For Beginners - Why rudiments are so boring :))

sina

Member
Have been started since a month ago practicing and obviously by stick control method. Sorry but so boring for me. Did you feel same at any time:))
 
Basically no. I never feel like rudiments are boring. There's so much going on even when playing 'simple' rudiments like singles - all the time. Of course it depends of how acute you are - hearing, vision, general disposition to motions/physical awareness, rhythmic awareness, dynamics... good posture. So many parameters! So no matter what I'm playing, my ears (or other senses) would tell me that I could do better most of the time, and often times also where the issues lie.

I can imagine tutorials like Stick Control can get boring but it's not the book, it's the user!
Mindless practice isn't effective, but focused practice is. Now assuming that you're practicing focused - how can that be boring? Maybe your ears aren't developed enough to catch all those subtleties (dynamics, timing, stick height, symmetry of hands/grip - if matched). Maybe your hands aren't sensitive enough (yet) to feel how they should micro-readjust your grip etc. This is normal and will keep improving for months if not years.

Don't try to digest too many exercises off Stick Control. Focus on a few, analyze the motions, work on them. Build from there and slowly add more motions/rudiments. Really, I could play a single stroke roll for longer periods of time and it wouldn't get boring. Maybe you should learn just a handful of rudiments, get them down well and then have fun stringing them together for endless patterns. Shift them through various subdivisions - if the exercise is in 16th notes, make it triplets! Or vice versa. I would always switch gears when practicing rudiments. Also learn everything with your L hand leading - how is that boring? ;-)

One thing that has made my practice much more fun is the Ludwig P4 pad (designed by Pat Petrillo). Check that one out, you'll have much more options than regular pads - getting used to play accents 'around the kit'/on various areas and also to various rebound feel.
 
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I understand your frustration, Sina. It' can get seemingly boring, especially when you are new and are wanting to get to playing actual music. Arky's right, however, as you progress you'll learn why they are so important and how different subtle nuances can change up those rudiments to make them interesting.

Here's what I do...I practice my rudiments for the first half of my practice and use them as a good hand and coordination warm up. Then I allow myself the second half of practice to play along to my favorite music or work on beats I'm trying to learn or whatever. It breaks things up and you get a little of what you "have to do" and a little of what you want to do.

Don't worry, pretty soon you'll begin to see why those rudiments are so important and how they fit into the bigger picture :)

Good luck and Happy Drumming!
 
Hi Huey and Arky,

Thanks for the useful notes. I practice daily with metronome and I feel I must be good at the rudiments stuff. By the way I don't give up:)
 
If you only use singles, eventually you will hit a ceiling where you can't create many new ideas and you can't do things you hear other drummers do.

It's okay to keep things simple in the beginning.
 
Stick Control is a great supplement to technical and rudimental practice. On its own, it can be pretty dry and bland. There are other books that teach more technique, include plenty of useful exercises, and are generally more fun. I worked extensively from Savage Rudimental Workshop by Matt Savage. This book has a few pages dedicated to every rudiment. For each rudiment, it includes a series of exercises focused specifically on executing the rudiment. Then, it has a snare solo featuring all sorts of permutations of that rudiment. In particular, it will often slip them in there on off-beats or cleverly disguise them. That produces all sorts of neat- and drum set applicable- licks. I would imagine there are several similar books out there.

I think of Stick Control as more of a reference than anything. It has darn near any possible sticking pattern in there. Practicing exercises from it will help immensely with all sorts of other applications, but it's not quite enough on its own.
 
they key to enjoying rudiments more is combining them......finding how they flow together ....connecting them, for example making the closing accent of a 9 stroke roll the first note of a paradiddle .....making music with them

there is a book by Pat Petrillo called Hands, Grooves, and Fills with a whole chapter on combining rudiments .

it is written in an easy to read short hand and will open your eyes to many combinations and accent possibilities

in the book he combines them in short phrases first , then creates a solo of those combinations ....which all can be translated to the drum kit

I see drummers all the time who do not pay attention to sticking and work against themselves making things way more difficult than they have to be and taking the flow out of the playing as a result .
these sticking patterns will set you free and help you learn to always access the "easy hand "
 
Oooh no, no way - rudiments are brilliant fun. They're your opportunity to get as close to perfection as you possibly can: if it isn't quite as good as you can get it, you can do it again and again until it is. It isn't possible to do that when you're in the middle of a song - you only get one chance.

If all you're doing is hitting the drums, you're missing lots of the important stuff. Give yourself tasks: play quietly, play loudly, play in between, start off quietly and get louder, start loudly and get quieter, then quiet-loud-quiet, then loud-quiet-loud. Play as evenly as you can, then put in an accent, then more accents. Play everything moderately loudly, then play one of the notes as quietly as you can. Set your metronome to a slowish speed and play in between the beeps. Play with your hands on different drums, not forgetting the cymbals.

Stick Control is a brilliant book, but I agree that it is very dry and I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner. Savage Rudimental Workshop sounds much more accessible - I'm going to check it out myself!
 
Not really, but if you're a young beginner there's nothing obvious about starting with stick control. there are great musically based methods for learning the drums from the start and you're free to add in any warm-up/technical exercise you want.
 
One thing I've started to doing with some of my students is to have them play rudiments or rudimental exercises along with their favorite music. Obviously tempo is the key here, but it can help keep them interested and also gets them thinking about additional rudiments that could be used to jam along with the track.
 
So many good suggestions so far.
What I'm thinking is maybe working on them for shorter periods would help.
There's a lot to be gained by consistent, short practice. It's much easier to focus and give it your all if you're only working on a rudiment for, say, 2 minutes at one go instead of making that your whole practice. I work on rudiments every day, but only spend about 10 minutes on them.

Edited to add:
Just checked out the Savage Rudimental Workshop book on Amazon (where you can look through the first few pages - I like it when they do that). Like Magenta, I might pick up a copy too!
 
Using a metronome made practicing rudiments much more enjoyable. It just made it feel as though it had more purpose than simply noodling around jumping from rudiment to rudiment without any regard for playing them in time and for any determined length of time.
 
I don't have much empathy for people who are "bored". But since you're kind of brand new to drumming, I can understand why you may feel bored. The reality is....rudiments aren't boring, people are boring. It's up to you to take what is offered, and get past the "I'm bored" part. If it's so easy for you that you're bored...you're not digging near deep enough.


Sorry but this is kind of a pet peeve of mine, the boring thing. At least you have a kit, a place to practice, and all your limbs to practice with. How truly fortunate you are. A brand new attitude is what's needed, and the old attitude needs to be kicked to the curb.
 
What a difference a few centuries makes! Back then if you were a drummer and captured on the battle field, you'd probably be tortured to give up your secret rudimental code.

In their "traditional" form, rudiments have symmetry and beauty in and of itself. For your purposes, gaining proficiency with them will work wonders around the kit in terms of increased power, control, speed, dynamics, sense of touch and phrasing, etc. But there are benefits that go beyond playing. You develop discipline working on these time tested patterns. That transfers to other skills. You learn their fascinating and rich history, their deep connection to modern phrasing and show respect to an ancient art form.

Some "non-boring" drum set players who are/were rudimental fanatics. And I'm leaving many out:

Elvin Jones
Phillie Joe Jones
Buddy Rich
Joe Morello
Louie Bellson
Steve Gadd
Vinnie Colauita
Mavin "Smitty" Smith
Alan Dawson
Tony Williams
 
When you play drums it's all about "getting out the sound you want to express". When you are playing sometimes you might want to do something but can't make it happen. That is where practicing rudiments comes in. They might not be as interesting as actually playing with a band etc but working on them allows you to do things when you do play with a band
that you couldn't otherwise pull off. Learn them and then apply them to your drum set playing. That will open things up for you.
 
Great Notes folks. thanks indeed. Lots of things to learn .I get back to my E-Kit.
cheers

Sina, are you having lessons or teaching yourself from the book? If you're teaching yourself, it's going to be much harder work and a lot less fun. It can help enormously if you're motivated by wanting to hear your teacher say "Well done, I can tell how much work you've put in since last time", and to have a context for what you're doing.
 
It's the dynamics and accents you give to rudiments that bring them to life. The stickings are tricky too! They all say something different. You can play the same paradiddle a hundred different ways, depending on your dynamics, and attitude. Dig deeper. You don't yet see the beauty in them. It takes a while. On the surface, they may seem disconnected from real drumming. Just dig deeper and all will be revealed.

I think playing them on a real acoustic drum is far and away a more satisfying experience than doing them on a pad of E kit, JMO.
 
I think playing them on a real acoustic drum is far and away a more satisfying experience than doing them on a pad of E kit, JMO.

I agree, but I first fell in love with them playing on an E kit, so it can be done!
 
I don't have much empathy for people who are "bored". But since you're kind of brand new to drumming, I can understand why you may feel bored. The reality is....rudiments aren't boring, people are boring. It's up to you to take what is offered, and get past the "I'm bored" part. If it's so easy for you that you're bored...you're not digging near deep enough.


Sorry but this is kind of a pet peeve of mine, the boring thing. At least you have a kit, a place to practice, and all your limbs to practice with. How truly fortunate you are. A brand new attitude is what's needed, and the old attitude needs to be kicked to the curb.

I'm with Larry. If you're Bored, you're not in deep enough.
Mastering the rudiments will develop the ability to play anything.
 
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