What are you doing drumwise during the lockdown?

Okay, a bit more than an hour later. 1/8th notes 100bpm. Used about the first 10 minutes just doing the hands so I could get the hang of it. Adding the foot was really weird at first. I kept turning it back into a paradiddle. Eventually it started to feel right and I played it for maybe another 10-15 minutes. Again it's just the pad, so no movement around anything yet. Just getting comfortable with the pattern. I'll keep working on it.

As for 3/4, yeah no. It's gonna take some serious time for that.

I wrote the exercise on a strip of painters tape and stuck it to my pad. I accented 4/4 at the top and 3/4 at the bottom in two cycles. It should go like 4 I think, but I ran outta space. Anyhow, I barely made it to the second half of the measure let alone back around and over the bar before I lost it. I had the met at 60bpm and was playing the same. If I slow it to a snail's pace I can read it and play it sloppily. No, it sucks a fat one. Sloppily is being nice. That is one warped exercise. I like it.

I think the struggle now begins (with this).

View attachment 91175

Staying oriented is the real challenge. That’s why keeping time with the foot adds so much difficulty. If you play it with an accent on the first note, then the hand motions are quite different from a normal paradiddle.

Typically, the paradiddle has 4 permutations:
RLRR LRLL
RLLR LRRL
RRLR LLRL
RLRL LRLR

Probably best to get started on all 4, rather than learn them one at a time. And there’s even more if you open up a copy of Stick Control.
 
Staying oriented is the real challenge. That’s why keeping time with the foot adds so much difficulty. If you play it with an accent on the first note, then the hand motions are quite different from a normal paradiddle.

Typically, the paradiddle has 4 permutations:
RLRR LRLL
RLLR LRRL
RRLR LLRL
RLRL LRLR

Probably best to get started on all 4, rather than learn them one at a time. And there’s even more if you open up a copy of Stick Control.

I may have to get a copy. The pad has been my friend here lately for like 8-9 months now. I've just been finding exercises in other threads and doing them. A book would be much easier.

I haven't worked out of a book for myself in like 20 years. I actually gave my book to my brother when he started playing. Im bookless at the moment.
 
Gonna get back into making drum cover videos! Just bought an interface to mic the drums with. In the past, I used a mixer, but now I can finally do it the right way!
What interface? What mics? People in quarantine need to know!
 
Exercise #6 from Stick Control.(edit: I dunno the page cuz it’s the only one I work on).
Accent on the 1.
Then, after a few beers, I try 3/4 time sig and try to feel the triplets over the 4-note phrases. The beer defiantly helps me sound better.


Best reference to Stick Control I have ever, EVER read.

I worked on the first page only for years.

It actually did very little for my state of mind.
 
They are awesome. You can use the bouncy side for speed and control, the other side for endurance.

I like to use the edges of mine also to simulate moving the stick around. It gives a distinct zone to aim for where a round pad has just one edge.



Ben I used to feel the exact same way. I would use the pad with my teacher, then only use the kit. And I would always end up distracted and play something else, not getting as far as I should have. I love the pad now. I can work on anything anywhere as long as I have it.

So what was the actual defining moment/catalyst that made you swap to a practice pad?
 
Haha...#6 is my Archilles heel as well, has been forever. Figure I'll nail it now....that and 50 Ways....
 
So what was the actual defining moment/catalyst that made you swap to a practice pad?

I wanted to drum but it was too late. I drug the pad out and it just clicked. I can work on my hands only. I'm not trying to be musical. I'm not distracted by other drums and cymbals. And I can hear mistakes and inconsistencies better than at the kit.

I haven't abandoned the kit by any means. Our relationship is changing a bit though. I find it easier to work an idea out on the pad first, then move it to the kit. The thinking and muscle programming gets sorted first, then it's made musical.
 
What is that from? I ask because it's just a paradiddle started 5/8 of the way through. I would think if you could play a paradiddle, this should be pretty simple.

Not trying to be snarky either. All I see is the exercise, not the words on the page with the instructions or explanation. But upon seeing it, I immediately saw the paradiddle.
you should probably become familiar with Stick Control ;)

having pg 5 memorized is something I pretty much demand from every student as it was demanded of me

possibly the most important page in drum book history along with pg 37 of Syncopation (38 in the new version I think)
 
I don't think we should share links to copyrighted material here - I don't know about US laws but normally this is not what mods want to see on other forums. My bad if Stick Control is so old that it's open to the public but I guess not since it's still in print.

On a completely unrelated note: you can add "filetype:pdf" to your google search term to get only pdf files as a result. What you guys do with this information is up to you.
 
I don't think we should share links to copyrighted material here - I don't know about US laws but normally this is not what mods want to see on other forums. My bad if Stick Control is so old that it's open to the public but I guess not since it's still in print.
I agree, but I’m pretty sure Pollack will be buying his own copy soon.

That pdf came up in a general search for the title. Feel free to tell that guy to take it down.
 
having pg 5 memorized is something I pretty much demand from every student as it was demanded of me

Do you mean memorized like play the whole page all the way through without looking? Constructing a solo out of it? How so? Do you call out "exercise 9" and they play it?

When I studied, I missed out on a lot of this. I had to move after 8 months, and my teacher knew it. So he taught me the things I needed to know and how to use the book so I could continue after I moved. I was in a band less than a year later, so book studying pretty much stopped. Since I've found a new love for the pad, I've really been enjoying working patterns. I forgot how fun and relaxing it really is.
 
Do you mean memorized like play the whole page all the way through without looking? Constructing a solo out of it? How so? Do you call out "exercise 9" and they play it?
Lotsa ways to skin the cat. But always use a metronome (well, I do cuz otherwise I flail).

If you’re using a pad, repeat each exercise 8 times then go to the next one without stopping. Go through the entire page in this manner.

On a full kit, play the bass drum on 1, hats (other foot) on 3. Play the page as above.

After happy hour, move the 1 to your right hand (dominant hand) and play the page of exercises between your bass & left hand. Move around the kit and get used to the pattern of sounds.

Then 1 with the left hand and patterns with your right hand & bass drum.

What I found was that when I moved around the kit, I flubbed frequently cuz of different sounds and different rebounds. I always play at slow tempos cuz I’m listening for patterns that I like.
 
Lotsa ways to skin the cat. But always use a metronome (well, I do cuz otherwise I flail).

If you’re using a pad, repeat each exercise 8 times then go to the next one without stopping. Go through the entire page in this manner.

On a full kit, play the bass drum on 1, hats (other foot) on 3. Play the page as above.

After happy hour, move the 1 to your right hand (dominant hand) and play the page of exercises between your bass & left hand. Move around the kit and get used to the pattern of sounds.

Then 1 with the left hand and patterns with your right hand & bass drum.

What I found was that when I moved around the kit, I flubbed frequently cuz of different sounds and different rebounds. I always play at slow tempos cuz I’m listening for patterns that I like.

Cool, I can do that. Now I see why everyone says this page will last a lifetime.

The triplet exercises look like a good time too.
 
have been:
- teaching lessons online to all of my high school students
- prepping my step son for college marching band auditions
- working on my own chops on pad. Sadly, my drum set is also on "lock down" at school, I have no access to it for a while. No biggie though. I have the pad for hands, and the floor for feet.
- watching drum stuff on Youtube
 
Do you mean memorized like play the whole page all the way through without looking? Constructing a solo out of it? How so? Do you call out "exercise 9" and they play it?

When I studied, I missed out on a lot of this. I had to move after 8 months, and my teacher knew it. So he taught me the things I needed to know and how to use the book so I could continue after I moved. I was in a band less than a year later, so book studying pretty much stopped. Since I've found a new love for the pad, I've really been enjoying working patterns. I forgot how fun and relaxing it really is.
memorize the page
 
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