Left hand is driving me crazy

[stabmasterarson]

Hey guys, I'm trying to get my left hand to play faster and harder, but I'm having real problems. I have been doing rudiments, and playing with my band often, plus I'm doing the Derek Roddy 30 min drum workouts daily. My problem there is my foot speed is less than my hand speed, so I have to go only as fast as my feet, which is 135bpm right now. Its an easy speed for my hands.I also try to do everything left handed, carry around a drumstick and play the air with my left hand only, etc.

How long does it take most people to get their left hand to match their right hand in terms of speed and power? I notice it the most when I try to do fast fills and blasting, like when I try to blast it is basically inaudible even though I am trying to keep time and hit as hard as I can, I am almost ready to give up blasting or only use the right hand to blast.

I play thrash/death metal and have been playing drums semi seriously for maybe about 2 years but very seriously for a couple months since we started our band. I have been playing drums just screwing around with joke bands for at least 10 years though and played metal for 20 years as a bassist.

any tips would be great!

[Ian Ballard]

Do not use your right hand on the drums AT ALL for a week(or more) and see what happens.

It will be very hard, but worth it.

[Bipitta]

My left hand drove me damn crazy too. Here are a few things I did to bring it up to speed:

1. Any rudiments or hand exercises you do, do both R and L hand lead. So if you're doing this RLRL in basic sixteenth notes, do this as well LRLR. Just work it up slowly on a metronome (I go really slow 2bpm a week -- but go as you feel comfortable). I worked a lot out of Stick Control (George L. Stone -- first 3 pages) and Syncopation (Ted Reed -- pg. 47-58 are marvelous!) just switching lead hands. Pick up Master Studies by Joe Morello -- that works both hands a lot.

2. Any beats you play, try to play open handed. Using the L hand on the hi-hat and right on snare and vice-versa... your hand will acclimate to the constant quarter, eighth or sixteenth notes usually pretty quickly (a week or two). Some basic beat books (Art of Rock Drumming, Funky Primer, Drummers Cookbook) are great -- and The New Breed by Gary Chester is an excellent book for working both sides.

3. Also, I just started mirroring the right hand on any beats I played... a la John Bonham on "Rock and Roll," only I did it during the entire song. So pick a slow song and just play along with the R hand and accent 2 and 4 with the L.

Ex.: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & = L L L L L L L L

Just keep plugging away. I know you probably don't want to hear this but heck, it took me years to get my left hand feeling comfortable. There isn't a quick fix, but just getting that L hand moving helps a lot!

[stabmasterarson]

thanks for the tips, i'll look up those exercises...I have been trying to play all my beats backwards, using the r hand on the snare, glad to hear that helps!

[tbmills]

i had the same problem about 2 years ago. I play a lefty kit so this was a kinda big problem. I picked up a hand strengthener and also tried to relax when playing with the left hand instead of forcing it.

also try writing with the left hand. most times its building the dexterity not just speed of the hand.

[Boomka]

Do all the things mentioned above, but also give it time. It isn't going to change significantly by next week. Plug away, take note of your progress, but don't dwell on the results. They will come with steady, patient practice.

[aydee]

Sorry if its already been said but watch your stick heights and consciously make sure your left gets up as high as your right.

[BWT hooligan]

I am righty and i love my left hand

[branflakes992]

The Weaker Side by Dom Famularo. GET IT

[Wavelength]

How much do you practice daily? If you have ample time, start working on the 2-50 exercise on a daily basis. I'd also suggest that you start working on Stick Control using this method (http://drummerworld.com/forums/showpost.php?p=205426&postcount=8). Increase in overall facility is guaranteed.

[Wavelength]

I am righty and i love my left hand

Too much information.

[BWT hooligan]

:) but seriously, i developed some fierce attack and punch with left hand.
I remember few years back some experienced dude pointed out to me that my sound production in terms of punch was pretty weak, which i took very seriously and started working on it.
But then again, its all about the experience. Usually it can be developed with time.
You can also incorporate the punch with hitting the batter and the rim simultaneously which will give you plenty of attack.
There is another trick: the strokes can be produced with a slight milifraction of a second delay of where it needs to be played, it is totally unnoticeable, but it creates a heavier feel.
It is hard to explain it, but it is so.

[lewisn27]

that derek roddy workout is great, it massivley improved my speed and endurance.

[mabhz]

I have a big problem with my left hand also, and i guess its related to reboud.

I never practice on a real snare, with real rebound. Since I have a Roland V-Drum fitted with mesh heads, i never play on a real snare also!

So my practicing is always done in a few different practice pads, from lots of rebound to a zero rebound one I made myself.

I noticed i have the best performance when i play on the "zero rebound" practice pad, that is almost like a "pillow" (i made it with socks!). All the notes are even, good timing, etc, etc.
WHen i try to replicate the same rudiments on the V-Drum, my left hand is completely off-balance. I notice that when i accent with the left, because of the rebound, the stick gets out of control and i take too much time to get it back on the snare, and these "right after an accent" strokes made by the left hand tend to become a "ruff" note (milisecond before the right hand note).

What is my problem? I can see that this is happening, but i dont know how to fix!!
If i dont accent, all goes well.

The problem seems to be with rebound: my right hand has no problem controling the stick after the reboud, but the left always looses control!!

Any suggestions? Comments?? THANKS!!

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Buy Dom Famularo's "The Weaker Side" Great exercises for off hand either left or right. You can get it from Amazon.com. Not expensive.

[mabhz]

Thanks for the reply, GruntersDad (is that your daughter on the pic?? hehe...)!!

I got a few pages of this one and i dont think its exaclty my case.

I believe my problem is more "conceptual" or "technical" than lack of practice. Doms material covers different ways of practicing and i already practice like crazy, but i belive im doing something wrong with my left hand.

Im not sure if its too much power (i strike too had, so rebound gets out of control), or my stick is too loose on the hand, or etc, etc,etc... :-)

[Therma lobsterdore]

Have you tried mirroring what your right hand does with your left hand? And I mean really mirroring, how you hold the stick, how you propel the stick, stick height etcettera...this along with starting all rudiments with my left hand when I practice helped me out big time.

[mabhz]

Thank you very much for your reply, Therma!

I have even tried filming my left hand and watching the movements to see if i find any glitch or wrong technique positioning.

The problem with mirroing is that i use traditional grip, so both hands have different positions.

Thats my concern also: seems like i still havent "locked in" in a definitive left hand position as far as holding the stick goes. Sometimes i feel like i cant find the right way to hold it, and playing traditional grip just feels akward. When his happens, i just put the stick aside and rest for a day (i learned this when learning guitar, which i played for 15 years).

I give a HUGE emphasis on the left hand: i always start any rudiment, exercise, roll, accent, with the left. Im aware thats its naturally the weaker limb, so i try to focus constantly on it. All my accents are usually done with the left.
Could this be the problem? May i be stressing it??

[dkerwood]

May I ask why you're using traditional grip?

I once had a percussion clinician (Dr. JC Combs) who did an entire lesson on how useless traditional grip is. Traditional grip was designed for the original marching snares, which tilted off to the right. Traditional grip, therefore, was more comfortable and efficient than matched grip (which didn't yet exist).

Nowadays, however, most of our snares are level or tilted toward or away from us. So why do we continue with the traditional grip? The wrist on right hand is a much more efficient hinge than rotating the entire left forearm. You have an entire hand (and arm by extension) behind the right stick; and only two fingers, a thumb, and whatever velocity your rotating arm can muster on the left. How can you truly hope to have equal tone from two drastically different techniques?

I do admit- I use traditional grip on jazz. Even in jazz, though, I still find myself using bad left hand technique to do what my brain wants to hear. I should stop using traditional grip, but I often can't get the stick turned around in time after cross sticking, and matched grip would leave me hitting the snare with the butt end of the stick... not appropriate for a lot of the stuff I play... and so the traditional grip is maintained.

And it does look pretty cool... just not as efficient as matched grip can be.