Best ways to practice.

fables429

fables429

Junior Member
I am just starting out and I am wondering what are the best ways to practice on your own not including teacher lessons.

Is it practice pads, drills, playing along with songs, left/right hand/foot exercises, drum tabs, rock band, rudiments, learning grooves/beats, drum DVD, all of the above?
 
fables429 said:
I am just starting out and I am wondering what are the best ways to practice on your own not including teacher lessons.

Is it practice pads, drills, playing along with songs, left/right hand/foot exercises, drum tabs, rock band, rudiments, learning grooves/beats, drum DVD, all of the above?
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all of the above and more. make sure you can play everything with and without a metronome. i have never heard that playing rock band is good practice though
 
i think you're on the right track, but if you can spring for some lessons, that would be good. a teacher can point out flaws and suggest improvements to your technique that are going to be pretty hard for you to see yourself.

another good thing to do that i learned to do fairly late in the game is to record your practice sessions and listen to them. the thing is, you may think that you're doing great and that you've got it all figured out until you listen to yourself and realize you have a long way to go. that was my experience anyway. you'll be able to hear things in the recordings that you can't hear while you're playing and that will help you see what you need to work on.

rock band is ok for learning songs and working on timing to some degree, but i wouldn't assume that playing it is going to be a good substitute for actual time on the kit.
 
vtmathndrums said:
All of the above. There is no "secret" practicing technique that will make you amazing. Just work. Lots and lots of work.
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This is pretty good. The only thing I would modify about this statement, and it may just be semantics, would be substituting the word "play" for the word "work". The only reason I make that distinction is because to me work implies something less than fun, and fun is really what it's about: if you're having fun, you'll be amazed how quickly you'll develop. When I'm working out on a pad, I like to do so to music over just a metronome to keep some musicality in there and it allows me to tailor what I'm doing to some music. If you're working out of a book, then this probably won't work, but in any case, it's important to keep context in mind when practicing, working, playing, or whatever you want to call it.
 
All of the things you have mentioned, remember it's about having fun. I been learning for a couple of years and really wished I have concentrated on my rudiments from the begining 10 mins a day. Work your way through the main ones will really improve your sticking and over all playing.


Good luck

Check out my blog for some ideas http://www.dannysbeat.com
 
Thanks for the replies.

What do you think about a electronic practice drum pad like the Roland rmp 5 or rmp 12 for practicing instead of a regular practice drum pad?
 
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I had sort of an epiphany the other day (actually provided by one of my friends). Don't practice an exercise as just an exercise. If you look at it as something separate ("this is not real playing") it has to make its way from your pad, and then to your kit, and then eventually to your own music. A long journey to make.

IMO you should look at "practicing" as "the real thing." You're actually playing music. Own it from the start. Leave the music on and practice with a song. If you have to work on a specific part, rewind the track to where you need it and play it again. You can tell when someone has worked on their chops out of context and it doesn't sound good. Play music to practice.

*I'm Funkytomtom and I endorse this message*
 
The Yin and Yang of practice for me are:
1. make it FUN! That's the whole point.
2. have some sort of FOCUS, that makes sure you develop/improve over time. This could be timing, single strokes, double strokes, kick, double kick, new styles, a cool phrase you heard and want to learn, stick control, whatever. More abstract, but this is how you get better.

Depending on how much practice time I can carve out, sometimes I do both, sometimes I do the other. My favourite practice sessions go like this:
1. Sit down and just play for a while, whatever you feel, get warmed up
2. Work on a chosen 'development'/focus item, with discipline. Keep at it.
3. After a while, develop your 'focus' idea further, for example: If your focus is hands, keep going but begin adding feet after a while. If your focus is feet, begin adding hands too after a while - develop the idea, looking for a way to fit it into your normal playing. Keep going back and forth gradually between 'more focus area' and 'more real playing'.
4. Now just play some more!
5. Depending on how much time/energy you have, repeat from 2 with another focus area.

This can last anything from 30 mins to hours... :)
 
I like to have one goal a week of what I would like to work on or get done before my next lesson or practice. I am very fond of the stepping stone tool and learining each exercise by adding in each beat as I feel comfortable with it. Also I always practice with a metronome. I uaually work on more than one type of style or genre of drumming...my main three focuses are jazz, funk, and samba at the moment.
 
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