when I say weaker I mean much weaker/slower and less coordinated on my right and its really affecting the speed and preciseness of my drum rolls and fills, I posted another thread about stiff wrists but I think this is the real problem I have lately, I've started leading with my left hand on the hi hat now, is there any other routines anyone can recommend, has anyone else had this problem and if so how long did it take for you to get your left hand up to speed with your right?
Left hand weaker than right
- Thread starter Brodown
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topgun2021
Gold Member
Play the rudiments with left hand lead.
Fuo
Platinum Member
Working on accent patterns (like the ones in the last 2 pgs of Syncopation) with left-lead, and doing "The Weaker Side" every day for 6 weeks are probably the main things that improved my left hand to point of "not completely gimpy and uncontrollable". It's still not great but it is workable for now.
The Weaker Side is a book of exercises that focuses on... the obvious
The main gist of the book is that you do exercises that focus on the weak hand (or foot) everyday for 30min/day with proper technique (NO PAIN), and without stopping (yea, tedious). The book is written to cover a full year, but takes A LOT of dedication; I could only get through 6 weeks, but I noticed improvement during that time, and plan to return to it later.
The Weaker Side is a book of exercises that focuses on... the obvious
The main gist of the book is that you do exercises that focus on the weak hand (or foot) everyday for 30min/day with proper technique (NO PAIN), and without stopping (yea, tedious). The book is written to cover a full year, but takes A LOT of dedication; I could only get through 6 weeks, but I noticed improvement during that time, and plan to return to it later.That's pretty normal dude. If you can read basic drum notation ...pick up : " advanced techniques for the modern drummer " - Jim Chapin
and that sticking book I can never remember the name of. Maybe someone else can tell you.
But those two books will get you up and running.
Or a teacher.
and that sticking book I can never remember the name of. Maybe someone else can tell you.
But those two books will get you up and running.
Or a teacher.
Dr_Watso
Platinum Member
Yea. Get a written set of rudiments and play them. Don't just play them, play them correctly. Make sure your strokes and stick heights are even, focus on getting the same sound in both hands when you hit the pad or drum. Then slowly speed it up.
You'd be surprised how much even just doing simple rudiments like a swiss triplet or something correctly will really improve your off hand.
You'd be surprised how much even just doing simple rudiments like a swiss triplet or something correctly will really improve your off hand.
hvymtlmike
Senior Member
Definately a normal problem and rudiments with left hand lead will help. Another more simple starting off solution is realizing that your right was like that before and repetition is what builds that muscle. One thing I used to do, and still do some today is play right hand on '1' and left hand on '& 2 & 3 & 4 &'. Doing this gives your left hand a 7:1 workout ratio to your right. This little exercise is the most basic form, but to build that muscle you need lots and lots of repetition. As with anything, start slow so you can maintain a steady rhythm and good form, then increase as you improve. Hope this helps.
Larry
"Uncle Larry"
Took me about 8 years to get close to even. A good exercise for the left hand is the shuffle pattern, you know, dotted 8th notes. Do them with your left hand on a left hand ride (so you aren't crossing your arms) as fast as you comfortably can, as long as you can, till fatigue. You might get some disagreement there. IMO, that's the only thing that gets it stronger, fatigue. I've been regularly fatiguing my hands for almost 9 years with great results, so naturally I recommend it. Tension and fatigue are 2 different things. Tension, generally speaking, is not desirable. Fatigue on the other hand is how I get my muscles to do more than they currently can. I play my weak hand until fatigue....and a few days later I can go a slight bit longer until fatigue, and so on and so on...
Basically what I did is totally focus on my left hand. It still takes quite a bit of time. Virtually all drummers have this issue. With drums, ideally, you need your weak hand to be just as strong as your dominant hand. Tall order. Translates into many many many hours of left hand focus.
Basically what I did is totally focus on my left hand. It still takes quite a bit of time. Virtually all drummers have this issue. With drums, ideally, you need your weak hand to be just as strong as your dominant hand. Tall order. Translates into many many many hours of left hand focus.
A
Anthony Amodeo
Guest
I think that is great advice Larry.....I think working to fatigue is necessary when breaking down muscle tissue
yes tension is the enemy...not fatigue
also...if you work your left hand doing an exercise along with your right this weak limb can easily learn from your dominant hand
for example one that works well with my students is
RLRR LLLL LRLL RRRR ...and repeat to infinity accenting the quarter note in bold
it has a nice flow to it and you can even add some whip motion to the group of all lefts and all rights .
this will allow equal responsibility to each hand while letting you examine what your right is doing and apply its technique to the left when its time comes to play alone
hands learning from each other is a highly overlooked way to remedy this extremely common weak limb situation
Deathmetalconga
Platinum Member
Consider playing open, left hand hats and ride. I am right handed but I play open and I think it has benefited my playing.
You can do these exercises and I am sure they will help, but then you will be going right back to a drumset where 90 percent of the time, your stronger hand will be doing 70 percent of the work. That's what's really aggravating the imbalance.
A
Anthony Amodeo
Guest
how does playing crossed result in your stronger hand doing 70% of the work?
my left hand does every bit as much as my right.....as a matter of fact it does more sometimes when filling in the cracks
sure playing open will help a weak left hand but this 70% idea is nonsense
I have nothing against playing open and do play that way sometimes to maybe add a different dynamic to a groove ......but beyond a beginner player crossing will definitely not result in anyones stronger hand doing 70% more of anything
this simply sounds like a typical ...my way and opinions are far superior .....DMC post....which ive come to love by the way
Kg_lee
Senior Member
I've been battling the slow left hand my whole 33 years of drumming. I still don't have it anywhere near where I'd like it to be but it never has cost me getting a gig. I've always played around it and focused on the things that I was good it. The only place where I really would use it is playing a solo. I wouldn't give up ever working on it.
Assuming that you're naturally right-handed then you need to force yourself to use the left hand more everywhere. One of my early drum instructors had me keep my right hand in my pocket and do everything with my left. Open doors, hold a fork, anything that I did normally with my right hand. Be careful about shaking hands with your left hand though. Certain cultures consider this an insult. You can also start your practice routine by playing right-handed parts with your left hand. It takes time but you can do it.
Larry
"Uncle Larry"
I do this but never heard it put like this. Hands learning from each other. Nice. It's like mirroring. I found that the strokes have to look as close to mirror-like as possible, to get the most even sound. Talking matched grip obviously.
Pocket-full-of-gold
Platinum Member
It's an interesting one. I'm not sold on the "mirroring" aspect per se. When I'm playing traditional grip my left hand couldn't look more different from my right.....daylight separates the two, yet it still responds fluently and with control. I stopped beating myself up for not being able to get my left hand to identically mimic my right a long time ago purely because of this. If it's not paramount with trad grip, why is it with matched? As long as it allows me to control my strokes evenly and play what I want to play, then I'm happy with that.
That's not to say that I don't work my left hand, I do. I practice leading with my left, I isolate it, I drill it, I work it hard and am constantly working on strengthening it so that is as dexterous and controlled as my right........but I don't sit there for hours on end frustrated that the subtleties and nuances of my left don't completely replicate that of my right. I can certainly live with the fact that there are subtle variations in the action between one hand and the other.
I'm not selling this mind you.....works for me in that it certainly freed my mind up from that frustration that came of not being able to acheve perfect symmetry. But it may not work for others. Was moreso just interested in discussing the "mirror" effect. What do others think?
Larry
"Uncle Larry"
I don't play trad because the strokes don't sound identical enough to my ear. Two completely different motions. I find trad outdated (we don't sling the snare over our shoulders do we?) and too complicated, and not even sounding enough for me. It's a weaker stroke no matter how you slice it compared to matched. So I don't know that you can get identical sounding strokes with trad by virtue of the fact that different parts of the hand touch the stick and it's a different motion with different trajectories and differing amounts of rebound compared to the matched hand.
I swear, playing matched, if my one stroke comes down on a slightly different angle than the other hand, I can hear the diff. Even if my hands are holding it identical. Everything has to be identical, where your hand is on the stick, how much of your hand is on the stick, exactly what part of the hand is on the stick, the angle of the downstroke, of course the downward force has to be even, the amount of rebound...only when everything is as identical as I can get them, do my strokes sound close to identical, the only difference being the individual stick resonance. Talking in the practice room here, controlled conditions. At gig time it's whatever comes out lol.
Thanks for the advice guys, my main problem is jumping on the kit and playing along to my mp3 player straight away rather than warming up my hands with rudiments and leading with my left hand, but for the next few weeks I plan to improvise on the kit and just play quarter note and eight note beats left hand leading, and also try using the R L L L pattern,
I already felt an improvement when I warmed my left hand up, I was playing at about 140 bpm and was able to do 32nd note fills consisting of 8 strokes, and then done 16th's using the R L L L, I have to start slow as my left hand still needs a lot of work, and it annoys me how much better I could be if my left hand was even slightly near as good as my right hand and its because ive been neglecting my left hand for so long, most of the time it just hits the snare, and of course I use it for fills but I always lead with my right hand but thanks for the advice guys, and thanks for the advice hvymtlmike on the R L L L fill
I already felt an improvement when I warmed my left hand up, I was playing at about 140 bpm and was able to do 32nd note fills consisting of 8 strokes, and then done 16th's using the R L L L, I have to start slow as my left hand still needs a lot of work, and it annoys me how much better I could be if my left hand was even slightly near as good as my right hand and its because ive been neglecting my left hand for so long, most of the time it just hits the snare, and of course I use it for fills but I always lead with my right hand but thanks for the advice guys, and thanks for the advice hvymtlmike on the R L L L fill
hvymtlmike
Senior Member
No problem bro, keep at it and good luck!
Anduin
Pioneer Member
Yeah, do that.
Some things will be easy, like opening doors, and some will be hard, like putting keys in locks or brushing your teeth. Takes a while to get used to, but very helpful for general weak hand coordination.
inneedofgrace
Platinum Member
I'm amazed at how many drummers use their right hand 90% of the time when striking their cymbals, even those cymbals on the left side of the kit. That is one way I intentionally try to use the left hand more.