...just pathetic....

goughy

04-16-2008, 12:13 PM

Lack of training - any training. I can barely to a parradiddle! But I have fun.

Skeemer118

04-18-2008, 09:03 PM

I'm sure there's a long list of weakness...but creativity is my #1 right now. That's why I'm getting back to the basics: Practice, practice, practice.

I'm attempting to do anything/everything to spark it. Watching other drummers, watching learning vids, practicing the basics, working on speed, jogging like Rocky, being on a strict protien diet, & wearing my lucky underoos. ;)

sneakydutch

05-02-2008, 04:00 AM

I'm going to go with

1) breathing in time (it accually helps a lot)
2) left hand
3) left foot doubles

Kingfisher91

05-02-2008, 10:57 PM

My biggest one is prollly the tension...
As soon as I have to play fast, i get to tense, and fail playing fast >.<
So I'm really practicing on that right now
And I also have to train alot of kordination.
I'm both left and right handed, wich means that I have no problem with using the left hand
But the problem is that im using it to much, sometimes i slip into using the left as lead wich makes my playing "wrong" on a righty drumkit. :P

king fail

05-04-2008, 07:51 PM

weaknesses... :l

1. absolutely no left foot independence

2. i can keep time fine, but i just tend not to count O.O that's not normal right?

3. can't play any unusual (or rather, just not basic) time signatures

4. LACK OF IMAGINATION! :(

ULTIMATEDRUMMER

05-05-2008, 08:10 PM

Left hand slower the right, and don't practice with a metronome or Sightread as much as I would like to.

The Keith Moon

05-05-2008, 09:04 PM

Babe's in the crowd....

They always get me. I either get really nervous and play like crap... or I get super cocky and want to show off... and then I play like crap.

It's the truth.

same here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MadJazz

05-07-2008, 07:34 PM

No one has trouble keeping time? That's a big weakness.

I think getting creative with fills is my big weakness. Whenever I learn something new, I get addicted to it. Too repetitive.

Also, I had to play so softly that I lost confidence in drumming.

Moon_Type_Drummer

05-13-2008, 05:38 PM

same here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know exactly what you mean!

Moon_Type_Drummer

05-13-2008, 05:43 PM

Probably getting into the music and drowning out the other instruments, breaking sticks (often) from playing too hard, and hitting the rims.

mead50

06-15-2008, 07:45 AM

CANT READ MUSIC =[

I need to learn badly, i can read basic-little intermediate music but not advanced stuff

mead50

06-15-2008, 07:46 AM

CANT READ MUSIC =[

I need to learn badly, i can read basic-little intermediate music but not advanced stuff

plus lack of imagination in fills, i try to feel it as best as i can but doesn't do any good

sabian0311

06-15-2008, 08:18 AM

my left hand. and definently when people are watching me i tend to mess up and get to tense and forget about all the complex stuff i can play when people arent watching me lol.

keaganobrien

06-15-2008, 01:50 PM

Lee Mangano

06-16-2008, 04:29 PM

I have trouble remembering to count. When im in the ''moment'', the last thing I wanna do is count to myself. Sometimes this screws with my timing when improvising.

My fills are getting repetitive. I play with a four piece 98% of the time, kind of wishing i had an extra rack tom or something. BUT IT LOOKS SO UGLYYYYYY.

I used to have trouble with independence, but I don't think I do on a major level anymore.

You need to feel the count...I had the same problem...so I memorized drum parts were ever i had trouble feeling the space...I was brought up in old school drum corps were we memorized everything, we weren't readers...so I was good at memorizing...I even recorded a whole album solo without a note of music in 1 night ... What a story that is !!!

don't feel like your the only one with these type problems....exposing them as you did will get you the advice & help you need to improve your art...keep up the good work

delliejonut

06-16-2008, 11:14 PM

My biggest problem is my fingers of my left hand... I play matched grip and I have excellent finger control in my right hand, but in the left its a different story. I can't really play french grip with my left hand either, the stick goes down at an oblique angle.

Other than that I would say soloing creatively in a performance setting. I play a lot of jazz and when I'm practicing I come up with cool 4 bar or 8 bar solo ideas, that sound fresh. But when I'm playing with a group somewhere I sort of fall back into these easy and generally unimpressive ideas. I think it stems partially from a fear of overplaying in a small combo and a fear of losing time...

On that note, I used to have terrible time. I practiced with a metronome all the time and still had bad time. Then one day I started playing my bass drum with the heel up technique as opposed to heel down, and I suddenly had great timing. I think it was because playing heel down caused me to drag the notes slightly and therefore everything else slowed down. Playing heel up makes my right foot solid, and my time is solid because of it.

Not that I'm saying everyone should play heel up. You have to find what you're comfortable with. I played heel down for 4 years though with bad time, and switched to heel up and had good time in a matter of a day or two. You just have to practice until it clicks and you realize "I have to do this to keep time well". It's mechanic as much as mental.

FunkyLover999

06-17-2008, 12:19 PM

I usually tend to speed down in a jazz setting.. to the point where my ensemble teacher loses his patience very often.. I practiced playing and singing the melody along with a metronome, but that problem seems to be really hard to eradicate.

Any tips or advices someone could give to me ?!

help will be much appreciated. thanks

somethingstarted

07-02-2008, 07:16 AM

learning a beat that my band members try and teach me, but i can easily make one up almost on the spot or remember a beat in my head and play it with little trouble!

also i have trouble with single pedals, i usually can't do more than doubles at 16th's

rudiments are getting easier but if i do to much, three to six minuets at the most, than i get tired and concentrating is extremely difficult, then everyone gets angry and disappointed.

finding a good double bass kick set for around $100 / $350ish American money.

tuning the toms and floor toms, they sound so damn bright it sounds horrible.

dropping sticks in the middle of a song.

(yuep i have a lot right now)

I usually tend to speed down in a jazz setting.. to the point where my ensemble teacher loses his patience very often.. I practiced playing and singing the melody along with a metronome, but that problem seems to be really hard to eradicatesounds like you have trouble concentrating. try and concentrate and pay attention to the songs, and catch your self from messing up and fix a problem before it starts or gets out of hand. do you even like jazz?

Pocketman

07-02-2008, 02:12 PM

My greatest weakness is double bass playing. This is basically because I've never really worked on it nor do I own a double pedal. I love drummers who do it well and my of them are among my favorite players.

It's just that I've never been in any kind of musical situation where it was required or even encouraged. I did own a double pedal years ago and worked on some things, but when I pulled out a lick or two on one song the band leader looked at me and said, "Leave that thing home tomorrow."

Now, I know that it was more an example of poor musicianship on my part rather than double bass playing itself but it just shows I never was called upon to learn it.

That being said, I do whant to get better at it. Any recommendations on a goo double pedal?

king fail

07-28-2008, 11:29 PM

I have been playing for about 5 years, and am quite proud of my achievement with technique, style etc. (not cocky, just pleased)
but i have noticed something pretty scandalous recently;

y'know your basic rock beat, the first thing your average teacher will teach right?
the second thing i have commonly found taught is then the 16th note basic 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a fill from the snare around the toms, ending on the FT

(anyone not familiar with this is an alien)

... I can't do it.

i never practiced it, always worked on technique, grooves, improv.
seriously, it's really weird; here you have me with my fancy push pull and my flashy moeller pull out accents, and i can't play that!!!

FAIL.

Tylerdrums109

07-28-2008, 11:46 PM

My greatest weakness lies in my creativity sometimes i just dont know what to play when i sit at my kit and technique wise its probably in getting around kit...

Warheart

07-29-2008, 02:05 PM

Lee Mangano

10-04-2008, 05:50 PM

I'd have to say it's my tendency to overestimate myself. I'm not a great player (yet), but I'll often expect myself to perform beyond my capabilities.

Then, after I'm left fatigued or off rhythm from not being conditioned enough, I face my other weaknesses: impatience and rage hahah.

Sorry all...its been awhile since i posted on my own thread...I apoligize...got sideswiped ... and still shaking off the cobb webbs...

Warheart...This Post is about stating your personal greatest weakness so others can help you...but you have the ability to help the majority of the drummers in this thread...even your name maybe descibing your character...Heart & War has extrordinary meaning

- Look at your first line your honest about your ability and then say (yet) thats confidence & a strength...not a weakness

- Then you expect to perform above your level..."well how else do you think anyone can reach the next level if they don't go for it & give it their all ? and strength you have.

- impatience & rage may be a problem..but its easy to fix...."you won't get so upset if you practice having a little more patience with yourself"...

You'll be fine my friend with all your great qualities...

Andy Borghi

10-04-2008, 09:25 PM

I think that my weak point is the bass foot (in my case, the left one) . Finding the sweet rebound spot in the pedal is something not easy to do... But, as I consider that as my weak point, It is also the thing I practice the most...and I get to improve it with practice...
Using double pedal was never in my mind, cause I do not play such things that would require the usage of double pedal.
I am always working on my left foot.

Weak points should be a motivation for us drummers, it´s important to discover them and work hard on them, and not to feel bad for having them, with time and practice, weaknesses can be overcomed and turn into something good.

echuta

10-04-2008, 11:22 PM

Independece. Especially fast samba type of stuff - I wan't to do it, but can't yet, at least not with a good touch, it all becomes F'ing loud and undynamic. yuck.

DrummerDavid

10-29-2008, 12:58 PM

Double bass-I spent the better part of my early years trying to be the next Bonham-refused to play double bass. Now I want to learn it, but I get frustrated with my weak left foot.

Swing-I want to be able to do the Fool in the Rain type stuff. I also want to be able to do jazzy type things...Buddy Rich stuff.

Confidence-people I play with have more confidence in my drumming than I do. I have very little confidence in my timing. I am always wondering-Am I speeding up, am I slowing down.

I was even called Mr. Metronome before-by a great drummer whom I looked up to..Still no confidence.

Mr. Serpent

10-29-2008, 09:49 PM

The logical answer for me would be "I don't have a drumkit or virtually any experience".

But I'd rather blame my impatience...because I can.

BWT hooligan

10-30-2008, 11:00 PM

double bass :((
I also tend to slightly float in tempo...

Lee Mangano

10-31-2008, 05:25 AM

double bass :((
I also tend to slightly float in tempo...

There are 3 posts out of the last 5 saying double bass & left foot are your weaknesses...try these few options and maybe one will click in

- Play & practice everyday for the next 2-3 months right handed as normal and left footed to strengthen the coordination and abikity of your left foot...even an AC/DC album could help..those BD patterns are simple

- alternate hands & foot on just SD & BD's...play "Monkey see...Monkey do"
examples:

SD = RedSD - RL
BD= BlueBD - RL
Keep repeating these hand & foot combo's seperately at differant tempos starting slow and build...then try and combine them for coordination

RRLL
RLRL
RLRRLR
RLRLRLRL

Good Luck & let me know if this helps......Lee

Mastershake16

10-31-2008, 05:56 AM

kryptonite, no but really for me its staying focused and getting my left hand chops up

intheruff

10-31-2008, 07:03 PM

A weakness I've noticed is occasionally dragging the backbeat. My tempo is solid, yet for some reason I occasionally play the snare a split second late, or at least it sounds that way to me. The band doesnt' seem to recognize this. Guitar players, what do they know? Suggestions anyone?

SabianDrummer

11-03-2008, 02:14 AM

Left hand weakness
Left foot weakness and independance
and i hate abonormal time signatures!!!!!

paramac

11-03-2008, 02:23 AM

My weaknesses are rooted some basic fundamental issues that I'll be working on till the day I die. Things as simple as basic time keeping and different feels and tempos.Yes, I would be considered an "advanced" player at this point but I think the basics are the hardest thing. That is, to really get them honed and mastered is not so easy. This has been my experience. This is what I have learned from older more experienced players and this includes all musicians, not just drummers..

yjb63

11-04-2008, 01:56 AM

doubles with my left hand. I can do them fast, and I can do them slow, but I cant really do them in between very well.

Hercraft

11-04-2008, 03:59 PM

sevens - fives and big booty bbw :- )

ZootELoops

11-04-2008, 04:29 PM

Everyone Post you greatest weakness & let the world of drummers help you fix it...I'm certain we have all been there or not there yet !!!....You may recieve multiple tips on how to overcome any drumming problem...

Peace! Lee
Hmm - weaknesses:

Overindulgence and Underachievement & an insatiable love for big breasts and tight shorts

Seriously - i don't have just one thing - I am just beginning and have a lot to learn and practice, so making time to practice, not play is my answer.

2bsticks

11-04-2008, 05:07 PM

Discipline when it comes to practicing. When I hit an obstacle I get frustrated and move on to something else.

AlexMorris

11-04-2008, 07:01 PM

Discipline when it comes to practicing. When I hit an obstacle I get frustrated and move on to something else.

Just keep reminding yourself why your doing it and that it will help in the end :)
One thing i learnt from Derek Roddy's book is that he writes reminders on his snare drum in black felt tip pen

Lee Mangano

11-05-2008, 04:39 PM

Hmm - weaknesses:

Overindulgence and Underachievement & an insatiable love for big breasts and tight shorts

Seriously - i don't have just one thing - I am just beginning and have a lot to learn and practice, so making time to practice, not play is my answer.

If you can't make time to practice then stick to chasing woman ... you actually have to have a love for music to become successful...

stop being a makebeliever and make a decision...

doorstilend

11-06-2008, 01:28 AM

focus on what im trying to learn

joosti

11-07-2008, 09:51 AM

discipline and left side of my body (hand and foot) Gotta work on that

drums_n_surf

11-08-2008, 09:47 AM

discipline and leading with my right hand (i'm left handed but play open-handed)

Lee Mangano

11-08-2008, 08:43 PM

discipline and left side of my body (hand and foot) Gotta work on that

Just move your HH and BD and set your kit up left handed and practic like that for an hour everyday...it'll strengthen up & your coordination will improve...

zambizzi

11-08-2008, 08:53 PM

...relaxation

*holds breath...eyes roll back...passed out*

Guz2

11-08-2008, 10:28 PM

My complete inability to do drum covers of other people's songs. And my completely blank expression whenever I'm drumming

Bryan77

12-09-2008, 02:26 AM

Tuning my double bass drum set so the bass drums sound alike. I can't ever get it. Any tips?

LTNINGFan

12-09-2008, 02:48 AM

joshisaces

12-09-2008, 02:57 AM

My greatest weakness is everything.

haha me too.

twenty.

drummer girl09

12-09-2008, 04:39 AM

LTNINGFan

12-09-2008, 04:58 AM

Mine is watching vids of amazing drummers that aren't even famous, and then have it lower my self esteem about drumming...kinda gay, but it's a weakness.

Another is playing in 4rth notes...it's getting a lot better though.

Nope, not gay at all. I can find things that a 10 year old can do that blows me away that I cant do, and I'm 41, then I'll think "Why can't I do that"...maybe some other folks have felt this once or twice before, or maybe even experience it today.

As the saying goes "I am my own worst critic", and that can be the truth for lots of folks, including me. I can really get down on myself about some of the things I do when I play..but I just have to ignore those negative thoughts, and go forward...sometimes it's easy, sometimes I get so frustrated, I just have to get up from the kit and walk away. Then I settle down, and go back after I have thought about what was aggravating me, and work on it.

stabmasterarson

12-09-2008, 06:13 PM

left hand and left foot

SharkyBait911

12-09-2008, 09:09 PM

When i'm in exams i always forget my really good fills and do a bunch of crap ones and thats why i never do well :(

But my worst is .............. Left hand stick bouncing like on doubles ahhhhhhhhhhhhh help

drummer girl09

12-10-2008, 03:24 AM

Nope, not gay at all. I can find things that a 10 year old can do that blows me away that I cant do, and I'm 41, then I'll think "Why can't I do that"...maybe some other folks have felt this once or twice before, or maybe even experience it today.

As the saying goes "I am my own worst critic", and that can be the truth for lots of folks, including me. I can really get down on myself about some of the things I do when I play..but I just have to ignore those negative thoughts, and go forward...sometimes it's easy, sometimes I get so frustrated, I just have to get up from the kit and walk away. Then I settle down, and go back after I have thought about what was aggravating me, and work on it.

Well that helped me a lot. Thanks =]. Maybe I just need to walk away too instead of keeping playing. Thanks for the advice.

And you live in Ga? I do too.

SadikOne1

12-10-2008, 06:39 AM

Just move your HH and BD and set your kit up left handed and practic like that for an hour everyday...it'll strengthen up & your coordination will improve...

that is actually a great suggestion =' wow sucks i never thought of that..

i guess my greatest weakness is lack of creativity or mental blocks..and tempo =/ im working on it tho

Lee Mangano

12-10-2008, 03:52 PM

My greatest weakness is everything. :) Seriously though, I think I'd like to sit with a teacher again or just another drummer to let them give me some pointers on what to to work with, but I think right now it would be to stop rushing my fills. Sometimes I panic when "put on the spot". Relaxation may be the key there...thoughts?

You said you want to sit down with a teacher "Again"...you answered your own question...and thats exactly what you should do...I only suggest you find the right one...hire a few until you click with one & know this teacher has the qualities your looking for...sometimes its not just about the chops ...

a Great teacher is like a head coach in sports...where there main purpose & job isn't to show the athletes how great his own ability is...a Great coach will get inside the athletes head and figure out how to get the absolute best performance out of them and teach them how to overcome all their flaws ...

Find the teacher that proves to you he can teach...not just play...

Have a Great Day !!!

Lee

http://www.Drumschool.net

Hercraft

12-10-2008, 03:58 PM

You said you want to sit down with a teacher "Again"...you answered your own question...and thats exactly what you should do...I only suggest you find the right one...hire a few until you click with one & know this teacher has the qualities your looking for...sometimes its not just about the chops ...

a Great teacher is like a head coach in sports...where there main purpose & job isn't to show the athletes how great his own ability is...a Great coach will get inside the athletes head and figure out how to get the absolute best performance out of them and teach them how to overcome all their flaws ...

Find the teacher that proves to you he can teach...not just play...

Have a Great Day !!!

Lee

http://www.Drumschool.net

EXCELENT ADVICE!!!!!

I realiced than are very few the times that an awesome player its an awesome teacher...

schist

12-27-2008, 09:14 AM

Got an electronic drum kit the other day, and all my flaws pretty much came out at once :(

The two main ones:

- Offbeat note spacing
- Stick/rebound control

Mr. Fanzy Pants

12-27-2008, 10:06 AM

...relaxation

*holds breath...eyes roll back...passed out*

Dude that sounds just like me! Haha:)
Being relaxed while playing is crucial but not easy. I often start to think too much about what I do. If you like me have spent many hours developing your skills it has become a subconscious thing, something that you just do. But when you start overthinking it all gets messed up. I believe trusting yourself and your skills are important matters concerning relaxation.

Greetings from Norway:)

Daphfz

12-27-2008, 11:26 AM

Tuning my double bass drum set so the bass drums sound alike. I can't ever get it. Any tips?

OMG i dont got any tips, but i have that same prob! i tune my skins the same on both bass drums but one of em is always high and one is always rly low

drum.lad

12-27-2008, 11:59 AM

Got an electronic drum kit the other day, and all my flaws pretty much came out at once :(

The two main ones:

- Offbeat note spacing
- Stick/rebound control

if the kit has rubber heads the stick rebound isnt entirely you those heads are like trampolines for sticks but i still love my e kit.

my biggest weakness is my right foot gets tired to easily also i cant achieve a perfect distance from the bass drum with my feet

schist

12-27-2008, 05:11 PM

if the kit has rubber heads the stick rebound isnt entirely you those heads are like trampolines for sticks but i still love my e kit.

Yeah, the reason I bought my e-kit is because I need the practice (ie. I don't always have ready access to my regular kit all the time, much less every day), in order to become the drummer I want to become and achieve the playing goals I have set for myself.

BUDDHA 2533

12-29-2008, 04:50 AM

The left side of my body is my main problem. I have been working on my left hand but dont really know where to start with my left foot. Any suggestions?

Progdrummer160

12-30-2008, 06:52 PM

OMG i dont got any tips, but i have that same prob! i tune my skins the same on both bass drums but one of em is always high and one is always rly low

I've got the same problem :O

Lee Mangano

12-31-2008, 05:58 PM

Got an electronic drum kit the other day, and all my flaws pretty much came out at once :(

The two main ones:

- Offbeat note spacing
- Stick/rebound control

I used a few differant electronic kits...the DDrum has the best real feel because you hit real drum heads...I feel like im playing on silky womans panties playing Roland !!!

You do have to watch out you can develope tendinitus faster I understand from the hard plastic & rubber surfaces...I forget were I heard that...so don't hold me to it as set in stone info:...but it does makes sense...so just becareful & if your wrists have any pains go see a doctoe before it gets out of hand...

Lee

www.drumschool.net

Ainulindale

12-31-2008, 06:37 PM

hand speed, i have these big dumb farmers hands that have never been quick let alone fast, the left hand especially is about as smart as a brick.

mattieb298

01-01-2009, 03:38 PM

Creativity when writing my own drum parts for my band!
Good stuff just doesnt come quickly for me!
Oh well im only an amatuer, im sure that it'll improve the better i get!

eits1986

01-16-2009, 01:12 AM

Lip rings, dark hair, and the oh-so exotic female mustache!

Bigwheel

01-17-2009, 07:20 PM

The left side of my body is my main problem. I have been working on my left hand but dont really know where to start with my left foot. Any suggestions?

Something I've been doing a lot of lately is playing rudiments with my feet to a metronome. It was very odd at first but I've gotten much better with time. Once I have a particular rudiment down I work with a left foot lead just like I do when practicing with my hands. Once I feel comfortable with my feet playing a particular rudiment I work it as an ostinato and then play something totally different with my hands. It keeps practice interesting and is helpful in creating pretty interesting grooves. This is sort of old school but it has helped my a lot.

Bigwheel

01-17-2009, 07:24 PM

Foot speed by far!!! I work with a metronome but I'm very impatient and get frustrated quickly with my feet. Playing rudiments with my feet, as noted in my previous post, has help but let me know if you've got other ideas.

The Big Beat

01-19-2009, 01:24 AM

ugh fills, i cant come up with a good fill in the split second it needs to be executed in, and i find myself playing a crappy buzz roll/tom fill

Guz2

01-19-2009, 06:30 PM

My sloppy right foot

diosdude

01-19-2009, 08:10 PM

four limb independence. I can watch vids of jojo mayer and virgil donati and marco minneman and terry bozzio. I can do almost anything they can do with a hand or foot but putting it together sometimes when everything is soo complicated short circuits the brain. Most of the time, i can nail down any 3 out of 4 limbs in any combination of 3 but that 4th limb constantly runs the train off the track. My awe for those guys just can't be quantified... they're on a whole different level of control.

Bigwheel

01-19-2009, 10:17 PM

four limb independence.... but putting it together sometimes when everything is soo complicated short circuits the brain.

What's the deal with that too? I'm a 3 limbed bandit then that 4th limb becomes a spastic mess. I'm getting better but it's like my left foot is tied to my left hand. I even have trouble keeping time with my hi-hat at times. If I can forget about it and play I'm good but as soon as I realize my foots going my brain short circuits.

KONA

01-21-2009, 04:14 AM

I've always had trouble with bass drum technique. To begin with I'm left footed (kick a football with my left foot etc) and right handed. I learned to play right handed - using my right foot on the bass drum.

I have partial paralysis in my right calf and down into my foot and ball of my right foot - so that doesn't help much. I can keep time with my bass, but as far as getting fancy like doing fast doubles forget it. Oh yes - I have size 15 feet too (a little clumsy feeling on most pedals). I love playing drums though and have adapted fairly well I think - tons of practice!

If anyone out there has some tips on single bass exercises AND special footwear for big feet please let me know.

Neil Peart of Rush says he wears "dancing' shoes" to play in (from he book "Roadshow").
I'll be trying to hunt down some size 15 dancing shoes - lol.

Dibalo Jonze

01-21-2009, 04:35 AM

I'm a 3 limbed bandit then that 4th limb becomes a spastic mess. I'm getting better but it's like my left foot is tied to my left hand.

If you want to separate the left foot from the left hand, work them against each other. Practice the main rudiments or the 1st page of Stick Control between the left foot and the left hand, instead of between the left hand and right hand.

Practice slow and play it clean.

KONA

01-21-2009, 08:08 AM

If you want to separate the left foot from the left hand, work them against each other. Practice the main rudiments or the 1st page of Stick Control between the left foot and the left hand, instead of between the left hand and right hand.

Practice slow and play it clean.

Thanks,
Yes - I went through stick control in 1971-72 maybe I'll check it out again.
I don't have much trouble with "separating the left foot from the right hand" - it's the speed I have trouble with. It's a combination of my partial paralysis and my huge feet that's the limiting factors. The fact that I quit playing from 1976 until last year might have something to do with it.

I'm pretty happy with my playing right now. It just boggles my mind when I see these young players doing "rolls' more or less on a single pedal ! I think it's great. I'm learning to live with my limitations and play within them. The main thing is I'm having HUGE fun playing drums again.

The title of this post just made me want to think out loud a bit.

And I don't mind sharing my Greatest Weakness.....

paradiddler

02-02-2009, 09:12 PM

Hi all.

Really, who wants to admit their weaknesses? Alas, we all have them. If we're humble, we'll overcome them; if not, we're doomed to habituate them. I'd rather be the former!

In pursuit of this, I've been recording myself play so I can see where I can improve, but I might not notice some things (or many things!). So I'll implore you all...

I've recently posted an article on my web site called An Invite from The Paradiddler (http://theparadiddler.com/2009/02/02/an-invite-from-the-paradiddler/). I play to Rush's "Limelight"; I'd love for all of you to check it out and let me know what I need to improve on. We can all benefit from that.

A free-for-all on the Paradiddler. Fire at will! And thanks for checking.

airsmunch1

02-04-2009, 09:19 PM

Everyone Post you greatest weakness & let the world of drummers help you fix it...I'm certain we have all been there or not there yet !!!....You may recieve multiple tips on how to overcome any drumming problem...

Peace! Lee

Lead Left Foot. Man is my left foot dead. I do everything I can to keep it moving but I find myself in the middle of a gig resting my weight fully on my left foot. Uhg.

I have gotten significantly better but I see drummers with that foot just popping away with the beat for hours and I salivate!!!

DAMN YOU LEFT FOOT!!!

Peace

www.wolvesatthedoor.net

airsmunch1

02-04-2009, 09:30 PM

Everyone Post you greatest weakness & let the world of drummers help you fix it...I'm certain we have all been there or not there yet !!!....You may recieve multiple tips on how to overcome any drumming problem...

Peace! Lee

Lead Left Foot. Man is my left foot dead. I do everything I can to keep it moving but I find myself in the middle of a gig resting my weight fully on my left foot. Uhg.

I have gotten significantly better but I see drummers with that foot just popping away with the beat for hours and I salivate!!!

DAMN YOU LEFT FOOT!!!

Peace

www.wolvesatthedoor.net

mrbling

02-04-2009, 09:58 PM

double strokes i cannot for the life of me get the technique to do them :(

BrutalKid

02-12-2009, 01:05 PM

LOL I can't do doubles too! I can't get the second stroke when I'm doing faster =[

I have a lot of weakness. Too much to be posted.
the major problem is that I don't spend much time on drumming.
I'm too busy, there are a bunch of things I haven't done for school.

I have to practice in instruments and piano stores since I don't have a kit at home.
It's so troublesome to go out and practice! >=[

elcid

02-13-2009, 10:38 AM

The fact that I quit playing from 1976 until last year might have something to do with it.

I'm pretty happy with my playing right now. It just boggles my mind when I see these young players doing "rolls' more or less on a single pedal ! I think it's great. I'm learning to live with my limitations and play within them. The main thing is I'm having HUGE fun playing drums again.

And I don't mind sharing my Greatest Weakness.....

You too, eh? :)

Just got back to play drums again (December '07; hadn't touch them since the late 80s) meself and finally am beginning to get some things together...but am far, far, far from being anywhere close to what tons of modern drummers are able to do...and like you also marvel and am totally blown away by the prodigy being displayed by a lot of them drumming 'yun whippersnappers...not to mention stars like Gadd, Weckle, Mason, Smith (both Steve and Mervin), Cobham, Vinnie, Erskine, et al., or my heroes of the past: Buddy Rich, Joe Morello, Loui Bellson, Ed Tightpen, Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Shelly Mann, Mel Lewis, and a host of other such luminaries.
But am also having one heck of a good time and truly enjoy the warm feeling gotten from loving the art of drumming and its associated tools...namely: DRUMS!!!...

-elcid

Chollyred

02-13-2009, 07:41 PM

You too, eh? :)

Just got back to play drums again (December '07; hadn't touch them since the late 80s) meself and finally am beginning to get some things together...but am far, far, far from being anywhere close to what tons of modern drummers are able to do...and like you also marvel and am totally blown away by the prodigy being displayed by a lot of them drumming 'yun whippersnappers...not to mention stars like Gadd, Weckle, Mason, Smith (both Steve and Mervin), Cobham, Vinnie, Erskine, et al., or my heroes of the past: Buddy Rich, Joe Morello, Loui Bellson, Ed Tightpen, Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Shelly Mann, Mel Lewis, and a host of other such luminaries.
But am also having one heck of a good time and truly enjoy the warm feeling gotten from loving the art of drumming and its associated tools...namely: DRUMS!!!...

-elcid

Throw me in that briar patch too! I just started back after not playing since the late 70s. Now I'm teaching my grandkids to play. My biggest problems since starting back are single stick rolls, transitions between drums (rim city), and dynamics. I can play okay when I can open up, but at lower volumes, my clock stops. It's like when I play loud, there's no fear of doing anything wrong. At low volumes, I get hesitant. It's slowly coming back though.

The young guys I've seen lately have some amazing talent. Just before Christmas, I was in Guitar Center scoping out e-drums. There was one kid in there playing that was totally awesome. Really humbled me, but stoked the fires at the same time.

I am having a blast though. I'll never be without a kit again.

Ian Ballard

02-13-2009, 07:50 PM

I guess my greatest weakness (besides authentic Latin drumming) would be "money-making". Just hasn't happened in a while.

schist

02-14-2009, 01:51 PM

I have a seemingly endless amount of weaknesses, but the one that stands out the most is:

LACK OF TIME.

As in, not having enough free time during the day to practice as much as I'd want. There are goals I want to achieve with my drumming (some of which, by rights, I should've achieved long ago), but unfortunately, like many of you, I also have work/study (ie. life) to attend to as well. I only get about 2-3 actual kit sessions a week due to always being busy with other things, and some days I cannot practice anything drum-related at all.

It's unfortunate, seeing as I need at least 4-5+ hours a day of practice to be able to get to where I want - but the sad reality of the situation is that you can only really become as "good"/proficient a drummer as circumstances dictate, which means I can never expect to achieve my drumming goals in a timely fashion. :(

Bryan77

02-18-2009, 06:02 AM

OMG i dont got any tips, but i have that same prob! i tune my skins the same on both bass drums but one of em is always high and one is always rly low

I talked to a lot of people for tuning two bass drums to the same pitch and I did a lot of research and found out it's impossible. No, two bass drums have the same exact pitch. They can get really close and nobody could ever tell the difference. I still can't get them to be close. But, I am looking at a double pedal for my right bass drum and taking out all the muffling and tuning it really low for parts like the beginning of "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. So, the most I can say is good luck to you and hope you figure something out to..

Stixxicus

02-19-2009, 02:45 AM

Stixxicus

02-19-2009, 02:49 AM

simple, quit your job, drop out of school and let music do the rest. It sounds like a bad idea right now, but wait until your where you wana be in terms of drumming.

But really, don't do any of that. Just wait until you have time or something bud.

I have a seemingly endless amount of weaknesses, but the one that stands out the most is:

LACK OF TIME.

As in, not having enough free time during the day to practice as much as I'd want. There are goals I want to achieve with my drumming (some of which, by rights, I should've achieved long ago), but unfortunately, like many of you, I also have work/study (ie. life) to attend to as well. I only get about 2-3 actual kit sessions a week due to always being busy with other things, and some days I cannot practice anything drum-related at all.

It's unfortunate, seeing as I need at least 4-5+ hours a day of practice to be able to get to where I want - but the sad reality of the situation is that you can only really become as "good"/proficient a drummer as circumstances dictate, which means I can never expect to achieve my drumming goals in a timely fashion. :(

Bryan77

02-19-2009, 03:49 AM

Lee Mangano

03-28-2009, 06:24 PM

I broke my left arm pretty bad when i was kid, it required surgery and what not and had to a screw is now in my arm. Anyway, traditional grip gets awkward to hold because my wrist doesn't twist fully and makes my arm feel sore. should i stick with traditional or switch back to rock grip.

Heres a little history class & a big secret in the drum world..or at least not many drummers even know this...I assume some older drummer taught you how to play traditional grip or your old yourself...or you were taught in drum corps or a marching band...

The "ONLY" reason the traditional grip was invented was if you look back at the old Fife & Snare Drummer from the revolutionary war etc...before a drum set/kit was even invented the snare drum had no leg -rest attachment and the snare hung at an angle on ther side of the knee

Picture that or find a picture then try and play a drum in that position matched grip...(1) its completely uncomfortable (2) your Left elbow is pointing towards the sky (3) And your attack is uneven because of the differant angles your arms are.

Switch to matched grip and never go back...

Seebz

03-28-2009, 06:48 PM

I have a problem with the shuffle, just can't understand the whole idea and concept, just don't know how to execute it right... (I know notation, but dunno how to play it)... Odd to say... plus, I lack some strength in double strokes(how do I do it? More practice?)

genericdrummingusername

03-28-2009, 07:09 PM

I have NO weaknesses.

Exept maybe ego.

Abhishek

03-28-2009, 07:47 PM

Offbeat crash chokes.I suck that them. Can never get the timing right.

Lee Mangano

03-29-2009, 09:29 PM

I have NO weaknesses.

Exept maybe ego.

As long as you can back it up with talent...and the groupies don't mind !!!...but then again an ego maniac like Bret Michaels a no talent singer has his own show called "Groupies wuth implants still Do me" ... and "50 Cent" actually calls that crap music and himself a musician

I GUESS ITS JUST ALL HOW YOU MEASURE SUCCESS

Infernal Valkyrie

03-29-2009, 09:58 PM

I can't figure out how to do a gravity beat. I don't think I have the fulcrum part right, yet I've watched many videos on youtube about it. All I can do for the time being is fast single stroke blast beats. It works for the music that I play now, but I still can't get that "tank cruising at 60 mph through cobble streets" sound.

My other great weakness is I'm recovering from spinal cord and neck injuries. I was determined enough to return to playing death metal at the beginning of last year. I know that some drummers on here will know what I've been through. Drumming itself is harsh on the back. I have improved my posture quite a bit, because I had to. Which is good in a way because before the accident I had a who cares attitude towards it.
I don't practice in a band, and my drums are stored at a space. So my practice routine is 2-3 hours a night, 3 times a week. I'm wondering if this a good amount?

zzdrummer

03-29-2009, 10:33 PM

Endurance and speed with right handed 16th note grooves.

SGT_Drummer

03-29-2009, 10:48 PM

cymbal chokes. i'm not sure why, but i just can't do them. like, my sticks get in the way or i end up taking a chunk of flesh off my hand when i miss and instead of grabbing it I do more of an awkward backhand against the side of the cymbal. yeah, it hurts like hell.

my other weakness is when i really get into a song, i have the tendency to slap myself in the face with my sticks..repeatedly. and chunking the skin off my knuckles on the snare hoops. no matter how much i progress or how much technique i develop, i still end up walking away from a drum set looking like i just got into a fight.

spirit

03-30-2009, 12:24 PM

Females...have no resistance! Lol

Drumjack

03-31-2009, 03:39 PM

Lee Mangano

04-03-2009, 07:31 PM

1. I am a real slowfoot (dirty-doubles).
2. Matching of right hand and right foot when playing right handed 16th notes grooves.
3. Reading music.
4. Shuffles and Latin grooves.
5. ...

It is nice to see that others have the same problems but it doesn't help.

All basic stuff Jack...simply Get a metronome & practive every day with it...both hand & foot combinations...speed is never an issue...great timing & backbone with solid attack is plenty to be a great drummer...play from the heart & don't push anything that isn't 2nd nature

Volentry

04-03-2009, 08:22 PM

Going around the toms with straight 32nd notes without sounding shitty. I still have no idea how does someone move their hands and don't mess up the even-ness of the roll.

Ethan01

04-03-2009, 08:30 PM

Heres a little history class & a big secret in the drum world..or at least not many drummers even know this...I assume some older drummer taught you how to play traditional grip or your old yourself...or you were taught in drum corps or a marching band...

The "ONLY" reason the traditional grip was invented was if you look back at the old Fife & Snare Drummer from the revolutionary war etc...before a drum set/kit was even invented the snare drum had no leg -rest attachment and the snare hung at an angle on ther side of the knee

Picture that or find a picture then try and play a drum in that position matched grip...(1) its completely uncomfortable (2) your Left elbow is pointing towards the sky (3) And your attack is uneven because of the differant angles your arms are.

Switch to matched grip and never go back...

Traditional grip helps move around the drums better than matched, since your right stick can get over the left easier. It let's u do crossovers that you can't do with matched.

And, just my opinion, it gives you a better feel for the snare. But hey, if you are doing straight 16th notes over the same tom progression till the cows come home, then matched is all you need.

RogerLudwig

04-03-2009, 08:58 PM

1. speeding up and slowing down during loud songs that really rock. When they're slow or quiet, I tend to pay more attention to the time....or so my bandmates tell me.

.2. Whiskey & Wimmen

3. complete independence...I'll work on this one 'till I die.

supermac

04-03-2009, 09:12 PM

Right foot.

Can't for the life of me get it to 'skip'.

Very frustrating...

FullMetaru

04-03-2009, 09:56 PM

Snare to Toms rolls. Even on simple ones, I can never get used to shuffling my hands around.

Anne Beeche

04-03-2009, 10:51 PM

1. Pretty men.

2. I can't work myself up to an impressive speed. Yeah, I feel awkward when practicing rudiments.

3. I still can't get the flam right yet.

4. Separating my feet from my hands. I've been practicing with an imaginary kick drum lately and every time I play on the pad, any backbeat my foot's doing reverts to half or quarter notes.

Volentry

04-04-2009, 05:33 PM

Snare to Toms rolls. Even on simple ones, I can never get used to shuffling my hands around.
Yeah that's my other problem as well, moving from the snare to the toms :\

Regarding traditional grip, I tried using it at a gig recently after practising by my own to get used to the movements. IMO, the sound quality of the snare is better than using matched grip. There are some bad points though. Trying to hit the left crash with your left hand is HARD. I can't seem to be able to hit the crash without it sounding really soft because I can't hit it with the shaft.

Anne Beeche

04-04-2009, 08:41 PM

Yeah that's my other problem as well, moving from the snare to the toms :\

Regarding traditional grip, I tried using it at a gig recently after practising by my own to get used to the movements. IMO, the sound quality of the snare is better than using matched grip. There are some bad points though. Trying to hit the left crash with your left hand is HARD. I can't seem to be able to hit the crash without it sounding really soft because I can't hit it with the shaft.

Actually, a teacher at my school called Mr Smith (who was taught the traditional grip) said that the old-fashioned kit drummers who used the traditional grip hit their left-side cymbals by flicking the stick upwards. Or so he showed me. I don't know how you can get a good crash out of the crash that way, though, so if you want to use traditional grip, it might be in your best interest to rearrange your kit.

Volentry

04-04-2009, 09:32 PM

Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGV0-R4R2PM) (add &fmt=18 at the end of the URL for HD version)

The video above shows Jason Costa of All That Remains performing. He hits his left crash with his left hand without it sounding sloppy though. His kit looks pretty much like how a matched grip player's kit would be like, too.

Wonder how does he do that? o.O

ardvark666

04-04-2009, 10:00 PM

My right hand. I play a right handed (cross style) set up but I am left handed. I play bass and guitar righty but never had a problem with it. When it comes to drums I tend to rely on my left hand and my right hand just lacks the focus and intensity of the left (especially with doubles and fills, I often begin from the left). I should probably isolate it and play rudiments with my left hand tied behind my back. Maybe I should look into playing open style but who knows.

CASP3Rdrummer

04-04-2009, 10:08 PM

when i play i always feel assured that i play correctly and in the right time... i don't realize that im rushing or not playing clearly..

austin412

04-05-2009, 06:12 AM

my greatest weakness is the hand muscles in my left hand when i paradiddle the "diddle" part with my left hand is always draggn or sloppn or something stupid but i am workn to fix this problem by using the blue part of my promark x pad

I love that practice pad!! <3

schist

04-05-2009, 11:35 AM

Left foot hi-hat balance/control.

Stick grip (thumb/index finger fulcrum) is still a big one - I'm seeking the services of a teacher very soon to assist me in this field. It's strange how I managed to pick up near-perfect foot technique on my own, but hand technique not so much.

JT1

04-06-2009, 03:40 PM

Fills with the hands over the top of constant 16th note double bass. Bell patterns over double bass too, man Redneck is a god damn tough one! lol

Lee Mangano

04-07-2009, 05:57 PM

Traditional grip helps move around the drums better than matched, since your right stick can get over the left easier. It let's u do crossovers that you can't do with matched.

And, just my opinion, it gives you a better feel for the snare. But hey, if you are doing straight 16th notes over the same tom progression till the cows come home, then matched is all you need.

Ethan you are defending the traditional grip, can I ask you how long youi have been playing and were you taught that way ?....also I'll bet you were in drumcorps !

I respectfully have to completely disagree with your comment on its better to move around the kit traditional over matched...and just watching alone the you can even see how uncomfortable & uneven it must be traditional grip

Don't get me wrong...Does Buddy Rich or Stewart Copeland lose any ability or any tecnique etc...by playing traditional ...no...they are 2 of the top 10 drummers in the world in my book...they were taught & brought up the wrong way to play the trap kit ...

And the bottom line is...and the way I see it...there is no best way to perform...as long as you can perform...I have seen classical guitar players play with their feet & toes because they have no arms ...

as a teacher I would never attempt to teach a drummer today to play traditional grip..and any treacher that would is wrong....if you noticed even marching band & drum corps drummers are taught matched grip because they have leg rests now and the snare drum is in front of them nor on the side ands level not slanted...which proves my theorie on matched vs traditional grip...

But play what ever makes you compfortable...

Funkussionist

04-24-2009, 06:14 AM

Getting absorbed in what I'm doing and not watching other musicians in the band.

chocorion

04-26-2009, 12:23 AM

left hand :( and i have to lengthen to at LEAST 20 characters, so there we go...

Meat the beat

04-26-2009, 12:29 AM

left foot & general independence... as Journey said "it's a natural thing"!

kevinegoavrilfan1

04-28-2009, 05:13 AM

Left hand, i can do everything fine with it, its just, i dont have enough speed to do doubles as well as i'd like to, i'm only off slightly, does anyone have any tips?

Lee Mangano

04-16-2010, 06:56 AM

Hi Drum World...

Hope all has been going well for everyone, I have been involved in a major project and I am excited and happy to announce i have started a scholarship fund in affiliation with Berklee School of Music in Boston, and the scholarship is titled "Can You Hear Me Now"

My goal is to raise the tuition in order to send 1 Rhode Island drummer from my home state that meets the expectations and requirements to be acceptded into Berklee through my Drum School scholarship program.

I will post update as this program moves forward...

Peace !!! anf you have "Great" day...Lee

www.drumschool.net

Spinozalove

04-17-2010, 10:05 PM

Fear is my greatest weakness. If I could put my fear to rest I cannot begin to imaging what I could do with a pair of sticks, not to mention the rest of my life.

Richard.Awesome

04-17-2010, 10:49 PM

ROLLS. I'm terrible at them.

Richard.Awesome

04-17-2010, 10:50 PM

Fear is my greatest weakness. If I could put my fear to rest I cannot begin to imaging what I could do with a pair of sticks, not to mention the rest of my life.

Have you identified what you fear? May help you deal with it. I have had major anxiety issues but over the past few years have gotten better and better at dealing with it.

zakhopper316

04-18-2010, 02:17 AM

reading theory by far is my biggest.........
if only i could read charts, i wish there was
a chart reading lesson on here with
an example chart and have it explained
and played, who wants to teach!!

Drums101

04-18-2010, 02:32 AM

onemic

04-18-2010, 09:27 AM

My three greatest weaknesses definitely have to be:

1) My left hand

2) hand/finger technique(i.e.freestroke, push/pull, etc.)

3) rushing

MisterMixelpix

04-18-2010, 03:41 PM

My left hand's finger technique needs serious work.

Similarly, my left foot isn't as fast as my right.

Hell with everyone who says "don't start with a double pedal", my greatest problem is that my legs are unbalanced.

Thaard

04-18-2010, 03:53 PM

Playing too much... And sometimes getting lost in the song because of this. I'm currently working on this, to even it out, play more muscially instead of showing off chops.

Lee Mangano

04-19-2010, 06:22 PM

Fear is my greatest weakness. If I could put my fear to rest I cannot begin to imaging what I could do with a pair of sticks, not to mention the rest of my life.

"Just Do It' ...I hope you don't really think your the only one with this issue ?...do you ? I was petrified myself not knowing what to expect or what it would be like to play infront of people for the first time & what I would do if i froze or messed up....

Guess what ...I felt like a million bucks & never for a second was a bit scared about the stage...and Im sure you will get that same feeling so "Just do it" and see what happens and face that fear dead on...you have to to get to the next level...

Good Luck...and keep in touch...

Lee Mangano

04-19-2010, 06:23 PM

ROLLS. I'm terrible at them.

This is an easy one...Keep practicing...& get a metronome to see how you progress...it'll help in more ways than one...

Lee Mangano

04-19-2010, 06:25 PM

My greatest weakness is my weakness in my hands and feet. My drum teacher says that he doesn't work on much technique because as long as it sounds good and i'm holding the sticks correctly, technique doesn't matter. I understand what he means but sometimes I wish I could just play faster and I know it would sound better.

Your teacher is right...If Tiger Woods held his clubs upside down and consistantly hit the ball withing 10' of the hole at 180 yds out...should he change his tecnique ??

bamdrummer

04-20-2010, 01:09 AM

Drums101

04-20-2010, 01:43 AM

Your teacher is right...If Tiger Woods held his clubs upside down and consistantly hit the ball withing 10' of the hole at 180 yds out...should he change his tecnique ??

Well I suppose he would be exerting a lot of extra force when he could just use the club right side up. Also, I would imagine their would be a greater chance of him getting some injury if he played like that.

But on a more serious note, I agree with you.

Hercules

04-20-2010, 01:58 AM

Jackolobe

04-24-2010, 02:27 AM

Lee Mangano

04-24-2010, 08:55 AM

.... never give away your weakness..... all I'm gonna say is that what's in my head doesn't quite come out the way I thought it..... :-) .... but sometimes it comes out better than I thought it would.

So weakness? Finding it hard to relax and just play what I should i.e. freely improvise

Im assuming you haven't had a lot of time just playing with differant people & having the opportunity to improvise...find clubs that have open mic nights & sit in...and find players that like to let loose...

and when you play just worry about the backbone...do less but kick the living shit out of it & make the band jumps aboard... I would be worried about showing off any licks especially until your comfortable & "Relaxed" & more confidant inprovising...

Lee Mangano

04-24-2010, 09:17 AM

My greatest weekness definitely used to be speed/endurance. But after spending a lot of time working on the free stroke, this isn't nearly as much of an issue. Current weakness? I would say coming up with some spicy new beats for the songs in my band. I've been a bit lazy lately.....

Jack, sound like you got some chops...Im not familiar or heard the term "Free Stroke" ...maybe you can shear & explain that to all of us...alot of drummers in this forum are searching for this type help & information...

My only advice as far as fresh new rythms & grooves etc...is to just keep listening to the 1,000,s of clips & audio files available on this drummerworld website, you'll find new stuff to work on...thanks to drummerworld.con and Bernhard C.

Lee Mangano

04-24-2010, 09:37 AM

I've got a lot of problems but i would have to say they all stem from my teenage attention span, lol. If i find something boring a have massive trouble forcing myself to practice it. I'm actually sorta kinda ok on rudiments and foot control because my drum teacher has cleverly snuck them in through some lovely funk patterns and such (thanks Mr. Roper) but im pretty weak with limb independence, playing to busily, filling to much, and so on and so forth. Oh and tuning. I'm not so great at tuning to say the least. I can achieve pretty good results but it takes me foooooooooooreeeeeeeeeeeveeeeeeeer.
btw, great thread idea Lee!

I have the easiest & best way to tune drums..."Mary Had a little Lamb" ... 3 toms ate a time...say you have 2 rack toms and 1floor tom...heres how you hit them and tune your drums..hope i can explain this right...let me know how you make out...

(1) Tom 1 - 13"
(2) Tom 2 - 14"
(3) Fl Tom - 16"

Play 1 stroke at a time
1-2-3-2-1-1-1 2-2-2 1-1-1 1-2-3-2-1-1-1-2-2-1-1-2-3

(1) mar (2) ry (3) had (2) a (1) lit (1) tle (1) lamb

(2) lit (2) tle (2) lamb

(1) lit (1) tle (1) lamb

(1) mar (2) ry (3) had (2) a (1) lit (1) tle (1) lamb

(2) her (2) sheep (1) was (1) white (2) as (3) snow

PS: thanks for the props on the thread ! Hope this helps...

Lee Mangano

04-24-2010, 09:53 AM

and when those first 3 toms are in tune ...move down just 1 drum at a time & play exact pattern ...here a 5 tom kit...

tom 1-2-3
1-2-3-2-1-1-1 2-2-2 1-1-1 1-2-3-2-1-1-1-2-2-1-1-2-3

After tom 1-2-3 are tuned, we tune tom 4 to them
2-3-4-3-2-2-2 3-3-3 2-2-2 2-3-4-3-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-3-4

After tom 1-2-3 -4 are tuned, we tune tom 5 to them
3-4-5-4-3-3-3 4-4-4 3-3-3 3-4-5-4-3-3-3-4-4-3-3-4-5

Frost

04-24-2010, 12:09 PM

I find it hard to lead with my left foot (some drummers create a beat clapping the high hat while their other limbs do fills).

nhzoso

04-24-2010, 01:21 PM

Jackolobe

04-24-2010, 09:09 PM

Jack, sound like you got some chops...Im not familiar or heard the term "Free Stroke" ...maybe you can shear & explain that to all of us...alot of drummers in this forum are searching for this type help & information...

My only advice as far as fresh new rythms & grooves etc...is to just keep listening to the 1,000,s of clips & audio files available on this drummerworld website, you'll find new stuff to work on...thanks to drummerworld.con and Bernhard C.

The free stroke is just one of many names. I've also heard the terms Gladstone technique and free bounce. Essentially, learning to play and accept the rebound of the stick as naturally as possible. I was starting to get a lot of pain in my hands from playing, and also typing at work for 8 hours a day. Now I can play for 1-2 hours nonstop and only have muscle fatigue, but no joint pain.

My recommendation would be to check out Dom Famularo's book, "It's Your Move." I just recently picked it up and he explains both the free stroke and the moeller stroke very well. And also find a good teacher. I hope this helps, and good luck!

Lee Mangano

04-25-2010, 04:25 PM

By far it's creating and sticking to a practice routine, I start something then I see some cool single stroke practice method for example and I go with that then I make excuses and will sometimes go 2 weeks or more without sitting down with my pad. so because of that my single stroke and double stroke rolls are nowhere near I would like em. That and my single bass pedal sucks when trying to do quick double or triple hits.

My only advice to get your double strokes up to roll speed & under control is simple yet boring...get a metronome and start slowly and every day try & increase the BPM ...

If you can play at a certain speed don't immediately increase ther BPM thinking you can do it ...make sure you can play solid for a few minutes without losing it......wait till its 2nd nature in your system then increase the tempo.....

mikeveny

09-10-2010, 06:30 AM

My greatest weakness is my concentration. Sometimes it just GOES. Honestly, I don't know how I became a professional drummer on some days.

LukeSnyder

09-10-2010, 06:39 AM

My greatest weakness is my concentration. Sometimes it just GOES. Honestly, I don't know how I became a professional drummer on some days.

I feel for you on this front, some days its just impossible for me to sit there for two or three hours to just practice. Its so frustrating, and I know that I have to put my time in if I'm going to make it.

Algorithm

09-10-2010, 06:41 AM

Left hand technique. I'll usually go hard at my right hand when I'm learning a technique. I think it makes me learn quite a bit faster with my left hand though.

Jennygirl

09-10-2010, 08:10 AM

mikeveny

09-12-2010, 12:13 AM

I feel for you on this front, some days its just impossible for me to sit there for two or three hours to just practice. Its so frustrating, and I know that I have to put my time in if I'm going to make it.

Thanks Luke. What kind of stuff do you play?

mikeveny

09-12-2010, 12:16 AM

Hi Everybody,

I've been learning for a little over a year. My biggest overall weakness at the moment is bass pedal technique... getting some faster rhythms going with the right foot. I'm struggling especially with right hand/right foot independence - I'm learning the heel-toe technique for fast/double kicks and my right hand on my hats can't separate the action of the foot. I feel like throwing my sticks at the wall!!! ;)

Thanks for posting your struggles y'all because it helps me feel I'm not the only one who finds stuff hard.

Jenny, let me know if these articles on bass drum technique (http://mikeveny.com/category/drum-lessons/foot-technique) help you.

Read them here (http://mikeveny.com/category/drum-lessons/foot-technique).

Let me know if you have any questions.

Jennygirl

09-12-2010, 02:21 PM

Thanks Mike. I will check out these articles and let you know. :)

Lee Mangano

09-14-2010, 10:14 PM

Hi Everybody,

I've been learning for a little over a year. My biggest overall weakness at the moment is bass pedal technique... getting some faster rhythms going with the right foot. I'm struggling especially with right hand/right foot independence - I'm learning the heel-toe technique for fast/double kicks and my right hand on my hats can't separate the action of the foot. I feel like throwing my sticks at the wall!!! ;)

Thanks for posting your struggles y'all because it helps me feel I'm not the only one who finds stuff hard.

Jenny you won't be the first drummer to throw your sticks...every instrument is extremely frustrating while trying to grow into it...I'm 52 and still throw my sticks at the wall...LOL

Knubs

09-15-2010, 04:11 AM

Effin everything.... can you over learn something?

Crazy8s

09-15-2010, 04:38 AM

1.) Women with a nice booty. 2.) Snicker's bars.

They both satisfy.

Jennygirl

09-15-2010, 09:58 AM

Jenny you won't be the first drummer to throw your sticks...every instrument is extremely frustrating while trying to grow into it...I'm 52 and still throw my sticks at the wall...LOL

Thanks Lee. :) Yup, learning an instrument certainly challenges the ego!! I used to get anxiety every time I sat down at the kit - I felt invested in being great at it and it was bruising to be so incompetent. Most other instruments I've chucked aside in the past when hitting troubled waters. Not drums though. Might break a few sticks (and walls) but will keep at it. Love it too much. :)

Bo Eder

09-15-2010, 10:54 AM

Chops, timing, ability to read.....you name it - they're all weak!

drums_n_surf

09-16-2010, 01:09 PM

leading with my right hand! I'm a lefty, but try to play right-handed occasionally to fix this...sadly I do not have the will-power to stick with it

doctor_benway91

09-16-2010, 03:56 PM

Practicing something without loosing concentration and fooling around, reading, traditional grip, timing, chops, creativity, rudiments, grooves...basically everything and when I actually think about it, it makes me tired. :-P

keep it simple

09-16-2010, 03:56 PM

Ghost notes are top of the list, just about everything else second.

LukeSnyder

09-17-2010, 04:28 AM

Thanks Luke. What kind of stuff do you play?

I work in every style, extreme metal next to jazz and world grooves. Mainly, I play something along the lines of groove oriented rock/metal/fusion. If you drop by my YouTube channel, you will see the kind of variety, haha.

LukeSnyder

09-17-2010, 04:29 AM

Ghost notes are top of the list, just about everything else second.

I've been having trouble with ghost notes lately as well because I've been playing open a lot more. Ghosting with my right hand takes a lot of concentration for me; I've not practiced it enough yet.

azrae1l

09-17-2010, 05:30 AM

my greatest weakness....

cold beer and hot women...

or if you don't have those dr. pepper and an ugly hooker will probably work too...

larryace

10-31-2010, 01:40 AM

Monique
20202020202020202020

alparrott

10-31-2010, 02:26 AM

Kryptonite, girls with accents, and ADD. What was the question...?

ChrisS

10-31-2010, 03:09 AM

right now probably splash patterns on the high-hat.

toddy

11-01-2010, 12:58 AM

my delusions of grandeur.

Homeularis

11-01-2010, 03:34 AM

BEER!...............

Lee Mangano

11-04-2010, 10:25 PM

Kryptonite, girls with accents, and ADD. What was the question...?

Girls are the best part of the music business & a great incentive to apply yourself to your instrument so you can imnpress...just think the better you are, the better your band, the bigger your audience, the more girls to choose from !!!

Let them be your strength,,,,not a weakness !!!...what the hecks the matter with you ?

Lee Mangano

11-04-2010, 10:29 PM

my greatest weakness....

cold beer and hot women...

or if you don't have those dr. pepper and an ugly hooker will probably work too...

Another one that just doesn't get it !!!...thank god there are bloggs like this to help you all get through these so tough issues on your way to the top !!! ..

I challenge anyone to find me a successful drummer that hasn't tipped a few or was fortunate to beable to bragg about bagging the hottest woman in the club ...and you call this your weakness...

Pass.of.E.r.a.

11-04-2010, 11:15 PM

trying to keep time with left foot while playing a groove (independence), and my habit of rushing.

-Jonathan

Skulmoski

11-05-2010, 09:23 AM

Procrastination. I was going to reply earlier, but did not get around to it.

GJS

Eman101

11-07-2010, 03:39 PM

Using my foot to add extra notes during solos. I am so focused on the hands I forget the feet.

Knubs

11-07-2010, 06:14 PM

Everything.

With only a year under my belt, everything must be worked on...

oneguy

11-07-2010, 10:36 PM

Everything.

With only a year under my belt, everything must be worked on...

Ditto......(10mos so far)....lol

Just got done doing some simple excersises with doing doubles with feet and hands around the kit. S-L-O-W-L-Y improving on getting around the kit. Hands are improving with Stick Control practice. Gonna be a LONG long long road...........

skreg

11-07-2010, 11:16 PM

The struggle is always to have a routine time and place to practice. Once the routine sets in, you can blast through just about anything you want, one slow step at a time.

-sheldon

Taylor8524

11-08-2010, 08:29 PM

My weakness is im limited to a certain speed on double bass. Don't get me wrong im fast with my feet but I can't achieve Dying Fetus speed with my current equipment. I took off my cobra beaters and put some heavy pearls on the pedal. I think it sucks when a drummers snare drum is louder then the bass drum. At least with the heavy beaters my bass drum whales but the penalty is you lose a bit of speed. If I had drum mics or triggers id be happy using the light ones but I don't.

nhzoso

11-08-2010, 10:36 PM

My greatest weakness would be everytime I see an instruction book that sounds interesting I buy it. Presently I have 13 instruction books and have only been through about 15 pages on most of them.. Wish I could stick with one all the way through.

I do have a Hal Leonard one that I only had about 4 pages left to complete the entire book last year but some of the stuff (playalongs) got hard at the end and I really did not like the music so I switched to a different book.. Hmmm me thinks I should probably go back and finish that one off...sounds like a good short term goal.

ngebe

11-09-2010, 02:12 AM

to many to list but just a couple:
ghost notes
like the poster above me, lack of drive to really push through instruction books

richkenyon

11-10-2010, 10:33 PM

I think restlessness... tend to get a bit bored if there's little room for improvisation & the piece is pedestrian.

I also wish my brush playing was better - it's ok, but not high standard.

stillgroovin

11-11-2010, 12:06 AM

After all these years I CAN NOT play Swingtown by Steve Miller using a single pedal!!!! Just can't.....

dunn7458

11-11-2010, 04:03 PM

The main problem right now is my brush playing. I'm still working on it though! Hopefully I can improve it soon. I found this article (http://www.berkleemusic.com/store/product?product_id=11290&usca_p=t&offer_code=2285), but I was wondering if you guys had any other tips?

8Mile

11-12-2010, 03:22 AM

Playing a constant four-on-the-floor bass drum pattern for the duration of a song above a tempo of about 120bpm.

I was recording drum tracks recently and two tunes I laid down required this type of uninterrupted pattern. One was Men At Work's Overkill and the other Stealer's Wheel's Stuck In The Middle. For some reason, I have some technical hole in my bass pedal technique that makes the quarter note pattern difficult. It's hard for me to get comfortable so it's not as precise and in-the-pocket as it needs to be.

At a slower tempo? No problem. Change the pattern up at some point? Then it's okay. But to keep that exact same thing rolling for 3 or 4 minutes straight, it just doesn't feel right. My foot feels like it's going to slip on the pedal and I start to get really self-conscious about that foot, thinking way too much about it. And it will never feel good once you get to the point where you're thinking that much about it.

Different shoes, adjusting pedal tension... I'm sure if I work at it I'll find a way to get a mechanical thing going that makes it easy and second-nature to play. But as of today, I suck at it.

yesdog

11-12-2010, 04:16 AM

Free form drum solos, I hate being put on the spot. My brain locks up and I play like crap. Its the whole I am on my own feeling. I can solo fine with a vamp.

Sedgewick2012

11-12-2010, 04:22 AM

NOTHING! haha. kidding. I would have to say rudiments. What I mean by that is I am a much better drum set player than snare drum player.

ac17

11-21-2010, 11:13 PM

I just posted two jazz solos of mine in a thread I started about SOLOING with conviction (here (http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69011)).

I have an audition in two weeks - can anyone offer any suggestions...?

Thanks in advance...!

richkenyon

11-23-2010, 02:20 PM

After all these years I CAN NOT play Swingtown by Steve Miller using a single pedal!!!! Just can't.....
I'd never heard that track - your post made my check it out! Nice tune.... That said, I don't see anything difficult on the bass drum assuming you have some kind of sweep/slide technique on the bass drum happening. If you don't there will be a ton of tunes that are impossible to play! What was the issue you had with this phrase exactly?... just curious!

Jorge89

11-24-2010, 12:23 PM

- Doubles on single pedal

- Improvised drum soloing.

- 4 way independence.

CareyCopelandCameron

11-24-2010, 04:36 PM

uncreativity and slothfulness

j.son

12-02-2010, 04:11 AM

only the things in between the hats and the ride

uniin

12-02-2010, 08:16 AM

http://www.amazon.com/New-Breed-Gary-Chester/dp/0881887498

and double kicks. hah

Wopsey

12-02-2010, 09:35 AM

Anything and everything to do with the Hi Hat, I'm beyond terrible with it.

Actually went to a party a few weeks ago and sure enough there was a Drum Kit, and as usual (with every other drum set I've ever come across at a college party) it was only a single kick and had awful cymbals.

I played a few beats, impressed a few girls (pretty sad tbh, I played the simplest stuff... Like stuff I could have taught someone who's never picked up a pair of drum sticks in probably like 20 minutes) but was more so just disappointed with myself that I couldn't work said Hi Hat.

Starting to regret going right into Double Kicks rather than mastering the Hi Hat first :(

On a side note, Non Drummers are seriously impressed by the simplest beats.. Playing paradiddles around the kit makes them think you're the best drummer ever, it's ridiculous.

Lee Mangano

12-03-2010, 03:34 PM

"Go Easy" !!!...There's nothing wrong with Paradiddles, they are the root of drumming...have you ever played them like this ?
http://www.youtube.com/user/leemangano22#p/a/u/0/PSrQrnOR4mU

Anything and everything to do with the Hi Hat, I'm beyond terrible with it.

Actually went to a party a few weeks ago and sure enough there was a Drum Kit, and as usual (with every other drum set I've ever come across at a college party) it was only a single kick and had awful cymbals.

I played a few beats, impressed a few girls (pretty sad tbh, I played the simplest stuff... Like stuff I could have taught someone who's never picked up a pair of drum sticks in probably like 20 minutes) but was more so just disappointed with myself that I couldn't work said Hi Hat.

Starting to regret going right into Double Kicks rather than mastering the Hi Hat first :(

On a side note, Non Drummers are seriously impressed by the simplest beats.. Playing paradiddles around the kit makes them think you're the best drummer ever, it's ridiculous.

Spectron

12-03-2010, 07:41 PM

self indulgent freestyle drum solo
many weaknesses too many to mention
check out the drum sound from my small
studio.

stillgroovin

12-04-2010, 09:05 PM

I'd never heard that track - your post made my check it out! Nice tune.... That said, I don't see anything difficult on the bass drum assuming you have some kind of sweep/slide technique on the bass drum happening. If you don't there will be a ton of tunes that are impossible to play! What was the issue you had with this phrase exactly?... just curious!

I am happy to report that now I have mastered this lick!!!!! problem is the song is old and no one even remembers it. GREAT Im a Dinosaur.....

Frost

12-04-2010, 09:35 PM

Oddly enough I suck at something as simple as single stroke rolls.

I keep time well enough, I can wrap my head around polyrhythms without a hassle and I'm quite decent at accenting notes, ghost notes and all those other little things you do to add variation to a beat, but ask me to blast at high tempos or do Brann Dailor style fills... well that's a complete hassle.

MisterZero

12-04-2010, 09:53 PM

My left foot. (Not the movie). Just awful, but progressing albeit slowly. Also, I need a drummer dictionary, it seems. I dont know 80 per cent of the verbage. Example: This thread, in the beginning, a guy had an issue with ghost notes on swing beats. I just learned what ghost note meant about a year ago. I know what they are, just didn't know what they were called. And, swing beat...what is that?

Other terms I dont know:
Backbeat
polyrythym
shuffle beat
theres more, I just cant think of them....

Frost

12-04-2010, 10:05 PM

To sum up a polyrhythm simply, it's two (or more) seperate rhythms happening at the same time.

The best example off the top of my head is Meshuggah - Bleed.

The hands are in 4/4 time, the kick is doing something completely different (but still having its own rhythm, not just playing randomly)

MisterZero

12-05-2010, 01:21 AM

Thanks Frost. I knew that those events happened, just not sure of the definition.

Oh, and a new weakness. I suck at endings. You know when the song is over, but you do the cymbal swells while the guitarist holds a long note? Well, I don't know what kind of roll to do to end it all. I do the same lame thing. Just go down 4 toms and hit the crash. But I've seen other drummers do cool stuff at the end. I need to educate myself, I guess.

schist

12-05-2010, 07:42 AM

Physical balance. The fact that I have scoliosis kinda figures heavily here.

Left hand technique

red1010

12-06-2010, 08:33 PM

I taught myself originally to play drums leading left (on hands and feet). It was after a year that i realized i was lefty on a right handed kit. So, I have been progressively teaching myself to be ambidextrous with my playing and can now play leading left and right which has actually enabled me to do some interesting grooves.

Fuo

12-06-2010, 08:47 PM

My left hand is the root of all of my problems... It feels like it's not even mine... like Ash's hand in The Evil Dead.

Frost

12-07-2010, 08:17 AM

My left hand is the root of all of my problems... It feels like it's not even mine... like Ash's hand in The Evil Dead.

I think that is the issue with my rolls as well, my right hand is much much quicker for some unexplained reason.

ambientgreg

12-07-2010, 10:24 AM

Dude....NEVER post your weaknesses. ( ;

Frost

12-07-2010, 11:50 PM

Why not, someone may have tackled the same issues and have pointers.

shadowlorde

12-08-2010, 02:05 PM

drumming wise ... linear funk

overall music wise.. extreme hatred for everything pop radio ...

i'm almost at the point of thinking ... "why should i bother trying to get better... everyone who is popular on the radio making big $$$ is playing nothing more amazing than any intermediately skilled high school junior" and if they actually are more talented than that ... you only hear it on some outtake found in the depths of youtube that about 1% of the fans will actually look for

IPC

12-08-2010, 04:47 PM

Let's see I have a few pretty big ones. Actually quite a few really big ones. First off I have to work on getting my playing of an entire song more cohesive. I have a tendency to suffer slight changes in my playing after lets say playing a fill or doing a different part. I've worked this down to a point where its typically unoticable by non drummers, but I can sense the effect it has on the music. Secondly would be playing double stroke rolls, I can do them pretty good on the pad and they sound even better on the drums, but they have a different sound then my 16th alternating rolls, so I need to be working harder on those. And finally Jazz, I love Jazz and I try hard to play it, my friends are impressed with my progress in the genre, however I know that If the acute ear of the drummerworld community got a listen I'd be laughed off the forum. Sorry to overlook the superlative "greatest" but I got issues man!

dairyairman

12-08-2010, 07:01 PM

my biggest weakness is soloing. sometimes i have to play a solo at our performances, but i'm always really nervous about it and it shows in my playing. i'm always afraid of drumming myself into a corner. by that i mean starting down a rhythmic path i can't resolve without stopping and starting over again. that happens to me in practice sometimes. i rarely practice soloing because i'm even afraid of soloing when no one is listening. i'm afraid that practicing it will only glaringly reveal how bad i am it. since i never practice it i never get better at it. i'm stuck in a non-soloing rut.

Duckenheimer

12-10-2010, 04:01 AM

My timing. There are thing I'm even worse at (hello buzz rolls) but my timing is by far my most crippling weakness. I listen back to recordings and even big flubs sound far more forgivable than the horrible, horrible sound of my ride or hi hat being ahead of EVERYTHING!!! I overcompensated a little and nearly cried the other day when I thought a track that I recorded with my band sounded great while playing, but on playback my bass drum was way too far behind everything and I dragged like crazy every fourth bar!

So my biggest nerve thing nowadays when playing with any new musicians is sinking into the right timing feel.

drumming wise ... linear funk

overall music wise.. extreme hatred for everything pop radio ...

i'm almost at the point of thinking ... "why should i bother trying to get better... everyone who is popular on the radio making big $$$ is playing nothing more amazing than any intermediately skilled high school junior" and if they actually are more talented than that ... you only hear it on some outtake found in the depths of youtube that about 1% of the fans will actually look for

Find solace that while, say, pop punk drummer X in X band who came to the big time from a garage may not be all that hot, hired drummers on pop records (and live gigs) are often, if not mostly, absolutely professional in their skill...

daredrummer

12-10-2010, 05:39 AM

Speed I guess... I do hours of rudiments but I still don't get the speed....
However I work around this, by creating innovative sounds and unique placements, with necessarily having a lot of speed.

Pollyanna

12-10-2010, 06:10 AM

Too many to quantify, so I focus on my strengths.

thatoneguy

12-10-2010, 07:13 AM

For some time now I have been dissatisfied with the conceptual aspects of my drumming. I mix it up genre-wise but know I could be a more creative drummer musically. As a pianist for 21 years that has always been my goal with the drums. I'm a perfectionist so I may never be satisfied :-(

thatoneguy

12-10-2010, 07:15 AM

Too many to quantify, so I focus on my strengths.

That's the spirit! Now there should be a thread focusing on strengths.

addisonyesher

12-31-2010, 03:04 PM

In fact, very few really great. First I have to work on getting my game more consistent. I tend to suffer small changes in how I play after play that a filling or a different part. He has worked to a point where no general unoticable by drums, but I think the effect it had on music. Second stroke roll double play, I can do very well on the pavement and that sound even better in the battery, but have a different sound when my 16th rolls alternately, so I have to work harder on them. And finally, the Jazz, I love and try to play my friends are impressed with my progress on gender, but I know that if the community has a keen ear Drummerworld look, I laughed Forum. Sorry to neglect the superlative "most" but I'm the man with the questions!

wy yung

12-31-2010, 03:09 PM

Frost

01-01-2011, 06:00 AM

Find solace that while, say, pop punk drummer X in X band who came to the big time from a garage may not be all that hot, hired drummers on pop records (and live gigs) are often, if not mostly, absolutely professional in their skill...

That is true, but I find a lot of session drummers write none of their own music and while they are technically perfect, they can at times be quite soulless and mechanical. This doesn't apply to all, but I've met session drummers who are practically living drum machines with no creativity.

Frost

01-01-2011, 06:03 AM

My greatest weakness is my health. I am steadily losing technique to arthritis. And its in every joint. And my internal organs.

Now I regret not recording a solo for DW when I had the chance. Its serious. Some days I cannot walk.

That is really terrible to hear man, I know a few guys whose health issues greatly impedes their playing ability and it sucks, because those guys can really play and want to play. I really hope you can manage to keep on drumming but if you are struggling to walk, it must be hard.

wy yung

01-01-2011, 06:11 AM

Thanks Frost. At least I built up enough technique to get me through. For more than 6 months last year I had to play traditional grip because of arthritis in my left wrist. I don't mind trad', but did not enjoy being forced to use it. And I do this for a living, so it's a bit of a worry.

Micky Jhon

01-01-2011, 01:39 PM

I've always had an unspoken agreement with myself that I wouldn't date guys with hair longer than my own. It was never any sort of stereotypical thing, it was just personal preference. BUT I've been dating the same long-haired (it's just past his shoulders) guy for about two and a half years now, and I really don't have a problem with it. In fact, I really love his hair.