What's the one exercise you are doing right now that's having the biggest impact on your playing?

I’m currently working on left hand control with slow doubles, emphasizing the finger snap for the second stroke of the double to match my right hand power: l L - rR, etc. Sometimes lL- r and repeat. With my left’s index trigger finger it makes control a bit problematic.
Me too!
Just belatedly bought a Remo practice pad as advised by Mr Jones.
 
The exercise that has the greatest impact on my playing is playing along with songs on the FM radio. I change the station every few songs. I rotate between rock, oldies, jazz, country, blues, hip hop, popular and hispanic stations. So after one hour I have played along with many songs I have never heard before and songs from many different types of music.


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Like it!
 
I'm revisiting the Latham solo' but I practice them with live bpm and I record myself. Goal is to play as solid as possible and to become more aware of speeding or dragging....
 
I practice the solos from Charlie Wilcoxon Swing Solos. I play a lot of ride cymbal time, bebop style, while feathering. Long time. Play along to records.
I find BeBop and just fast Jazz in general has really helped bring back my speed, especially the left hand
trad grip. I had played so much Country and Rock (soft) with the simple back beat that I'd lot the one hand rolls, slaps etc. I really work on 1 minute full breaks al la Philly Joe and Morello. My speed has come back amazingly considering I have lots of Osteo. I also play to tracks without drums on YouTube..Blues and Jazz. The clicker is a real benefit.
 
Do you own one of those metronomes that omit measures to test your accuracy?
Yup, I just use an app on my phone, Metronome Beats. I think I used the free version but then paid a couple bucks for premium for some reason. For gap training I like it because you can set specific measures that are silent (eg 2 on 2 off) or it will do it randomly based in the percentage you put in (eg 60% silent measures). Definitely keeps me on my toes and it's teaching me to really internalize time.
 
Working on basics on the pad- LH doubles and triples atm.
After just a couple sessions I can already tell a big difference for the better.
 
So, are you single, or soon to be single?
(Or a tragic victim of domestic violence in the near future)

for me, the playing on the knee/pad during downtime was exposed on the first date...she knew what she was getting into form the start
 
I was on a different thread where someone was touting a swerving, curving, corkscrew hand technique that seemed like it wouldn't be useful even if you put the time in to master it (apologies if that sounds unkind). But it got me thinking about things that we really feel were worth the time investment that we might want to offer up to the forum...

I'm a match grip player. My right hand alternates naturally between French, American and German depending on how it feels and what it wants to hit. My left is pretty much American. I hadn't really thought much about this until recently. I had a forearm rotation problem on my left side which has meant that holding a stick with my thumb pointing up (or even slightly rolled over to the left) has been the most comfortable. However, American/German finger technique (fingers closing into the palm) is pretty useless when the thumb is pointing up as the stick just waggles from side to side over the drum head - the fingers need to sort of swivel up and down on either side of the fulcrum.

As my right hand knows what to do I used it to teach my left, and I've been drilling my left hand while watching TV or waiting for the kettle to boil. Nothing fancy, just slow consistent strokes on a cushion or into my right palm (so it isn't noisy) really concentrating on how it feels in the right hand and trying to replicate that feeling in the left.

After only a month of this my left hand control has improved dramatically now I've returned to American. My fingers are starting to have a similar connection to the stick as my right hand, something that has eluded me for the decades I've been playing. I can play left hand lead hi-hat/ride with a much better feel and touch and I'm sure this will only improve the more I practice this technique.

For me, with where my technique is at, it's felt like so little effort for a significant reward. So I wondered if anyone else had similar anecdotes?

I actually had so much improvement from one exercise that I've made a video of it.
Even though I spent a lot of time practicing rudiments, wilcoxon, etc. I felt I had not enough control to use all those ideas and my limbs felt not really working together as I wished, but suddenly with this exercise everything seemed to sound more relaxed and much better. It has improved my groove, time and control (it's still a work in progress, of course).
If you guys decide to practice it for a few months, please share the results with me! I'd love to know someone else's experience.
 
This:
 
I've been starting each practice session over the last week or so by shedding this thing from @toddbishop's site: http://www.cruiseshipdrummer.com/2011/03/43-metric-modulation-in-jazz.html. He has a page of warmups also, which was helpful at first.

As I'm getting more comfortable feeling the implied pulse and the true pulse simultaneously, I'm noticing that even when playing straight-8th rock, for example, I am feeling the "pull" of the dotted eighth note, which is really helping solidify my timing overall.
 
I practice the solos from Charlie Wilcoxon Swing Solos. I play a lot of ride cymbal time, bebop style, while feathering. Long time. Play along to records.

I was doing this last night practicing doubles and flams on my knee while sitting on the sofa.

Me: TappityTapTap
Wife: WHAT are you doing?
Me: Practicing...
Wife: On your knee?
Me: Yep
Wife: *Deep Sigh*... I'm going to take a bath.
Me: OK
 
The exercise that has the greatest impact on my playing is playing along with songs on the FM radio. I change the station every few songs. I rotate between rock, oldies, jazz, country, blues, hip hop, popular and hispanic stations. So after one hour I have played along with many songs I have never heard before and songs from many different types of music.


.
Yeah, Buddy! That's a good one. I do it with jazz radio.
 
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