New to Punk Drumming and Playing Fast

[MSPaintClock]

So I joined a pop-punk band to get some stage experience. I sat down with the band and the songs are pretty easy, and they're not too fast. But I want to have the ability to pump a song by making it faster, I want to have the endurance to be playing 8th notes on the hi hat at 220 bpm for awhile. I also want to have a faster more concise single stroke roll. Does anyone wanna' give me some tips on Punk Drumming and just Playing Fast in general?

My right hand can do a single stroke roll at 100 bpm fairly well and consistent.
With my left hand starting I can do about 90 bpm, which isn't bad.

[Abhishek]

To play fast, you play slow. That's the trick.

[ace76543]

To play fast, you play slow. That's the trick.

This. Practice singles at 100 bpm for 10 minutes straight a day. In a week, move it up to 105. The next week, move it up to 110, etc. This will teach your muscles to perform singles while staying completely relaxed. Also practice blasting (singles on all four limbs at the same time) in the same manner, although you might have to start out a little slower. Remember, the key to going fast is to remain perfectly relaxed.

[R Furb]

I also just joined a punk band and I'm in the same boat as you, never worked to much on speed and endurance in the past and now I'm being thrown right into the fray. Anyway I plan on spending about an hour a day on the practice working on just speed and endurance. I haven't decided what I'm going to practice but I think it will be something along the lines of Mangini's method. I'm also going to spend some time with my pretty lil hi-hat playing to a metronome for periods of around 10 mins with just the right hand, I have a bit of a problem using only wrist and finger motions at high speeds on the hats so I'm going to work that out at a slow tempo.

I hope you can get some ideas from that.

Wish me luck rehearsal is on thursday!

[Toza]

I play fast punk for 10 years. Try to avoid moving arms, try to move only your wrist (fingers), thats how you will save your energy. I never had problems with my hands, the problem was to play fast 2 notes on bass drum, but with mastering slide technique its not problem anymore

[drumguyfromWI]

to play in a punk band, you need not only speed, but endurance.

in my hardcore punk band, almost all of our songs have that fast punk cut-time beat thing going on. our songs aren't that long, but still, it can get tiring after awhile.

so when I practice, what I do is play the fast punk beat continuously for long periods of time, like say twice the length of a song. then, it gets to be super easy to play that, and when you're playing the songs with the band, it's no sweat.

also, working on doing fast single strokes rolls is important. and having a fast bass pedal foot is very important. you gotta be able to slide your foot and do the quick double beat thing. (unless you cheat and use a double pedal. real punks play single bass!)

the final thing of importance for playing in a punk band is to have fun, because that's what punk (and music in general) is all about.

P.S. try playing along to some Minor Threat songs and that will help you get your speed and endurance up too!

[razorx]

what bands are you guys covering.

[dairyairman]

(unless you cheat and use a double pedal. real punks play single bass!)

i've noticed that. i'm not a big punker but whenever i've been at a punk show the drummer is *always* playing a single pedal, no matter how fast the bass drum beats are, and they can be very fast! i think why not use a double pedal? but punk drummers are very true to form and apparently it just isn't done.

here's a tip for playing fast with one hand. there's a technique i believe is called "push pull" where for each downstroke with your wrist and arm you get two hits, so you can play much faster. i've seen punk drummers do it and i've definitely seen the blast beat guys do it. people who can do it can play unbelievably fast with one hand. i've been working on it with my drum teacher but i haven't gotten it up to speed yet. the trick is when you do the downstroke with your arm let the stick bounce freely after the first hit, but keep your wrist straight and don't raise your forearm. after the stick bounces to its highest point, close your fingers on the stick to bring it back down, but don't move your wrist or arm. that gives you the second hit. after the second hit, quickly lift the stick with your forearm but keep your wrist angled straight forward. that will keep the stick horizontal. now your stick is in the ready position for the next downstroke. repeat the whole process for the next two hits and so on. if you do it right, the hits all have the same volume and are spaced very evenly, which is practically impossible to do with a regular double stroke like you'd use in a double stroke roll.

the technique is explained very well in jo jo meyers dvd, and it's also explained a little bit in todd sucherman's dvd. both of those guys can absolutely fly with it.

[Loui]

Man, don't forget about the finger technique. If you practice each finger separatly and then apply it to your playing, you will save a lot of wrist/arm movements

[Toza]

i've noticed that. i'm not a big punker but whenever i've been at a punk show the drummer is *always* playing a single pedal, no matter how fast the bass drum beats are, and they can be very fast! i think why not use a double pedal? but punk drummers are very true to form and apparently it just isn't done.


reson is simple. it sounds different! doble pedal gives more metal feel while single pedal gives true punk feel

[yjb63]

(unless you cheat and use a double pedal. real punks play single bass!)

Hahaha, that's actually the main reason that I didn't get a double pedal last summer.

SINGLE PEDAL FTW!

[drumguyfromWI]

Hahaha, that's actually the main reason that I didn't get a double pedal last summer.

SINGLE PEDAL FTW!

yes! for the win indeed!!!!

[MSPaintClock]

To play fast, you play slow. That's the trick.


Just giving a follow-up guys:

Been following this somewhat. My right hand is at 110+bpm now and I've been taking my left hand slowly starting from 80bpm and is working into 100bpm. I've just been doing alot of practice with my left hand first to balance out the strength in right hand. I've been able to sustain the roll for quite a few beats too, any tricks to maintaining the roll? Or more slow practice?

[NewChops]

I've got a couple videos on my website showing how to do fills and fast beats using a single pedal in case you're interested. One of the videos in particular shows you how to make a single pedal sound like you're using a double pedal.

www.newchops.com

[MSPaintClock]

http://www.myspace.com/checkbox

So I played my first show with my pop-punk band about two weeks ago, around a month after I posted the thread. The first three songs that state lives are the songs i played on with.

Despite the songs themselves how do I sound? I think I'm moving along pretty good considering my experience with the punk style. :) I've also been putting some thought into my fills rather than just having them being whatever I feel.

[Dedworx]

So I joined a pop-punk band to get some stage experience. I sat down with the band and the songs are pretty easy, and they're not too fast. But I want to have the ability to pump a song by making it faster, I want to have the endurance to be playing 8th notes on the hi hat at 220 bpm for awhile. I also want to have a faster more concise single stroke roll. Does anyone wanna' give me some tips on Punk Drumming and just Playing Fast in general?

My right hand can do a single stroke roll at 100 bpm fairly well and consistent.
With my left hand starting I can do about 90 bpm, which isn't bad.

check out jojo mayer's secret weapons dvd. it clearly explains alot about your hands, and gives some clear advice on how to develop speed and endurace.

also just search the forum as this kind of thing has been discussed over and over.

in terms of getting actual grooves faster, find a speed you can execute it cleanly, staying relaxed and getting the sound you want. then stay at the tempo for a period of time, 5, 10 minutes ect. or set a time frame of many grooves and switch between without stopping for a similar time or longer.
raise the bpm by 4 after a period of time, you'll know when it feels good to go faster.

building to a longer time at a slow or current tempo can help you play a faster tempo but just for less time. then you work on extending that tempo's time frame and raise the bpm again.

[schist]

If it's improving hand speed/endurance you're after, you might wanna try this exercise:

Pick a tempo just out of your speed range - you said you wanted to be able to play at 220BPM iirc, so put your metronome to 110BPM - and set it to 16ths. Then play 1 grouping of alternating 32nds followed by 3 groups of 16ths (so that makes 1 bar). If you can read music/notes, it'll look like this:

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/2135/ex1n.jpg

Repeat this for 4 minutes every day, for 1 week (or as long as it takes for you to really get it clean and tight).

The next week, add another group of 32nds:

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/705/ex2n.jpg

Repeat this, again for 1 week, but for 3 minutes every day.

The next week, add yet another group of 32nds:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2614/ex3h.jpg

Repeat the above for 2 minutes every day, then the next week:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/485/ex4d.jpg

1 full minute of 32nd-notes. If this takes you longer than a week to get clean and tight, then so be it. The fact is, the 100+BPM speeds involve a lot more effort to crack than slower speeds.

So in theory, you'll be spending a whole month at this one tempo really trying to nail it cleanly.

[Hal]

There are all great advices in here, but I want to add something that you SHOULDN'T DO:

Playing on pillows at high speeds. This could hurt your hand or wrist and you're not gonna to gain speed at all. IMHO pillow allows you to develop endurance, not speed. So, if you're going to practice on a pillow, do it at medium-slow speeds.

[MSPaintClock]

So I hurt my wrists a little, I don't think it's carpal tunnel, just tendonitis. My bad. :(

Anyone got any stretches for me before I play? I hear single strokes and doubles are good to do before practices.

Here's some more footage of me from July 11thish,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12XAygEm3s4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkgs8ZtyIF4&feature=related

How do I sound?

Also, they kicked me out of the band a few days ago because I didn't take them seriously enough and I felt they weren't going to get signed to a record label. (Haha)

I'm done with punk for now, I want to try my hand at jazz. Who are some good Jazz heads? Are there any videos of Jimmy Chamberlin playing Jazz? I think I like Tony Williams. I've also been to a clinic with Joe La Barbera and I thought he was the best.

[Pyrate]

yeah this is video is pretty awesome your tempo is steady and that's what I think it's important....good luck with your jazz trip

Pyrate