HELLO and SO SORRY for the late reply. All of my DW notifications were going to my junk mail! ? For me, the key to internalizing a groove/fill is to do it in steps. First, you have to break the groove down so you can learn it correctly. This is done VERY SLOWLY. For a complex 16th note groove, I learn one beat at a time. I start with playing only beat one including its subdivions (1 e an du) , and then continue to only count and not play the remaining beats. Then I play the same for only beat 2 and count the remaining beats. Then beat 3, then beat 4. Once i have a great understanding of each beat, I put beat 1 and 2 together and only continue counting and not playing for beat 3 and 4. Once comfortable, I add beat 3. Then once comfortable with that, I add beat 4. Once I have the whole groove slowly, I start to use a metronome and practice it VERY SLOWLY. Then I gradually increase BPM when comfortable. You are about half way there. The other 50% is then bridging the gap between playing it as an exercise and playing it in a musical setting. You must be able to subtly let the groove remain fluid and to "expand and contract" so to speak, for each musical situation you are playing it in. It WILL NOT be the same for every tune. You NEVER want to force something on a tune simply because its the exercise that you learned and thats the way you play it. You have to take into account the degree of swing or lack thereof for the tune you are playing in. The dynamics of the groove are also paramount. You should be able to play the groove smoothly at different levels of volume. Once again, you cant force a volume of a groove on a tune simply because you cant play it soft and smooth or loud and smooth. These are only SOME of the elements of the "bridging the gap" stage. IMHO, these elements are essential to get yourself from being a good drummer to an exceptional musician. I work on this consistently when I practice and it is how I teach my students. Its essentially like reading the language. Think about how you read when you were 6 or 7 and how you read now. The difference is experience. The more you do something, the more it becomes second nature. The same holds true for how we do anything, including drumming. Repetition is the key to internalization, you just want to make sure what you are repeating is correct! THAT is why we start in small sections at a VERY SLOW pace. Hope this helps! BE WELL!!
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