If you only had the bare minimum to practice...

[contemplativedrummer]

Hello all, it's been a while since I've posted here.

My question for everyone is: If you only had small amounts of time to focus either on drumset technique or just working on your hands, what would you work on?


See I've always been of the mindset that I will always play drums/percussion, but in college as a non-music major it can be hard to squeeze in practice time. So what could/should I (or others like me) practice to get the maximum benefit out of fleeting moments of time (for example, 30 minute practice sessions only a few days a week)?

[TennesseeDrummer]

Technique and rudiments

[wsabol]

I only have time to practice about 1-2 hours a week now that I have a full time job. I start out doing a classic drumline warmup: 8 on a hand, double/triple beat, blah blah blah, to keep my chops up to date. Then I run through the exercises I like for limb independence and coordination. And then if I can, I'll work on some licks or songs. To finish I do a warm down, which is the same warm up I do, but in reverse.

I feel like that is the bare minimum you can do. You have to hit as many ascepts of drumming as possible. I may case I feel the chops, coordination, limb independence, and reading are the most important things a drummer can work should practice. So when I practice, I try to at least hit those areas.

[moontheloon]

play along to records

[contemplativedrummer]

Technique and rudiments

Hand technique on a pad? Or drumset-centric techniques, like coordination or foot control?

Regarding rudiments, are you more inclined to play paradiddles for hours, or use more rudimental exercises that build on rudiments (gridding and etc)?

I only have time to practice about 1-2 hours a week now that I have a full time job. I start out doing a classic drumline warmup: 8 on a hand, double/triple beat, blah blah blah, to keep my chops up to date. Then I run through the exercises I like for limb independence and coordination. And then if I can, I'll work on some licks or songs. To finish I do a warm down, which is the same warm up I do, but in reverse.

I feel like that is the bare minimum you can do. You have to hit as many ascepts of drumming as possible. I may case I feel the chops, coordination, limb independence, and reading are the most important things a drummer can work should practice. So when I practice, I try to at least hit those areas.

Just out of curiosity, are your 1-2 hours spent all at once or broken up into smaller chunks? Do you find yourself practicing on things you're already familiar with too often? That tends to be one of my problems, playing through things I already know too much - it keeps chops up, sure... but does it offer improvement?

play along to records

Do you play along to your favorites, or try to branch out?




Thanks for the replies so far, guys!

[TennesseeDrummer]

Drum centric and rudimental exercises

[Alex Sanguinetti]

If you have as little as 1/2 hour a day it depends on your level of proficiency what you could study, but as a general rule I would concentrate only on one subject per session (1/2 hour as you put it).

Also your goals will have a lot to do with the kind of material you should work on.

As usual my advice is: GET THE BEST TEACHER IN TOWN, which should be the best teacher selected BETWEEN THE BEST PLAYERS in town or in the next bigger town or whatever and comment him your goals combined with the practice time you have at your disposal and see that he puts you in the right track, you definetely don't have time to loose (besides, nobody has).

Best regards!

[moontheloon]

Originally Posted by contemplativedrummer

Hand technique on a pad? Or drumset-centric techniques, like coordination or foot control?

Regarding rudiments, are you more inclined to play paradiddles for hours, or use more rudimental exercises that build on rudiments (gridding and etc)?



Just out of curiosity, are your 1-2 hours spent all at once or broken up into smaller chunks? Do you find yourself practicing on things you're already familiar with too often? That tends to be one of my problems, playing through things I already know too much - it keeps chops up, sure... but does it offer improvement?



Do you play along to your favorites, or try to branch out?




Thanks for the replies so far, guys!

I always play along to old favorites but also love to put on something like Mary J Blige or something like that with a steady beat all the way through and just try a bunch of new licks out over it.....I got obsessed with gospel chop stuff for a while so that stuff was great to shed licks over......

playing along to records is great because you get to work on your techniques and licks but in a musical context....

[contemplativedrummer]

GET THE BEST TEACHER IN TOWN.

I'm going to try to see if I can either get lessons from one of my percussion studio buddies, or from one of the music professors. I'm hesitant to spend the amount of money a music major spends for lessons when I won't have the time to progress as quickly as they do.

I think overall my main goal is to just keep playing while in college. Ever since I started, drumming has been a big part of my life - I don't want to see it go away just because of a hectic college schedule.

[larryace]

Even more important than practicing rudiments IMO is playing with others and getting yourself out there. You can practice by yourself for years, and it means almost nothing until you start playing w/ others. That's where you really learn...songs, the importance of tempo, steady meter, groove...You don't groove on a pad.

If I had to pick between just working my hands and playing a full drum kit I'd go for the kit everytime. I assume you mean a full drumkit when you say drumset technique.

[toddbishop]

Originally Posted by contemplativedrummer

My question for everyone is: If you only had small amounts of time to focus either on drumset technique or just working on your hands, what would you work on?

It depends on where you are with your playing and what your goals are. Assuming you want to be performing, I would probably suggest focusing on the drums, cleaning up and developing things you're actually going to use in the playing situations that are immediately available to you.

[contemplativedrummer]

It's as if I need to pick the least detrimental option before me... I've gone from being a High School drumline captain playing drumset every day of the week and always finding new people to jam/gig with, to a role where academics and other activities take over my time and only leave scraps open for drumming. At this point, I just want to keep playing in the most productive way with the time I have.

If I had to pick between just working my hands and playing a full drum kit I'd go for the kit everytime.

Sadly, at the moment, all I have access to is a pad (the drumsets on campus are in locked practice rooms that I'm still working on getting a key to).


I'm sorry if this thread seems misleading, I initially intended to start a discussion about what everyone would do with limited resources/time, but now it seems I'm one of the few with this problem haha.

[Hercules]

first up I'd practice time management and make that 30 minutes become 60 ;-)