Practicing one thing too much?

Jivi

Senior Member
Lately I've been practicing my singles, getting them up to speed, getting the accents, and getting even strokes.

But I am no where near to what I want my single strokes to be and so I keep on practicing them.

I also wonder how long it is going to take me to get them really really good. Because I practice them so much, I don't have a lot of time to practice other things. There is also the matter of mastering the single stroke when doing triplets and quintuplets and all of that.

When I think about all of the things that I want to get nailed, just for the the single stroke roll, It seem it will take forever to get there and that I would neglect everything else.

Basically I don't know whether I should concentrate on a few things so much and not move on.

I want everything I learn to be perfect and I want to be able to pull out any combination of what I learn out when I want to, but it doesn't seem like that is going to happen in the near future.

When do I know to move on?
 
How exactly do you practise singles? It takes a long time to get them to where you want them. Just keep thinking that and keep doing what you're doing, if its an effective routine. How do you divide up the time between singles and everything else?

"I want everything I learn to be perfect and I want to be able to pull out any combination of what I learn out when I want to, but it doesn't seem like that is going to happen in the near future"

Not going to be anywhere near that in the near future. I mean, you're around my age right? 15, 16, 17 or something? I think of drumming as a life long thing, I have the rest of my life to drum, so even spending a year really working on singles is hardly any time at all.
 
Thanks for the reply, I understand what you mean.

But I also want to make sure that what I'm doing is an effective way to practice.
Like perfect practice makes perfect, I want to make sure that I am learning as efficiently as I possibly could.
 
Haha I like your attitude! Like gusty said, drumming is a life long thing...it might take decades before your completely happy with your singles or any aspect of your drumming actually! Have you considered practicing a few other key rudiments? Such as double stroke rolls and paradiddles? That's all I practice everyday pretty much, along with some independence exercises, then I play to music, do you play to music at all? You definitely need to do that otherwise you'll just be good at playing rudiments, which is only one piece of the drumming pie.
 
I personally don't recommend working one technique for a long period of time without working other stuff. Find a good book on technique, with exercises to build speed and endurance, and you will find that all of that translates to you being able to play faster singles.
 
I personally don't recommend working one technique for a long period of time without working other stuff. Find a good book on technique, with exercises to build speed and endurance, and you will find that all of that translates to you being able to play faster singles.

Yeah, there's no such thing as "being good enough" at one technique...you'll always want to be better/faster/cleaner even when you blow other drummers away. You'll want to work on as many things as you want to right now, and each one will help out the others in some way. For example, working on your flam taps and flam accents will tremendously help out your triple stroke rolls, and studying jazz and latin will put some serious groove in your rock and funk playing.
 
Just practicing single strokes doesn't necessarily mean you'll perfect the single stroke.

Cross training is very important in drums. You should work on a light variety on things. Get a structured practice routine and find ideas that help each other out. For example, working on singles and doubles and accents all help each other in and out.

Just like a 100m sprinter doesn't train by only sprinting, but he does all sorts of fitness exercises as well. Same with the drums. Getting good at singles doesn't mean only practicing singles.

We strive for perfection yes, but remember also that we can never truly be perfect. It's a constant practice. Good enough is when you have confidence in your strokes and you can apply it into all the things you want to do. But that 'good enough' isn't the end point. You continue to work on it. So it's not like you can practice your singles, be done with it then move on. You need to structure your practices and get a few things working together that help each other out.
 
Just practicing single strokes doesn't necessarily mean you'll perfect the single stroke.

Cross training is very important in drums. You should work on a light variety on things. Get a structured practice routine and find ideas that help each other out. For example, working on singles and doubles and accents all help each other in and out.

Just like a 100m sprinter doesn't train by only sprinting, but he does all sorts of fitness exercises as well. Same with the drums. Getting good at singles doesn't mean only practicing singles.

We strive for perfection yes, but remember also that we can never truly be perfect. It's a constant practice. Good enough is when you have confidence in your strokes and you can apply it into all the things you want to do. But that 'good enough' isn't the end point. You continue to work on it. So it's not like you can practice your singles, be done with it then move on. You need to structure your practices and get a few things working together that help each other out.

exactly
absolutely key!
for example being able to play clean open double strokes = door opening to faster singles
hands AND feet btw
 
Thanks for the reply, I understand what you mean.

But I also want to make sure that what I'm doing is an effective way to practice.
Like perfect practice makes perfect, I want to make sure that I am learning as efficiently as I possibly could.

Ok, well exactly what are you doing?
 
maybe checking out jojo mayers hand technique dvd will help you understand what and how to practice, and you cant go wrong with any advice jojo has to give.
 
Just practicing single strokes doesn't necessarily mean you'll perfect the single stroke.

Cross training is very important in drums. You should work on a light variety on things. Get a structured practice routine and find ideas that help each other out. For example, working on singles and doubles and accents all help each other in and out.

Just like a 100m sprinter doesn't train by only sprinting, but he does all sorts of fitness exercises as well. Same with the drums. Getting good at singles doesn't mean only practicing singles.

We strive for perfection yes, but remember also that we can never truly be perfect. It's a constant practice. Good enough is when you have confidence in your strokes and you can apply it into all the things you want to do. But that 'good enough' isn't the end point. You continue to work on it. So it's not like you can practice your singles, be done with it then move on. You need to structure your practices and get a few things working together that help each other out.

I agree with this. There are only 3 types of drum stroke really, practcing your rudiments will develop these strokes, thats what there are for really think. Doubles are Singles, the same stroke with only minor diffrences. Paradidles use all three.

The thing which can hold you priortys back is taking speed into acount, like i cant move on before i reach a certain tempo......dont worry this bs, just practice your rudiments, or at least one each from family.

Also Vic firth have a program you can follow to learn them with, very good if you need direction.
 
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