Tommy Igoe's Great Hands For a Lifetime DVD

blastbeatkeeper

blastbeatkeeper

Senior Member
I just received my copy of the above dvd, and I cant wait to get started on it. If I like this one, Im seriously considering getting groove essentials as well. Does anyone have any experience with this dvd? How is it? From what Ive read so far, its more or less a "beginners" dvd, but Im kind of looking forward to it, because Im self taught, so starting from the beginning is a good thing for me. Any words of advice would be great. Thanks!
 
GREAT DVD !!!
I'd played for many years and my left hand was horrible, no bounce at all, this sorted it out !!!! It's totally changed the way I grip the stick and my left hand has seen an ubelievable improvment so worth every penny in my book.
I bought Groove Essentials on the back of it, personally I didn't get a lot out of that, maybe beacause I#ve been playing a long time and if you're a beginner probably worth getting !!
 
you will enjoy the DVD

play the warm up they all do together with them and shoot for 200 and above with it no matter how long it takes

its one of the best warm ups that exists

it distributes equal responsibility to both hands and will whip a weaker limb into shape

I recommend the same exercise on your feet even if you dont play double kick, do kick hat

also do it between a hand and right foot (if yr right handed) one hand at a time...many benefits

this DVD is wonderful...I recommend going through it matched then a few months later going through it traditional (or vise versa depending on what your primary is)

shed brother
 
I just got this DVD last Christmas and I can't recommend it strongly enough.

After a lifetime spent taking a very traditional, drum corps approach to rudiments, I love how Tommy brings all of that stuff into the 21st century. All the exercises are designed to be applicable to playing drum set, which I think is a critical thing that is often overlooked and can cause people problems when making the transition from marching to drum set. For instance, Tommy talks about ways to play flams that offer different possibilities to the drum set player as opposed to the more regimented approach corps drummers take.

Great stuff. And I still find the advanced warmup challenging. Some of those paradiddle accent variations are killer!
 
the DVD is a delight. Sometimes when watching the segments, I even laugh at some of the things he says. He is really a cool guy that can make rudiments seem easy (of course with practice). He's all about having fun, staying calm and relaxed.

enjoy....
 
I think it's a great DVD also. Make sure you also go through all of the exercises in the e-book too. They are not all on the DVD.

ps; It's harder than it looks. :)
 
Tommy is a chops monster. He makes everything look so effortless. His students are not very far behind either. So be carefull not to get discouraged. Take it slow!
 
Duracell said:
Tommy is a chops monster. He makes everything look so effortless. His students are not very far behind either. So be carefull not to get discouraged. Take it slow!
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great advice
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Thanks everyone for their responses so far. Im getting more and more excited to check this thing out! Im looking forward to see how my progress goes over the next few months, hopefully I can wait that long! And by no means am I beginner, Ive been playing for the better part of 10 years. I just have no technique to model. Well, I do...my own! Im more or less excited to learn structure, and to be able to strengthen my technique, and hopefully be able to appy it to the kit.
 
I am of the opinion that every drummer should get all of Tommy Igoe's DVDs. They are all absolutely fantastic! Some of the best educational material I've ever seen; it is both all-encompassing and pragmatic at the same time.
 
I think Tommy's DVD is good if you don't have access to a teacher. If you can get to real one on one lessons with a real teacher there is nothing special that the dvd can teach you. I haven't seen anything in any dvd's that I haven't been exposed to in lessons with real teachers.
 
bigd said:
I think Tommy's DVD is good if you don't have access to a teacher. If you can get to real one on one lessons with a real teacher there is nothing special that the dvd can teach you. I haven't seen anything in any dvd's that I haven't been exposed to in lessons with real teachers.
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Thats true, but you can get each of the DVDs basically for the price of a single drum lesson. And each one of those DVDs will give practically anyone enough to work on for a year or two, a lifetime in the case of Great Hands for a Lifetime. Thats part of why I recommend it, you're basically getting a solid introduction into most styles of music, and Tommy's take on drumming in general, for the price of only a few drum lessons with a teacher in person. So even if someone has access to a teacher, I would recommend for them to use these DVDs as well. The more teachers you have, the more you will learn!
 
With a dvd you're assessing yourself. With a real teacher you get direct feedback to what you're doing correctly and incorrectly. I've never had a teacher who said go and buy this dvd or that dvd. You make way better progress with the real thing. The teachers I currently pay have just as much and maybe more understanding of technique as Tommy does.
 
I'm no beginner and I still break that vid out from time to time. Quite simply, it's excellent hand training.

Agree, no substitute for a beginner getting lessons from a teacher (no dvd is), but as you're no beginner yourself I see no reason why this would hinder you in bettering yourself.
 
bigd said:
With a dvd you're assessing yourself. With a real teacher you get direct feedback to what you're doing correctly and incorrectly. I've never had a teacher who said go and buy this dvd or that dvd. You make way better progress with the real thing. The teachers I currently pay have just as much and maybe more understanding of technique as Tommy does.
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who are your teachers?
 
I'm on day 21 and still loving it. I haven't even made it past accents yet, because my left hand is just horrible, and I'm doubling this with a couple other pieces of material, but I can see the progress I'm making every single day.

Highly recommended.
 
Boomka said:
You can play all the variations in there with ease?
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Let me put it another way I've had that DVD 2 years and it's only ever been played through once !!!!!
Either I coud play it or I couldn't see the value in learning some of it that I'd probably seldom use over and above using the practice time I have available to learn things that I think would add greater value to the style and music I play.
I already played a number of the Latin Rhythms as I'd gone out of my way to learn them prior to buying the DVD.
I'm not saying it's a bad DVD especially not for someone starting out but for me personally to have not even played it a 2nd time when some of my drumming DVD's have virtually worn through with use says I don't find it that useful !!!
 
bigd said:
With a dvd you're assessing yourself. With a real teacher you get direct feedback to what you're doing correctly and incorrectly. .
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Yes, I understand that. But Thats only according to that specific teacher...My way=wrong. Teacher's way=right. That right there is enough to make me want to stop playing altogether.
 
What I really love about Tommy Igoe is that is makes you believe that you are a drummer and you can achieve what he is teaching.
 
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