Is there anything you practice “religiously”?

Paul Blood

Junior Member
I know a drummer who has been playing over 50 years, and claims in that time, not a day has gone by where he doesn’t do page 1 from Stick Control. Doesn’t matter if it Christmas, his birthday or someone died.

I can see the benefits of having a consistent warm up routine, but think one should mix it up to promote growth and avoid stagnation. How about you?
 
long as I'm communing with my nature; receiving global messages, as I play I'm good.

that drummer that plays daily SC page 1 for 50 years I think is BS'in
or Is Stuck in the mud; real stuck

I admit to working on a 5/8 pattern for now 33 years
It's part of my "Circular Breathing for Drums" ethos
(patented don't try and steal it)

(i'm serious about that.

I'm going to a circular motion if it kills ... that's my goal.
Circular Motion on Drums is a basis of "4'
But 5, 7s, 11s, and what not's, all split-up, circulating around it.
Always a basis of 4 (or 2 or 1..
But Circular imposed laid over
 
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When I was gigging I ran my feet for at least 2 hours every single day. I did this for years.

The smartass in me says singles, as we play them all the time when we play, whether we think of them as singles or not. The logical side of me agrees.
 
Oddly enough, my primary practice location is at church...

I continue to work on tempo discipline and playing to the click. In some of my bands timekeeping is never an issue; in others it's a constant battle. I want to be on the winning side.
 
Nothing..absolutely nothing. I could be dangerous if I did. It's thee biggest problem I face. When I look back over my life I wonder how I got this far. I might just be..no humor intended..thee most procrastinating individual alive today.
 
Ruins the fun if you practice.
I remember meeting Billy Cobham and he stressed that practicing must be fun - or else you won’t do it. Thankfully, I was able to practice ALOT when I was kid up until I got into college (before all the “adulting” stuff started to show up) and looking back on it, it was fun when you had no other responsibilities.
 
I don't know about SC, but the basics of the vocabulary I work on and continually refine doesn't change much.

Wilcoxon, compound stickings over various templates, subdivisions as singles, doubles, paradiddles etc.. It is sort of SC + and accent sheet with accents, flams, doubles etc, but I've just expanded it a bit Takes more than 5 mins, but generally speaking I've had the time..

I take breaks from it occasionally when I want to introduce something new, just because I often think it's good to make that new thing my sole focus.

Om the kit it's the same thing. I have certain basic frameworks I work within and any additions are pretty rare and take a long time to add. It's more like I notice a certain specific thing within that doesn't flow as I'd like and so that's where I add the grease.
 
There's a timing exercise from Benny Greb's first book I do every time I practice to warm up. It's essentially playing all the different sixteenth note combinations within a beat. It's done wonders for my timing--started doing it over 2 years ago.
 
You crack me up C.Dave Run. I needed that 😃.

It helps when I think of it this way ……..

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But also me …….

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I don’t always procrastinate . I procrastinate on and off which I guess means I procrastinate about procrastinating 🤔.
Which I guess makes me a chronic underachieving procrastinator 🤷🏻‍♂️.
I’m so confused right now . I think I’m actually procrastinating right now but not entirely sure. Ahhh screw it ……. I’ll think more about this later or tomorrow.
WAIT….. I think maybe it’s indecisiveness!!!
 
I practice where I feel I get the most benefit for me. Some weeks I just play to music and try to nail songs perfectly. I usually fail. Some weeks I’m all about independence and won’t play a single song. I’ll usually keep that up till I’ve learned something new pretty well, then go to something else.

Some weeks it’s songs I love and other weeks songs I would never listen to, but sure seem challenging, so have to put in the time.

All in all, I’d say it’s been effective in advancing my playing, but far from what most teachers tend to recommend. It’s usually 10-20 minutes of this and 10-20 minutes of that.

I’m playing for me. Usually when I’m super stressed is when I’ll really focus on 4 way independence. There generally no room left for the stress. Just focus.

Do what works is what I recommend.
 
Not so much anymore, but when I returned to drumming after 20 years I practiced double bass obsessively for a few hours a day for 4-5 years. Seeing progress, gaining speed and control, became somewhat addictive.
 
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