How can I keep improving?

C

Chrispb7

Member
aye guys, got a bit of an obstacle here.
I have tendonitis in both knees right now from too much double bass practice
(p.s. if you know why this may have happened, thru poor technique, or something,
please, lay it on me as constructive criticism, i need it.)

anyway, i cant use my feet. So how can I keep improving my drum skills while my knees
heal? So far I do a few things:

-chops (single stroke endurance, stick control, rudiments, accents, trad. grip., etc etc).
-crossover exercises
-fills w/o the bass drum

any other ideas on some things to work on without my feet? I just really dont want to
let tendonitis discourage me from improving.
and again, p.s., if you can tell me how to prevent tendonitis in the future, im right here!

thanks guys!
 
Ever though about hand percussion? The Djembe, Conga, and Bongos are just a few of the percussion instruments that require no feet, and are a blast to play.

As for the drumset, here's and idea. Get an 18" x 16" floor tom, and tune it low, like a bass drum. It won't be ideal, but it will give you a sound that somewhat resembles a bass drum. Of course, you will only have 1 hand available instead of two, but I think you could make it work.

The last thing would just be hand technique, like you mentioned. There's tons of things you can work on: speed, left hand strength, technique, one and two hand hi hat patterns, etc.

Hope it gets better soon, and I hope everything works out.
 
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Why not take the down time to listen to all the music you always planned to listen to but never had the time? Having more music in your head never hurts.

Then yeah, time to really get serious about the hands. The pad is the best for exposing weaknesses and targeting bad habits.
 
This is a really, really obvious one, and yet most people don't actually do it very much. Always work on things you can't do. Don't keep working on things you can.

Matt's suggestion of listening, and then transcribing the stuff you really like, is always a brilliant idea.
 
Why not try something like ignore the double bass completely for a while and focus on single pedal heel down sparse playing, and getting the left foot hats going in an Afro Cuban style or something? Get ur hands learning a bunch of different bell patterns over a basic heel down baion.

Try something different without double bass. It always works and improves your whole playing.
 
jazzin' said:
Why not try something like ignore the double bass completely for a while and focus on single pedal heel down sparse playing, and getting the left foot hats going in an Afro Cuban style or something? Get ur hands learning a bunch of different bell patterns over a basic heel down baion.

Try something different without double bass. It always works and improves your whole playing.
Click to expand...

Thats GREAT idea, i dont know why i never thought of that.

is there some source i can use to find beats like that to practice? like a book or
something? something other than paying for lessons?
 
Sorry to hear about your knee problems. I know how frustrating that must be.

Some have already mentioned this but ... learn lots of songs. Get familiar with song form: intro, verse, chorus, bridge, etc. etc. and memorize songs. When your knees heal you'll be able to lead the band.

Know song form, and even knowing the words to the song, will help you be a better drummer. You'd be surprised at how many musicians get lost in a song and are not sure what comes next. If you know the song you will be a step ahead of everyone in the band. --- that's called leading the band.

hope this helps.
 
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