Practice habits...

[Mad About Drums]

Besides your normal practice (rudiments, coordination, metronome, fills, licks, chops, reading, etc), do any of you practice some style of feel? It could be anything, loose, jazzy, funky, heavy, soft, etc...

Maybe you prefer to react spontaneously to the music that offered at a given moment in time?

I've been practicing lately playing a loose feel on the kit, still accurate in terms of tempo, but with some greasy, organic, dirty kinda feel.

Once I'm through with it, it's another tool in my little arsenal of drumming :)

Thoughts?

[Toolate]

Shuffle- still doesnt sound natural to me but I do it every day. Focusing on just barely holding the stick and playing super quiet too- also trying to mix in a few ghost notes and the occassional accented snare ruff/fill.

Its my holy grail haha.

[Numberless]

Right now my practice routine is heavily focused on afro-cuban 6/8 and plena (a traditional puertorrican style) as well as keeping up with the jazz stuff. I've been messing around with the second line snare groove in Riley's Workshop and it's so fun, I'd love to get more in depth with it.

Originally Posted by Numberless

Right now my practice routine is heavily focused on afro-cuban 6/8 and plena (a traditional puertorrican style) as well as keeping up with the jazz stuff. I've been messing around with the second line snare groove in Riley's Workshop and it's so fun, I'd love to get more in depth with it.

afro cuban 6/8 blends so well with jazz

I highly recommend blending the two and switching back and forth from the jazz pattern to the afro cuban 6/8 with a seamless flow .....so much fun and opens so many doors

there is a page in the Malabe/Weiner book that displays this beautifully

I'll dig it up and post it if you do not have it

[Anon La Ply]

Most of my practice at the moment is backtracking to improve my stroke ... French grip and push pull (my former teachers would probably say "about bloody time"). Basically getting my hands accustomed to throwing the sticks at the pad and using the rebound rather than pushing the stroke. It feels like I'm learning to relinquish control in order to improve control later on.

Tossed in amongst all that are slow singles, doubles, closed rolls and paradiddles and variations using a mix of Moeller, push-pull and French.

[keep it simple]

I am shamed by you all, & I really must do something about it :(

These days practice has dropped off due to my playing all the time. I am working as a drummer 7 days a week. I do constantly go over basics with students. Loads of run throughs through solos such as the ever old Downfall of Paris, the Wilcoxon books etc. Stick control which I know backwards and other various tomes. Basics never hurt.

Learning new things is mainly through reading. For example, I learned Morello's old Rudimental jazz on a bus ride. No need to practice it. It is easy.

Listenning is my main practice. But I am not rich enough to hear as much new music as I require. I get sick of music once I understand or know it. Next!

At home I love my Moongel pad. I can go as fast as I can on a regular pad.

My main issue is playing open handed. I do it while playing. Not while practising as such. But it works out to be about 6 to 9 hours per day. So that is fine.

[Mad About Drums]

Originally Posted by wy yung

My main issue is playing open handed...

I understand man...

...

[dmacc]

I love to practice. It's actually one of my favorite things to do.

Whatever I'm practicing I try deeply to give the focus to the feel, which, predominantly being a jazz drummer, is what my aim is. To clarify, I give focus to the feel on whatever it is I'm doing whether it's a stick control type of exercise, snare solo or drum set coordination exercise.

I posted this on the relatively new goals thread, but I'll repost here as it pertains to the topic specifically. It's in one of the books I work out of daily and within the book are thoughts from the author. This one to me is all encompassing. It can apply to anyone in any genre, just substitute the word "swinging" for your own preferred genre.

"Knowing where you are in the music at all times, and generating a swinging time feel, is what it’s all about. Do not imagine that you have come the change the course of music and that your time is beyond question. Continually investigate your time and feeling. The polishing of the time should be like that of the polishing of the heart – to a state of purity. The endeavor is an endless one."

Jim Blackley
Syncopated Rolls for the Modern Drummer
Page 56

ETA: Working from the Jim Blackley book Essence of Jazz Drumming, demands probably 2/3 of my overall practice time focusing almost exclusively on the swing pulse feel generated by my ride and what comes with it with my snare, hi-hat, bass. That book requires a play along CD called "Meet The Bass Player" which reinforces the need to focus on feel and location in the music.

[Mad About Drums]

Originally Posted by Toolate

Its my holy grail haha.

I keep practicing shuffle and half time shuffle, it's indeed a holy grail, one of the hardest groove to pull out convincingly, with all the variations that you can come up with, listen a lot to Purdie and Porcaro, they're masters on the topic.

Originally Posted by Numberless

Right now my practice routine is heavily focused on afro-cuban 6/8 and plena (a traditional puertorrican style)

Latin patterns and drumming, is like jazz drumming to me, something I lack seriously, I really doubt that I'll ever be any good at it, I've tried many times, it doesn't kick in.

Originally Posted by Anon La Ply

Basically getting my hands accustomed to throwing the sticks at the pad and using the rebound rather than pushing the stroke. It feels like I'm learning to relinquish control in order to improve control later on.

Interesting Grea, I've been having the opposite problem, since I'm playing a lot with rods (I know you don't like them), rebound is virtually non-existent, so I'll have to compensate with wrists and fingers most of the time.

I still practice with the sticks a lot on the pad too, but I'll use my moongel pad to help developing the fingers since the pad gives much less rebound than a "normal" pad.

Originally Posted by keep it simple

I am shamed by you all, & I really must do something about it :(

Hell Andy, just playing the kit half an hour or an hour is better than nothing, or just get a moongel pad and a pair of sticks, you can throw that in a bag and take it with you anywhere :)

Originally Posted by wy yung

Listenning is my main practice. But I am not rich enough to hear as much new music as I require...

Agree Wy, I'm learning so much by listening and watching drummers, it's a proven method for me, many "new" vocabulary in my arsenal is coming from listening to certain patterns and applying it to the drums.

Originally Posted by dmacc

This one to me is all encompassing. It can apply to anyone in any genre, just substitute the word "swinging" for your own preferred genre.

"Knowing where you are in the music at all times, and generating a swinging time feel, is what it’s all about. Do not imagine that you have come the change the course of music and that your time is beyond question. Continually investigate your time and feeling. The polishing of the time should be like that of the polishing of the heart – to a state of purity. The endeavor is an endless one."

Jim Blackley
Syncopated Rolls for the Modern Drummer
Page 56

That Jim Blackley's quote resumes very well the spirit of why we're doing it, an endless game indeed. Thanks for that David :)