Really frustrating beat - Help please!

[DestinationDrumming]

Evenin' All,
I have this beat I've been working on with my drum teacher. It seems to be taking me ages to 'perfect'. I can play it (75-80bpm) but it sounds 'lumpy' especially when compared to my teacher. The first half of the bar is OK but the second where the 16th and 8th note on the bass are is the bit that keeps tripping me up.

He thinks it's just about timing and getting everything in the right place and I'm sure he's right but I've been working on this for weeks and the frustration is begining to get to me. Tomorrow I've managed to get a full day to myself to practice and really want to have this down before my lesson on Saturday.

Any suggestions?

[abe]

Play sloooooooooooooooooowly. Not just 80bpm. I would suggest 50bpm. And when you play it in that speed be very focused, make evry hit in perfect time. Play it in this tempo for long time and count loudly.

[Class A Drummer]

I agree start slow. I take it the hardest part for you is making the 3 e + on the bass drum sound clean correct?

Its all practice. It seems to me that you would love John Bonhams Zeppelin book. Has plenty of those for you to get good at.

[Drummer Karl]

Well, firstly I wanna tell you not to get your head twisted in that.
Practicing the whole day could make it even worse. Take time for that, take breaks when practicing and yes: Start slow.


1. Analyze what`s the particular problem
1.1 Sing it (lala or dudu...doesn`t matter at all), singing it will be a big help
2. Reduce the problematic thing to the core and practice just that
3. Practice that slowly
4. Try the whole groove again, first slowly

So yeah, take your time for that.

Karl

[Michael G]

If you can say it, you can play it!

Wise words from my drum teacher, don't be embarrassed to count out loud!

[dblinkhorn]

The biggest thing that helped me learn a few of the grooves that gave me problems was taking them piece-by-piece and mastering make only six notes at a time, or an especially challenging part of the beat that required displacement or something like that. I would just practice those few sections of the beat for about ten minutes each (once I got them mastered), and then I would again try to tie it all together. Even then, though, it still required a lot of work to get it right.

Just keep trying to get it right, and try to overcome what you know you're doing wrong. Sometimes you attempt a new groove that goes against what you naturally want to do and it's difficult to break that natural tendency! But it can be done, just keep at it!

P.S.

The first part of the beat is very similar to a part of the chorus beat in the song "My Own Summer" by the Deftones. That is a great song to learn, and it also has a couple parts with displaced notes, and being comfortable with displacement adds a whole new dynamic to ALL of your playing.

[Tutin]

Instead of trying to listen for mistakes, look at your individual limbs (in this case I assume it's the bass foot) and it is actually much easier to play. Also, I would advise learning it slowly because this kind of cements the pattern into your brain really powerfully, meaning you can play it faster.

[brittc89]

Take it slow. If theres a specific section that is giving you a tough time focus on that.

[drummerchick435]

What I do when learning a new groove is play all the parts seperately: bass only, snare only, etc. and then I put together two then three of the parts. Also as said before practice slowly.

[rockitman]

This is actually a realtively difficult beat to play. So you being discouraged is realtively silly. You are challenged with a phrase that you cannot yet handle. But once you over come this new doors will open for you in the world of Rhythm and syncopation. keep your eyes on the prize.

Isolate your right foot and just play the kick drum line, count aloud and be as consistent as possible. Do not blow this off once it becomes hard. If you can play the beat prior to this one and the one after it, there is no reason why you cannot eventually manage this.

Man I wish I was there for you. . . cause i struggled with the same exact 16th note grouping when I was young.
Tell you what I pledge that I will play this beat during sound check tonight. Sometimes technique is not enough and we all need a little Karma to get us over the hump.
Sound check is at 1805 CST.

Drum on.

[nhzoso]

I agree with everything that has been said, especially slow and breaking it down into 1 piece at a time. I notice you don't have every beat wriien out which may mean you are not saying the rests and such out loud, make sure you are saying 2 e AND 3 4 E AND AH .I will also attempt to learn this today and hopefully increase the Karma.. Don't worry I bet you will look back on this thread in a week or so and laugh.

[Vixus]

I just picked it up -- here's what helped me, on hi-hat at 3, lift your heel/toe, ready to bring it down on the e.

[beatsMcGee]

work each section at a time... try practicing just the bass notes and do that for a few mins... then try just the snare... ( i would still play the hi hat notes while isolating the snare and bass ) this should help you understand what the notaion sounds like. take it slow and if you have a sound clip listen to it. good luck

[Vixus]

Here, play along to this:

http://elvixo.googlepages.com/beat1.mp3

[DestinationDrumming]

Thanks Guys,
My playing of this is much better now.

SmoothJazz - I forgot about this and when I started to count out loud it all slotted into place
Rockitman and Vixus - Thanks for the Karma and efforts you both went to, really appreciated your support. At the wrong side of 40 it is sometimes tempting to become 'silly' about things especially when my ego gets in the way and I think I'm a hopeless case bacause I can't get things right. My drum teacher thinks I obsess about things rather than taking things in my stride....I think he, and you, have a fair point and well made
Tutin - Thanks, looking at my foot made me concentrate on what it was doing in isolation

Thanks all for your suggestions

Such a wonderful place this DW is :-)

[Jeff Almeyda]

The comments made by the members here were excellent:

Slow down, count out loud, be able to sing the pattern in time before you play it, look at your limbs. These are practice rules we should all live by.

Great job guys!

[Auger]

I agree with Jeff and everyone else, especially what Jeff says about singing the beat first. You have to get it into your head before you can play it with your hands and feet.

My only other question is: how frequently are you practicing? I only ask because you talk about putting a whole day aside. You may know this already, but I just thought I'd add that you'll accomplish more if you work at it a little bit every day rather than a long practice once a week or so.

good luck and have fun!

[DestinationDrumming]

Hi Auger,

I run my own business and with all the other family duties it can get kinda difficult to practice. I try to get at least 3 times a week for about 30mins to an hour. Not good but it's about all I can do. Sometimes I'm away from home for a few weeks so I'll take pads and rods and use those to keep some practice. I realised this week that I need to be smarter about practicing. I remember Nutha has posted lots of threads about practicing so I'll search those out and try to make my practice go a little further.

On this occasion I've managed to move work around so I can get some practice time, hence having a full day with nothing to do other than practice drums.

Thanks again for all your suggestions

[LinearDrummer]

Slown down and loop the 3rd and 4th beats and just make that the groove....

Once you've worked out your problem area of coordination then put it all together and play the full bar.....