BrandonGoodwin
Junior Member
Lots of great information here!
I would just add that when I read your original post about your practice routine, I see mostly technical exercises involving the hands, and little else that works towards playing infectious grooves. That is our main job as drummers and so I would allot a serious amount of time to this. New Breed, Future Sounds, Time Functioning Patters, The Commandments of R&B drumming, The Art of Bop Drumming, anything that Steve Gadd played on, check those things out as well and you'll be groovin' in no time!
Also, the way I find what I need to work on is that I record myself practicing, jamming with other people, and on gigs and then analyze what I'm doing. After a couple of minutes of listening it's quite clear as to what my weaknesses are and then I hit the shed and focus on those things. I take whatever exercises I'm working on at the time and apply them to my weaknesses.
Working on the same things every day for years won't yield the results you want. You need to grow not only your technique, but also your rhythmic vocabulary, which also, from my personal experience, comes from moving forward to work on new things on a regular basis, and not sitting on repetitive ideas forever.
Best of luck!
I would just add that when I read your original post about your practice routine, I see mostly technical exercises involving the hands, and little else that works towards playing infectious grooves. That is our main job as drummers and so I would allot a serious amount of time to this. New Breed, Future Sounds, Time Functioning Patters, The Commandments of R&B drumming, The Art of Bop Drumming, anything that Steve Gadd played on, check those things out as well and you'll be groovin' in no time!
Also, the way I find what I need to work on is that I record myself practicing, jamming with other people, and on gigs and then analyze what I'm doing. After a couple of minutes of listening it's quite clear as to what my weaknesses are and then I hit the shed and focus on those things. I take whatever exercises I'm working on at the time and apply them to my weaknesses.
Working on the same things every day for years won't yield the results you want. You need to grow not only your technique, but also your rhythmic vocabulary, which also, from my personal experience, comes from moving forward to work on new things on a regular basis, and not sitting on repetitive ideas forever.
Best of luck!